1963 Dart clutch hit the floor and stays

[McSpadden]

The clutch pedal in my 1963 Dodge Dart GT convertible went straight to the floor and now stays, impeding shifting. In years past when I had a problem with shifting gears, the metal mechanism under the hood (sorry don't know its part name) connecting the push rod from inside the car to what is connected to the tranny on the block had tear in the metal... that was easy to spot.. there was actually a torque rip in the metal.. and I replaced that part and all was fine for many years. Now I can't see anything broken or some return spring dangling loose. I'm trying to track down why one day when I was shifting gears... the clutch pedal went to the floor .. and it stayed there. Any ideas on where to start looking to get my clutch back..?

 

[zijmer]

can you get your foot under the pedal and lift it up? then inspect carefully all of your linkage from the pedal to the fork for slop and wore out parts.

 

[toolmanmike]

Needs a clutch.

 

[67Dart273]

Could be a few things. Bad clutch pressure plate, but "I'd bet not."

Broken fork, fork pivot, pushrod, or really, "any part" of the linkage between the pedal and the clutch

It's time to get dirty. It's time to jack it up and get under there. You can't fix it standing there and looking at it.

 

[toolmanmike]

Could be a few things. Bad clutch pressure plate, but "I'd bet not."

Broken fork, fork pivot, pushrod, or really, "any part" of the linkage between the pedal and the clutch

It's time to get dirty. It's time to jack it up and get under there. You can't fix it standing there and looking at it.

Yep! My answer was too short. It's time to look the whole system over for excessively worn or broken pieces. (including taking the inspection cover off for a look see at the pressure plate and disc) I have had mine stick to the floor under high rpm but I was able to pull the pedal back up. tmm

 

[McSpadden]

Yes I can grab the foot pedal and return it to its start position. It stays up high fine. When you put your foot on the clutch it goes the floor and stays there. I had to grind the gears to get it into 2nd gear and limp home. I can find neutral now just fine. Yes, I've been under the car with flashlight tracing all the linkage... it seems fairly obvious all is connected. When under the car there does seem to be a lot of horizontal slop with the fork on what must be the fork pivot (which must be the part bolted to the engine block). I can slide the fork from drivers side to the direction of the engine block really easily about an inch. Everything looks connected and I've gone back over it a few times. So.. it's a distinct possibility the clutch plate broke.. thus breaking the tension.. and that's why its not pushing the pedal back up...?

 

[AJ/FormS]

If you really can move the throw-out fork that far with all the parts installed, then you have a problem.Have you tried adjusting the pushrod to get rid of that slop? I would inspect the pivot bracket,and the input bearing retainer.