Newbie Seeks Advice On Clutch Setup

First of all I hope your kidding about modding a car as valuable as a Shelby. Second, you can't just use the fox clutch fork. The z bar pushes the clutch fork toward the rear of the car. The fox uses a cable clutch with a t-5 specific bellhousing, which pulls the clutch fork forward. These guys might know better than me, but vintage mustangs used a 3 finger pressure plate which is very different than the late model pressure plate you're describing. I'd say you'll ultimately have to use a vintage style clutch.

As I said using a fox clutch fork is not really an option unless you want to switch the whole car including the bellhousing to a cable clutch set up. Even then you still have a problem because the fox t-5 has a longer input shaft than your top loader therefore the fox bellhousing is deeper and has a totally different bolt pattern. It would probably be easier at that point to just use a hydraulic clutch. I re-read your op and if the concern is that the throw out bearing is touching the clutch diaphragm that isn't a problem. That's what the throw out bearing is for. If the clutch fully disengages when you push in the pedal, and isn't so tight it slips it's most likely fine. If not, by far your cheapest and easiest fix would be to get an original style high performance clutch/pressure plate. I hope that makes sense.