Clutch fork travel

[patrickt]

Last ditch effort -- remove the slave rod and fasten a ratchet strap to the rear frame area of the car and the front of the strap to the end of the clutch fork. See if you can normally disengage the clutch by ratcheting the strap tight. If that fails, then you must pull the bell housing off and look inside to see wtf is going on. Who knows, it could be something really bizarre like a bolt from the factory that is stuck inside the pressure plate somehow. But if you can't disengage the clutch manually, by eliminating the entire slave/hydraulics/master/pedal assembly side of the equation, then the problem is inside the bell housing.

[Dominik]

I also would try to activate the clutch fork manually to get a feel of the needed travel.
My memory tells me it must be about 2" - which depends on the ratio of the fork, of course.

That 90 deg fitting at the slave can be a bear to bleed. Those kinks lead to cavitation (bubbles), if you don't bleed very slowly. How did you bleed? By pumping the pedal?

I would make a new line, without that union and a 45 deg bend on either end, or at least a 90 deg bend - not a kink.

What diameter is your feed line from the reservoir? Fluid needs to run freely when you bleed.
5/16" ID is good.

[blykins]

I suspect something with the trans fitment, maybe the bearing retainer is binding on the pressure plate??

Even if the engine was locked up solid, you should be able to push the clutch in and break the connection between the engine and trans. All you're trying to do is hit the fingers and spring the plate out enough that you have an air gap between discs.

McLeod has specific directions when assembling the clutch, where to check if the discs are spinning freely, etc., and I did not notice anything abnormal. I assemble clutches with my own billet steel alignment tool from RAM, not a cheap plastic tool, so it's as aligned as it's going to get.