Trying to determine the correct clutch fork I should use with my custom setup. 1971 Riv with B-W ST10 using stock bellhousing and Centerforce II clutch assembly and TO bearing. Are they all the same for the '70-'72 BBB? Any GM part number(s) someone could supply me? Any aftermarket sources? Thanks
Anyone out there with a stock GM BBB clutch fork that could supply me a photo of it with a tape measure showing length? I'd like to also see how high it rises to the linkage end, and the profile of the curve, if sitting flat on the fork end. I'm questioning whether I can make the universal GM type I see everywhere for $30-$40 work, as opposed to waiting to purchase the $105 repro from Dave Kleiner. Thanks!
This is not to disparage Dave or his work because it is good and we need more like him, but his setup didn't work well in my '68 GS400. He makes no claim that it would, but I figured I'd try it anyway. Ended up changing the fork to the original style with the pointed push rod rather that his which has a split end that mates with a rod with rubber bushing (post '69, I think). I found there is not a lot of forgiveness in that design and in my situation the rod did not align well with the split in the fork and caused binding. This required a stiff return spring to overcome the binding and after one season, the rubber distorted and the clutch would not fully disengage. I now have a GM fork in there. I feel the pointed rod into the cupped end of the fork will be more forgiving when it comes to alignment. I have only driven it once since I did this this winter, but it seems better. Again, I'm not saying his stuff doesn't work. I just had issues with it in my car. I am still using his z-bar and ball stud. I got my fork off eBay from some guy in TX, I think. I can look it up if you want. It went in fine, but I had to grind a little off the tips of the spring that captures the release bearing. Other than that, it was dimensionally ok for my setup. Of course, this is not a Riv, but thought my situation might be something to consider.
Steve, I dont think it matters because like you said, its a custom design. I agree you may be better of with the push cup style of fork so as to allow your lower rod angle to have a little more to play with. This setup has Hydraulics written all lover it.
Thanks for the input guys! I needed to bounce my plans off someone who's been through this before. Yes, a hydraulic master and external slave cylinders will operate my clutch fork. I was questioning fork style because I thought I had read on this forum how some folks had run into an issue with the fork contacting the bellhousing. Something about their non-BBB fork either hitting the inside of the bellhousing at he back or the side opening due to the fork's shape/angle being incorrect. I wasn't clear about that since I thought the GM bells were pretty much the same except for their mounting flange type (Chev vs. BOP). I may have misunderstood that post though. I'll now buy a new repro Chev-style from Kajun Enterprises (www.kajunjon.com) in TX. I bought a used bellhousing from him and he was very helpful.
