Clutch lever: how close am I?

[proudlakester]

I'm trying to figure out exactly how much more travel I need wrt my clutch lever.

- FE installation
- Stock clutch lever
- Stock bell housing
- Mcleod 360651 pressure plate
- Mcleod 260833 clutch disc
- Mcleod 16031 throw out bearing

With all adjustments run out to their tippy-toes, the clutch disengages just sufficiently to permit not very graceful shifts. Car up on jack stands, clutch pedal depressed fully..., still get some wheel spin when not in neutral.

Ignoring all other issues..., how close am I? Measured at the end of the clutch lever that the slave cylinder engages..., what's an approximate figure of how much further the end of the clutch lever will need to travel to fully disengage the clutch? (Assuming it's ALMOST there now.)

Some background:

My current "system" can get 7/8" total throw..., the position of which is adjusted in the usual way (threaded pushrod).

I can presently rig it to permit complete unload of the throw-out bearing when the clutch pedal is fully released. But the xmission is unshiftable.

OR

I can presently rig it to barely permit shifting..., but at the cost of continually riding the throw-bearing..., even with the clutch pedal released.

So..., 7/8" doesn't appear to be enough for this particular clutch lever/pressure plate combination.

So..., I need to know how much more total throw I need that will permit both total throw-out bearing unload when the pedal is released AND total clutch disengagement when it is fully depressed.

So..., while I realize everybody's installations may vary..., does anybody happen to know how much movement is required for their particular installation..., when measured at the end of the clutch lever?

I'm guesstimating I may need around 1.25" total throw.

???

[SuperHart]

Sounds to me like you need a slave cylinder with more travel to the piston OR perhaps the problem is a clutch master cylinder that doesn't push enough fluid to make full use of the slave.

[Burgs]

Another 1/4". Make sure your pedal isn't holding you up at the bottom. Dont ask me how I know that!

[proudlakester]

..., sounds good to me!

I've verified that the master and slave are moving in unison.

Now..., the only nagging problem is finding bolt-on replacement(s) with the appropriate bore diameters.

If I can find a 1-1/4" or even a 1-3/16" bore master..., I'll be set.

I've found a 3/4" bore slave that will probably work without too much hassle.

Thanks for the replies!

[Carnut427]

Whatever you change to get more throw will also make the mechanism harder to push unless you keep the same size proportion between the master and slave. I had the same problem, ended up grinding on some of the linkage from the master to the slave to acheive just a bit more throw, and it works fine. Obviously, having different make cars I don't know if this approach will work for you. Also, my slave doesn't allow the bearing to fully back off the clutch. I was told this would not be a problem. Almost 8,000 miles later it still isn't. The clutch does fully disengage, which is the important part. There just isn't a gap between the bearing and clutch.
Good Luck,

Dan

[Jerry Clayton]

I can't believe that your slave is fully retracted--take it loose from the lever and see if you can bottom it out further--if so you just probably need to make a longer rod to attach to the lever--

IF YOU CAN"T bottom it out further , make sure that your master cyl freeplay is adjusted correctly so that the fluid can reenter the master(if the master isn't fully released, the slave can't retract)

What master and slave do you have?

Jerry

[Michael C Henry]

Providing you have a hydraulic system .My experience is acccliple. My car had a 7/8"dia Tilton master .I could get either full release or some free travel. But not both. I tried to play it close untill the throw out bearing froze and took out the forks on the Mcleod pressure plate. I went to a larger dia master cylinder I went nuts and bought a Tilton 1" dia master cylinder kit and was warned about possibly needing stops. I then ordered a Tilton 15/16" master cylinder kit. It comes in a box asa kit and is in the $60. range (as I remember and comes in a box with several resivior options). when selecting different sizes of master cylinders remember your giving up leverage (your foot) for more travel at the slave cylinder. Summit has everything ,may not be in the catalog but they have it online.