Dragging clutch...

[ptegler]

1968 4 speed  three arm clutch pressure plate (size ??)  M10 2L 60 over, 1968 block, 1969 Ti head (port matched)  < 20K miles on tranny and engine
PRE-CUSORS:  yes reverse requires the FULL 5 seconds to spin down to not grind
ISSUE:   N to 1st takes a min of 3 seconds ....and you have to be fast and matching rpm in 2->3->4 etc to not make a sound or balk at you.?
In my case... as it was installed,  had shortened the clutch arm at the hydraulics end (tunnel clearance).   Doppy me.... thinking the shortened see-saw was simply not throwing far enough, I went to a larger master cyl.   DDOOOHHL!     If pushing closer to the pivot on the see-saw, the throw there is shorter, you just require more work. (pedal pressure)

So my ISSUE is if I HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH travel (verified with snake cams etc) what would cause a supposedly 'rebuilt  10k miles ago' tranny?/clutch?  drag so much????

.  Yes... it's that crazy Seven style vehicle install   The box feels fine. FEELS is the key word... not gospel
tia for any words of wisdom here from those much more in the know than I

 

[Son of Marty]

If you pull back the clutch rod try slipping 2 or 3 washers under the clutch fork end and see if that helps, this is not a fix but a tool to see if you need more travel in the system.

[ptegler]

 

4 hours ago, Son of Marty said:

If you pull back the clutch rod try slipping 2 or 3 washers under the clutch fork end and see if that helps, this is not a fix but a tool to see if you need more travel in the system.

...not really sure where you're suggesting adding washers/spacers.  On the clutch arm pivot?
Example....  1 ft long see-saw.   1 end is pushed up 2" the other goes down 2". BUT  if I move in 1" from the end of the seesaw and push up, I don't have to travel 2" up to get the other to go down 2"   THAT is my current clutch fork situation. the INput side is shorter, so needs a shorter throw to throw the other end the original distance.   I've upp'ed the master cyl size thinking the slave was not traveling far enough. A snake cam verifies it's way more than needed. I'll need a pedal stop as is to limit over throwing the pressure plate.   so still lost for ideas here   :-(

[Son of Marty]

In this picture try adding them on top of the far end of #4 in the picture to space the rod away from the arm giving you more travel.

[ptegler]

ah...gotcha'.  
My slave cyl pushrod is roughly 1.5" of adjustment for the threaded conical nut (w/ lock nut) to adjust out freeplay. With the slave fully compressed, and the fork forced rearward (outside the bell housing) I can spin the nut up to the clutch fork arm till snug, then back off a turn or two so the ToB floats free of the pressure plate when I re-attach the big spring paralleling the slave cyl piston. (to force retraction)

 

 

[OldRoller]

If you have sufficient travel in the arm/throwout bearing, you may have a weak pressure plate not releasing fully under pedal pressure. The same scenario has occurred to me twice over the years, drives you bonkers trying to increase the 'throw'... to no avail. Both times were with aftermarket pressure plates....😳

[TobyB]

To add to OR's observation, I've also had the fingers break off diaphragm clutches- although your inspection camera would catch that.

 

Did you use a new pilot bearing last time?

 

5 seconds to spin down is odd-  it's longer than usual, but it's also not so long that the synchros shouldn't

be able to grab and overcome the relatively little bit of friction that's keeping things spinning...

 

t

 

[FL7602]

I've recently completed a mechanical restoration of a 76. I had two clutch issues, one being the wrong TO bearing (I had a 42mm bearing and needed the 47mm bearing), the other was a friction disk that was 'new' but had been in a box for a long long time.  The disk issue was that the interior metal wafers that rivet to the outer friction pads had rusted to the point the disk became so thick it would not disengage from the flywheel.  This disk issue wasn't obvious until I bought a new disk.  Here is a picture of the old disk and you can see the gap in between the front and back friction pads.  Just that 2 to 4 mm of excess gap and the clutch would never disengage!

I know checking this means taking the tranny out, but thought I'd share my recent experience.

[Son of Marty]

Maybe that disc got wet in one of those little rain showers (like Debby) you get that we keep hearing about.

[ptegler]

yep manual states 5 seconds for reverse, longer is an issue.

[Mike Self]

If you still have the original 6 bolt flywheel that requires the 3 finger, coil spring pressure plate (as installed on US spec cars up to VIN 1665200), did you 

 

1.  Install the correct throwout bearing (it's different than the one used with the later diaphragm clutch)

2. know that the pushrod at the slave cylinder end is adjustable.  That's not in the owner's manual, and does require periodic adjustment.  

3.  check the "horseshoe" that connects the clutch pedal to its return spring--again, different from later cars, and prone to wear and thus additional slop in the linkage.  Also, it will eventually wear through.

 

My Feb '69 production car (with this clutch) also became difficult to shift into reverse when the Metalastic joints that hold the shift bracket to the transmission deteriorated to the point where the bracket was loose and absorbed some of the shift lever's motion, making shifting more difficult.

 

Check 'em out...

 

mike 

[ptegler]

yep...been all over the ToB ...   

Issue is, mine does appear to be the older three fingered pressure plate, but the confusion came from the fact it used the adjustable pushrod slave cyl. A 'spare' 232 tranny I bought has the identical slave cyl still mounted. The manuals pics just dodn't match my setup.