Steve Byers wrote:
>
> I believe the design of the clutch is self-adjusting to some extent because
> it is intended that wear in the clutch disc friction material and wear in
> the carbon bearing should cancel each other out. The bit about lengthening
> the push rod is interesting. I replaced the clutch in my '73 Midget,
> rebuilt the clutch hydraulics, and included a new pushrod from Moss due to
> wear in the clevis pin hole. After getting it all together with the new
> (correct, according to Moss) push rod, the clutch would not disengage. I
> pulled out the new rod and compared it with the old one, and that's when I
> noticed the old one seemed to have an extension welded to it, rather
> crudely. Put the old one back in, and the clutch worked normally.
>
> We have had this discussion about the pushrod modification on the list
> before, and others have said they had a modified rod also, but no one has
> come up with a good explanation for it. If it compensates for wear, I
> don't understand why a new pushrod won't work with an all new clutch and
> release bearing. There was a suggestion that the clutch fork might be
> bent, but no explanation of how it gets bent. Since the rod extension
> seems to be more than a rare occurrence, I don't think I believe the bent
> fork theory.
Steve and others,
I have no proof positive on my theory but the various clutch pushrod
lengths seem to be directly related to who's brand of clutch you use.
I have had to use 2 different rods on the same car/engine/trans but the
only difference was Borg & Beck clutch vs Sachs clutch. I think the
pressure plates are slightly different thus the need for different rods.
There is a certain Jap car which uses an adjustable rod very similar to
that of the Spridget, I found one in the junk yard but the car was
upsidedown and besides, all them jap cars look the same to me.
And fashioning a home made rod is not very difficult even if one does
use an acorn nut on it to extend it!
--
Frank Clarici Toms River, NJ
Too many LBCs
3 Sprites, an Austin A40, and an Austin Mini all on the road.
1 Jaguar XJ6 family car, 1 Racer Midget project , & 2 Parts Spridgets
Check out my home page at http://www.exit109.com/~spritenut
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