Mike,
Frank is right about trying a nut with the pushroad, but this will only
compensate for wear in the clutch plate, activating pivot points or if the
clutch release fork is bent (which is fairly common). The effect of any of
these is that the slave cylinder piston moves down the bore towards the open
end of the cylinder, so there is less effective travel when you operate the
pedal. In the worst cases the slave piston reaches the circlip at the end of
the bore before the clutch has fully disengaged. Just be careful about
lengthening the pushrod too much which can result in the clutch not being
allowed to fully engage, and overthrow of the release bearing, with clutch
damage.
None of the above should be confused with master cylinder or hydraulic
problems. Assuming no air in the system, then the distance that the slave
piston moves through depends solely on the amount of fluid pumped by the
master cylinder, and the relative diameters of master and slave cylinder.
Far and away the commonest fault is air in the system, and there are a
variety of well-tried "tricks" to effectively bleed the clutch system, none
being 100% easy!
Guy
----- Original Message -----
From "Mike MacLean" <macleans at earthlink.net>
To: "Frank Clarici" <spritenut@exit109.com>; "spridgets"
<spridgets@autox.team.net>
Sent: Saturday, January 17, 2004 9:35 AM
Subject: Re: Clutch Question
> Frank,
> I remember bleeding the clutch part of the system was a bitch. I
> used a MityVac for this and I think I got the air out of the system.
> All other componenets of the sytem are only 2 years old, so probably not
> a problem. I ordered the stock 948/smoothcase pushrod form the usual
> suspects at the time, replacing the original rod. I don't remember
> comparing lengths, but it is susposed to be the right length for this
> slave cylinder. I am going to do an oil change tomorrow morning and
> will try the 5/16 nyloc nut trick. By nyloc nut, you mean the kind of
> nut that has the nylon insert for locking I'm guessing. Don't they make
> different length pushrods for different transmissions/years of cars? In
> any case I will report back to the list.
> Mike
>
>
> Frank Clarici wrote:
>
> > Mike MacLean wrote:
> >
> >> Ever since I finished the restoration on the Bugeye, the clutch has
> >> been about the same. You have to push it all the way in to
> >> completely disengage the trans
> >
> >
> > Mike
> >
> > Assuming the hydraulics are fine and bled, check the slave pushrod.
> > Different (brand) clutch components over the years are making the
> > "stock" pushrod a custom piece.
> > Try this down and dirty trick.....
> > Find a thin 5/16 nyloc nut, pop out the pushrod on the slave, stick
> > the nut inside the slave at the end of the rod. Now see if the clutch
> > is any different.
> > If not, it's a hydraulic problem, if it is better, now you have to
> > make sure the added length of the rod isn't over throwing the clutch.
> > I make most of my clutch pins from junk in the garage.
> > Take a long 3/8 bolt (old shock bolts work great) cut the head off,
> > heat it cherry red, beat a flat end on one side and drill a 5/16" hole
> > in it for the pin. grind down the other end until it is the correct
> > length.
> > If your existing rod is say 2 11/16" long, start with a 3" rod and
> > look inside the inspection hole to make sure the t/o bearing is not
> > riding the p/plate. You should have about an 1/8" space between them.
> > If you feel creative, you can make an adjustable pushrod out of a
> > union but and some all thread.
> > I have never felt creative enough to do this, I just hammer out what I
> > need when i need it.
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