Clutch pedal travel

[Yote]

Re: '72 Demon 340 , 4 speed.
Aligned z bar , bushings new, new spring on clutch release lever, removed washers from over center spring that PO left in. Clutch pedal still will not return to full height ( lacking about an inch). It can be lifted with toe and it stays until depressed again. Every thing else seems to be functioning properly. Is this correct ? If not what can I do to correct it ?
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[rklein383]

How much clearance between the fork and the throw out bearing at full release?

 

[Yote]

Will have to check. Car is on the floor and I haven't been in the mood to work on it for a while.
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[toolmanmike]

How much clearance between the fork and the throw out bearing at full release?

Or the clearance between the through out bearing and the pressure plate fingers. I adjust the gap at 1/4" or less and work the clutch and recheck. The pedal and freeplay will be good if the gap is adjusted properly.

 

[clifftt]

I spoke to Brewers about my clutch. I bought their 10" three fingered clutch. He made me understand this: The adjustment is critical. The throwback on the pedal starts when the pressure plate pushes back when you release the pedal.
Adjust the clutch to where the T.O. Bearing just clear the fingers on the pressure plate when the clutch is disengaged. Then, when you push the pedal and release, the diaphragm fingers will help push the bearing/ fork back out. Between the pressure plate fingers and the override spring on the pedal, the pedal should come back up by itself. Again, adjustment is critical, it is a bit of a balancing act.
Once I understood this, it all made sense.
I also sprayed a degreaser and relubed the pivot points to the pedal linkage under the dash. Mine works nicely now. Hope this helps.

 

[rklein383]

How much clearance between the fork and the throw out bearing at full release?

Brain fart, I was thinking pressure plate fingers and throw out bearing and typed something completely different.

 

[AJ/FormS]

First-off; is this while running, or while engine off?
With engine off;The over-center spring should slam that pedal back to the top. And I mean slam! Make sure your face is no where near it, when it goes.
Here's what you can do. Disconnect the TO fork from the adjuster link or the link from the Z-bar. Now hop inside and start pushing the clutch-pedal down to the floor. Soon after starting, the over-center spring will take over and slam the pedal to the floor; POW! Now you will have to go get it. Since you can no longer pick it up with your toe, you are gonna have to get out of the car and manually lift it it up. That thing is gonna go up about two or three inches, and POW! it will take off on you, back to it's parking spot.Watch your face and your knuckles!
That's how it is supposed to work.If yours doesn't,find out why and fix it.
Now if yours does work this way;
Slide underneath and grab the TO fork and push it towards the engine, about an inch,NO more. It should move easy and carry the TO bearing almost effortlessly.Pull it back;same thing, it should be easy. Work it a few times and Park the TO bearing up by the clutch where it's supposed to be.
If it moves hard, I bet somebody put some really thick grease inside the TO sliding tube, it's gonna have to come out.It's also possible that the fork is not engaged properly under the TO bearing clips. Pop the boot and look to see the forks are sitting parallel to the flywheel. If it is cocked over, pull it back and re-engage the TWO clips. This is a very tricky procedure, but it can be done, so take your time. Now repeat the test.If it works right, now;put it all back together.
If it moves easy,as it is supposed to, then put it all back together,cuz I have no idea what's wrong.
Make sure the downrod from the pedal is well centered in the oval opening on the floor and that it slides freely thru the rubber boot.
Reset your freeplay. I set mine kindof tight at 1/2 inch, cuz. Normally the freeplay is set to 1 inch, which,normally would set the clutch departure correctly. When the departure is set correctly, engaging reverse with the engine running,will not produce any grinding; just a little snick as a couple of teeth get acquainted and then in it goes. If it grinds then one of three things is wrong; 1)not enough departure,or 2)the disc is faulty;either warped,broke, or coming apart,or 3) the oil is too thin and that doggone 20pound cluster won't stop spinning!,lol. So set the freeplay where-ever, from 1/2 inch to 1.25 inches, whatever it takes. Now put into neutral (engine running), take your foot off the pedal. Next push the clutch down to about 1.5 inches from the floor and immediately try to put it into second. If successful, stop, you are done. But if she won't go in, stop. Start over but this time push down a little more, and so on, but you should NOT have to hit the floor to achieve a shift into second. If you do, go back and reduce the freeplay a bit, and try again,and so on until you get a good balance between engaging second, and grinding reverse.
There is a shortcut. You will need a helper. One in the saddle and the other underneath the car,with a feeler gauge. Engine off,Have the helper push the pedal to the floor. You install a couple of feeler gauges between the disc and the flywheel, and then have the helper slowly let the pedal up, while you make sure the feelers are clamped. Use feelers around .080, they don't have to be identical. Next have the helper start pushing the pedal down, and when the feelers drop free yell stop! Now shimmy out and go see where the pedal is. It should not be on the floor, but rather 1 or 2 inches above the floor. This with 1 inch of freeplay. If it is not within this area, you may have a wrong ratio Z-bar, or wrong-ratio TO-fork.
Now with engine running;
Firstly what type of clutch do you have? and when exactly does it hang up? eg; at idle, or at WOT shift, or while shifting normally about 3500rpm.

 

[Butch67]

I may be misunderstanding your problem. But I had a similar issue when I built mine at Christmas. The pedal would stay down an inch or so when pushed down. If you reach down and pull it up or use your foot the pedal would spring back up to the proper position beside the brake pedal. When you push the pedal it would move that inch or so down with no actual movement on the linkage itself because of excessive travel. This is the slop you need to get rid of that if its like my issue.
My problem was with the alignment of the Z-bar to the fenderwell. Everything else was new, so I moved the bracket up and towards the firewall 1/4" for both and it was pretty much perfect. Now pedal moves smoothly and will return all the way to the top with no problems. I was going to try to modify the clutch pedal arm but this was much easier. Hope this helps. If it is only the last inch or so of the clutch pedal moving up or down from the proper height location it probably won't have anything to do with your clutch or throw-out bearing etc...

 

[AJ/FormS]

Butch has a good point. If your car is not an original manual trans car, then the outboard pivot was installed in the field, and may not be in the correct position. The inboard pivot also may not be the correct one for your application.
However, I read that you had straightened it all out in post #1.

 

[Yote]

AJ, yes it is origional 4 speed. Outboard pivot bracket was pulling loose and canted. Straightened , aligned and welded into place. Everything works fine except top 1" of pedal return. Re: origional post.
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