Gents, After replying to another thread about clutch pedal pressure, it caused me to look a little deeper into mine. Its stiff. I mean real stiff. Im talking really really unreasonably stiff. I bet its around 40-50 pounds of pressure to move this pedal. So much so Im afraid Im going to break linkage parts. So does anybody have any suggestions on where I should start looking first to ID the problem. I'd love to not have to pull the transmission if possible, but no the end of the world if needed. The setup is as follows: -Muncie M20, fresh rebuilt. All gears are good, fresh torq-lock sliders, iron mid-plate, all new seals, bearings, etc. -Lakewood Scatter shield -Adjustable pivot ball -Adjustable throwout bearing -stock (or so I think anyway) clutch fork -"Custom" clutch fork adjuster (threaded stud, spherical end joint) -NPD repro z-bar -Repro clutch pedal rod from inline tube -Stock pedals. -CenterForce Dual Friction clutch -Stock resurfaced flywheel. I have a sneaking suspicion its in the clutch fork/TO bearing area as the linkage all moves freely when not connected, but Im hoping there's a common thing to check before I start pulling things apart.
I have that Centerforce clutch and it should not feel too much stiffer than stock (maybe 15 or 20 percent more and I bet I'm being generous with that assessment). You should get underneath and have a buddy actuate the linkage to see what's going on. I'll take a stab and say that with all your adjustable gizmos you've outsmarted yourself with a measurement or two. And I speak from experience on this one. Do I correctly recall that there was a shipping block or something in the pressure plate to remove before install? It has been seven years... I've run a Borg & Beck style clutch and can tell you that setup is probably three or four times stiffer than stock and will eventually destroy the crappy factory pedal and the frame bracket for the z-bar, and maybe a thrust bearing. But it still actuated smoothly, was not unreasonable, and will give you a gargantuan left leg.
Is it the center force with the weights on the pressure plate fingers? If so I had the same exact thing happen to me after 20,000 miles. I was 800 miles from home and did bend the linkage out of it, in stop and go traffic no less. The throw out bearing and sleeve it rides on we're gouged up, but I'm pretty sure the damage was caused by the uneven stress on the TO bearing caused by the pressure plate jamming. I never saw a silver bullet, but my suspicion is the weights were getting wedged in the fingers when hot instead of sliding. Caused me a "Did Not Start" on Drag Week 2013, I was half way there :blast:
You're geometry is probably off. Combination of adj. pivot ball and adj. TO bearing and possibly clutch linkage set up from diff. vendors are most likely throwing everything out of whack. There's a reason I can get a Muncie into and out of a car on my back in under an hour.
Yeah, I have to agree that I'm afraid I may have overcomplicated the system. I did adjust the fork in a bit last night and that seemed to help. Its still on the stiff side, though noticeably better. One question (this may be dumb but I'm this is my first manual with mechanical linkage). In playing with the adjustment, I get to a point where I can feel something "camming over". Its stiff then gets over the hump and softens up (its a very quick turning point). This is currently taking place with the pedal about 3/4 of the way to the floor. What is this, is it good or bad, and should it be occurring sooner? I currently have pedal pressure from the word go, so I don't think I should adjust the fork in any more.
I had trouble with the fork- Big Block repro was just a little off @ distance from pivot to linkage. It was too short, the arc the clevis traveled put the heim joint in a bind. Had to find my old clutch fork and that fixed it. Changed everything before that - throw out bearing height, clutch disc, adjustment...
I'm going to get u der the car and have somebody push the pedal and see if I can tell anything visually. I'm starting to question whether or not the fork is correct actually.
Shawn, Couple of thoughts: Make sure the ball stud's installed 4.75 from the block, per the Centerforce instructions. Are you using the block plate? You need to account for the 1/8" of the blockplate. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...FKUW7RZ9M3WeW3g&bvm=bv.89744112,d.cWc&cad=rja 2. If you're using the McLeod 16505 adjustable TO bearing, how many rings do you have installed? 3. I assume the clutch fork is the clevis pin style? 4. How much free play is at the pedal? Is the rubber bumper still in place? Should be 1" I've found that the Centerforce II has that point where it goes from pressure to no pressure pedal feel like you're describing, however the effort can and needs to be adjusted via the adjustable points to get the geometry correct.
I know I installed the pivot per the centerforce specs, but I can't recall if I allowed for the block plate (which I do have) or not. I'll double check the TO hearing and see how many rings as I don't recall that either offhand (I have a sucky memory....) But, as usual, you hit the nail on the head Paul, it us McLeod. I actually have the bumper on order, but not installed. The pedal has little to no play since I adjusted it out last night. And thanks for the offer Paul, I'll give you a call in a little while.
