New engine rebuilt, TA pilot bushing, Zoom Clutch/pressure plate and Falcon Throw-out bearing with nub to keep from spinning. First trip had great pedal, clutch felt awesome and no sounds or vibrations. About 2 miles from, pushed the pedal, it felt a little weird, let it up and started to hear/feel a little vibration. When I installed the new throw-out bearing I remembered the old one kind of "stuck" in the fork and this one goes in but with very little force I can get it out... Also, once the fork and everything including trans is installed, how much play should the fork have? With the rod and spring hooked up I can wiggle the fork around "kind of easy" from under the car. Does everything in this pic look right?
Looks ok. check the cross shaft mount, the piece of metal that bolts to the frame bends and will push at an angle. Should have about an inch of play at the pedel.
Define "a great pedal" for me. How far up the pedal did it start to grab? Close to the floor or way up high? Can you feel the resistance of the bearing pressing the pressure plate down or is the pedal real easy going to the floor? Pop the Z bar out and check all your linkage to see if you possibly bent an arm on the Z bar or something like that. Im skeptical of the strength of the repro linkage pieces. Im pretty sure you have the throw out bearing installed correctly as per the other thread. You want to adjust the linkage so the bearing is almost up against the tines of the pressure plate diaphragm. You want the clutch to grab about three quarters up the pedal. Like Dan says, you want a little "free play" in the pedal before the linkage makes the bearing touch the pressure plate. Without the return spring installed, you really shouldn't be able to move the linkage back and forth much. Maybe 3/4". All that play should be taken up by the adjuster rod.
I mean I had an awesome pedal... best pedal I have ever had..... I originally adjusted the pedal with the adjustable rod so that I had about an inch of pedal before it started to engage and then a 1/3 down I could feel the spring tension really good through to the floor... From the responses it sounds like the throw out bearing isn't up against the pressure plate as I can wiggle it around and move it forward by hand maybe 1/2 to 1 inch before the plate. This would probably also explain the slight vibration. The first 12 miles i didnt have to press the clutch all the way to the floor but it does now..All the linkage, clutch fork, zar and springs are original and worked fine before but did replace the z bar studs, felts, and clutch pedal grommet, throw out bearing etc. Can the clutch fork move and be in the wrong position (like out of the bell housing stud)? I bet something settled into place on the first trip out. If I remember I didn't have a whole lot of room left on the clutch rod adjustment though. Thanks all and will take another look by the weekend and send an update.
There is a possibility that the clutch fork may have dislodged off the ball stud in the bell. I remember Bob Christo (Bobbuick) had that issue a while back- the fork would pop off the ball. Try giving the fork a tug and seeing if you feel it pop back onto the ball. If its still mounted on the ball stud correctly, the fork should move back and forth pretty effortlessly Another random though here- make sure that the lower adjuster rod is pushing the fork straight back and not pushing it back on an inward or outward angle. I had to give the lower arm of my Z bar a little tweak or two to get it pushing straight back.
Ok. That brings a up a thought on where my return spring is.... now that I have headers, if I mount the spring in the original hole it touches the headers and was afraid this would heat up and stretch out the string. I ended up hooking up the spring to the hole/gap where the control arms mount.. it slightly pulls the spring more towards the driver side rather than straight but didn't seem like enough of a difference to create a problem. Where do people with 350s and headers hook the return spring?
Adjusted the clutch rod and have good pedal again. Something must have settled a bit after the rebuild. Needed more length than the old clutch and the end of the rod is the the threaded rectangle about 1/3 (2/3 meat still in the adjuster....) what happens when the clutch wears and you need more lenght? Do they make longer rods?
I was wondering how you made out. Glad you got it sorted out. It took me a couple of weeks of constant fooling and adjusting things to get my set up sorted out. Ive been driving my Stage 1 fifteen years and only lately does it need a bit of an adjustment. And by adjustment, I mean like one complete turn of the trunnion that goes into the lower arm of the Z bar, that's it. So getting back to your return spring, where do you have it attached to the frame?
sweet, good to know it might take another tweak or 2 but pretty sure there is no issue now. I should have taken a picture when it was jacked up and I was under the car last night so took a few now. the spring goes to the frame above the lower control arm basically in the hole for the coil spring. it is fairly straight but curves slightly around the lower control arm frame mounting area. just curious if there is a better spot that doesn't touch the 350 headers. Thanks!
So, according to the assembly manual, the spring goes into a hole in the side of the frame below the z bar. But Im not sure if that hole is now rendered useless because the header tube is in the way
Yeah, thanks...that's where it was before the headers. Now the spring will rest up against the headers and afraid the heat will stretch our the spring. I think it works where it is but curious in what other folks with 350 headers do...
