Clutch not clutching

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skep419

skep419

5.9 Magnum 4 speed afficionado
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69 dart 5.9 magnum, 2.66 a833 440source flywheel, ram borg beck clutch, Lakewood scatter shield.

Went to leave work and the clutch pedal felt soft, everything looks fine but won’t engage the clutch.

Inspected the fork and it looks like the ends might not be far enough engaged into the throw out bearing? Tried bending the bracket slightly with no luck.

What else should I be trying/looking at. Thanks
 
Won't engage, or won't disengage? Any chance the z bar broke/ bent, or a bushing fell out of it? It's possible for a fork to bend or fail as well.

I've driven "several" rigs for some distance without a clutch, start it up in 1st and learn to shift without the clutch.
 
67Dart273 said:
Won't engage, or won't disengage? Any chance the z bar broke/ bent, or a bushing fell out of it? It's possible for a fork to bend or fail as well.

I've driven "several" rigs for some distance without a clutch, start it up in 1st and learn to shift without the clutch.
Click to expand...
Won’t disengage, was able to drive it home without the clutch.
I’ll pull the z bar tomorrow thanks.
 
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IMG_2618.jpeg

Clutch rod clip popped off the z-bar, bush league…… :poke:
 

Daves69 said:
Do you mean the fork pivot?
Click to expand...
Yep, it was a bad call. I also bent the clutch adjuster rod (I had to weld the z-bar arm to the far side to clear the header, it wasn't the best angle to the clutch fork). Ended up braking it in half, after welding that back together everything seemed to be working fine......... Except for the grinding of every gear, not enough throw.
I'm beginning to hate this lakewood bellhousing with a passion. Thing is fricken huge, 1000 bolts, everything has to be moddified, end rant.
I've got a stock bellhousing with it's glorious inspection cover just staring at me on the shelf.
 
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Some of the Lakewood pivots are "soft" and bend too easily from what I 'm hearing. Hit up Brewers for a reliable piece.
 
I too have issues with a Lakewood, poor adjustment rod alignment, changed z-bar around. Really hard to push clutch in, and it's a diaphragm. Parts otherwise are correct. I should just take it out and put my stock one back in. Not asking for help, correct parts are in it.
 
Spent some time searching old posts and found a lot of good info. Normally you’d want to change 1 thing at a time but……
Swapped out the clutch fork pivot (cracked, wonder why) and the ball stud bracket (had both on the stock bell).
Fixed the Z bar, was bent on the bell housing side (guessing that’s how I got it to clear the header with the other ball stud bracket)

Left the dust boot off.

It was a little late for a test drive but it shifted smooth back and forth out of the garage :usflag:
IMG_2650.jpeg
IMG_2651.jpeg
IMG_2652.jpeg
IMG_2653.jpeg
 
Clutch is now clutching!

I almost lost my cool there (so pissed off I had all the automatic parts pulled and ptc’s phone number looked up)
1753793076471.png
 
Looks like you are running a LW bellhousing. In an A-body SB application, you need to add material under the vertical part of the pivot bracket inside the bell. Can you see how the pivot is not fully supported where it bolts into the bellhousing? It's likely to happen again if you don't fix what caused the issue.
www.brewersperformance.com

SB LW FP848 PIVOT.jpg


SB LW-NO PIVOT.jpg
 
Lakewood is for quarter mile ing if you aren't racing put a stock bell in that's what I did ...
 
Dan Brewer said:
Looks like you are running a LW bellhousing. In an A-body SB application, you need to add material under the vertical part of the pivot bracket inside the bell. Can you see how the pivot is not fully supported where it bolts into the bellhousing? It's likely to happen again if you don't fix what caused the issue.
www.brewersperformance.com

View attachment 1716435873

View attachment 1716435874
Click to expand...
Thanks for the heads up, I read a few posts where people had added a spacer to shim the pivot towards the clutch (Thought that it was more to fix a problem with engagement).
The reason the pivot cracked in the first place was because I pried on it like a jackwagon.........

I will certainly entertain the idea of putting a thick plate between it to keep it from flexing, super stressful trying not to drop stuff into the abyss.

Plan to race it a few times a year, highly unlikely to have a failure but......
source.gif
 
Dan Brewer said:
Looks like you are running a LW bellhousing. In an A-body SB application, you need to add material under the vertical part of the pivot bracket inside the bell. Can you see how the pivot is not fully supported where it bolts into the bellhousing? It's likely to happen again if you don't fix what caused the issue.
www.brewersperformance.com

View attachment 1716435873

View attachment 1716435874
Click to expand...


That is exactly it !
Had the same problem many , many years ago !
If you intend on street driving these things,,,you really need to extend that mounting bracket .
It really should have been twice the width from the factory to provide enough support .
It’s easy to do while the bell housing is still on the table before installation .

Anyone reading this should be proactive and act accordingly,,,before it happens to you !

Tommy
 
The tractor technology of the factory z bar clutch system is very particular in some ways and quite forgiving and others. Is been my experience over dealing with mine for 40 years if everything is close it'll work good. But it doesn't take much to get it out of whack and the headaches to begin. Linkage connections need to be relatively straight and should move freely when disconnected from the clutch fork. After my younger years of medieval torture it has been straightforward and reliable.
 
Malwood pedal and hydraulic bearing.... clutch feels like a new hyundai.... Not a sponsor lol

Seriously tho, all of the hassle, the stiff clutch in some applications, we are getting older, etc etc... Go hydraulic.

Even more of a benefit for non factory small block applications where space/headers/stuff that is not supposed to be in the way etc
 
Muswagon said:
Malwood pedal and hydraulic bearing.... clutch feels like a new hyundai.... Not a sponsor lol

Seriously tho, all of the hassle, the stiff clutch in some applications, we are getting older, etc etc... Go hydraulic.

Even more of a benefit for non factory small block applications where space/headers/stuff that is not supposed to be in the way etc
Click to expand...
Looking back it was more my fault than anything, the linkage was crooked as all get out causing clips to pop off, stiff pedal, etc. Now that it's all straightened out the pedal feel is great. I've got enough fluid leaks........ :lol:
 
Muswagon said:
Malwood pedal and hydraulic bearing.... clutch feels like a new hyundai.... Not a sponsor lol

Seriously tho, all of the hassle, the stiff clutch in some applications, we are getting older, etc etc... Go hydraulic.

Even more of a benefit for non factory small block applications where space/headers/stuff that is not supposed to be in the way etc
Click to expand...
I wanted to jump in and ask about your Milwood install. I have issues with my manual setup that I can't resolve, so I am moving to a hydraulic clutch solution. I am favoring Milwood because it looks a little easier to install and the hydraulics are under the dash. With power steering and other add-ons, I have limited space under the hood.
Are you happy with the Milwood system?
 
1969 barracuda 4 speed clutch rod. The last guy used two loops of bailing wire to hold the clutch rod to the pedal end!!
I have been doing a lot
clutch rod.jpg
of "un-rigging" with this car. I have a new push rod and can't find the clips or what ever is supposed to hold it to the clutch pedal and Z bar?? Does anyone know where to get them???
 
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