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If the the fork is moving. It's gotta come apart. Yes the starter will need to come off to remove the dust shield. And yes it needs to come off anyway. But no matter what broke inside there. it's inside there. It has to come apart.
pull drive shaft. rear trans mount. exhaust hanger, on some cars exhaust will need to be moved over or removed.
Remove all covers over distributor and remove distributor cap. (if not pull distributor complete).
Speedo cable, pull console apart inside car. remove shifter and shifter mounting bracket. (this alone is a pain)
Support rear of oil pan on engine. Disconnect the clutch rod from the fork, unhook wires or remove backup light switch. Unbolt trans from bell housing. Pull trans straight back as far as you can wedging it between the tunnel and the frame crossmember .
Now tilting rear of engine downwards tilt front of trans down untill mainshaft will clear bellhousing. slide trans down and forward and out. (Can't imagine how you could use a trans jack with this welded in crossmember).
Careful! it's heaver than you think! Now you can remove bellhousing and inspect clutch, fork, throwout bearing and flywheel.
Now you go get parts.
C3 Corvettes must be one of the hardest cars to put a clutch in.
As I said before, it's a major pain.
Oh, and putting it back in! getting everything to line up perfectly as you slide the trans forward through the throwout bearing, clutch splines and into the pilot bearing in the crank.
All using muscles as getting a jack in there seems impossible to me.
Did mine about 2 years ago on jackstands in a one car home garage. Yes I'm in my 60's. Yes my friends all thought I was nuts.
Clutch still works great.
Thanks for all the help! I was hoping I wouldn't have to pull it, but it looks like my sons are going to learn how to pull a transmission out of an '80 corvette.
do more homework first. the fork moving and the fork moving far enough are not the same thing. take a pic of clutch fork all the way out and all the way in. hold a ruler up abd see how far it travels. post the pics. try to post video, but that is harder, i think.
Thanks for all the help! I was hoping I wouldn't have to pull it, but it looks like my sons are going to learn how to pull a transmission out of an '80 corvette.
Here are a couple of links to look at to get an idea what you're getting into.
Good luck!
do more homework first. the fork moving and the fork moving far enough are not the same thing. take a pic of clutch fork all the way out and all the way in. hold a ruler up abd see how far it travels. post the pics. try to post video, but that is harder, i think.
Could not disengage clutch, clutch pedal was spongy and did nothing. It happened 46 years ago after I backed out of my driveway, I was lucky that I was able to get it back in. I asked a couple of guys at work and they thought it was a broken pressure plate spring and they were correct. Not knowing much back then, they explained to me about the pressure plate fingers and how the throwout bearing presses against the pressure plate fingers to disengage the clutch.
This is how it's acting. Left a stop sign, went to shift to second, and couldn't hardly get it shifted. Now the clutch pedal feels spongy, and nothing happens.
I'll try and get more pics tonight of the fork travel. The video I posted earlier works for me, it's just upside down.
do more homework first. the fork moving and the fork moving far enough are not the same thing. take a pic of clutch fork all the way out and all the way in. hold a ruler up abd see how far it travels. post the pics. try to post video, but that is harder, i think.
Bull! It worked fine at his current adjustment. Then suddenly just stopped. This isn't slow wear. something broke!
Why on earth would you try to give false hope?
It broke! just now! it let go! this isn't an adjustment.
IT BROKE!
Time to pull it apart and find the problem.
No if's and or but's about it.
and what broke does not necessarily have to be in the bell housing. if the TB broke, it would be screaming holy hell. my sister melted a pressure plate spring driving home in 3rd gear in a 6 cyl falcon. i blew a disk apart in the same car downshifting into first at speed cuz it sounded cool spinning up real high. you have to do something to make a clutch break.it might be the pivot ball snapped off. real unlikely. might be the fprk cracked and bent. less unlikely but still not real likely. there is just as much chance what broke or bent is the pedal, rod, other rod or z-bar. we do not have to drive these cars to work monday. do the homework to find out what broke. don't just start buying parts and tearing out transmissions. cuz it would really suck to put in a new clutch and find out the arm on the z-bar cracked a weld and bent. and that is the most likely scenario. or the adjuster arm came loose and either fell off or the adjustment backed off.
Could not disengage clutch, clutch pedal was spongy and did nothing. It happened 46 years ago after I backed out of my driveway, I was lucky that I was able to get it back in. I asked a couple of guys at work and they thought it was a broken pressure plate spring and they were correct. Not knowing much back then, they explained to me about the pressure plate fingers and how the throwout bearing presses against the pressure plate fingers to disengage the clutch.
Originally Posted by D.W.
This is how it's acting. Left a stop sign, went to shift to second, and couldn't hardly get it shifted. Now the clutch pedal feels spongy, and nothing happens.
I'll try and get more pics tonight of the fork travel. The video I posted earlier works for me, it's just upside down.
Looks like the clutch fork is moving enough. What is that line that rubs against it? I still say it's a defective pressure plate. Mine went from working perfectly to no clutch operation. I converted your avi file to a mov file.
I put the front wheels on ramps and jack stands on the rear to have enough height to pull the transmission. I was 26 and had no problems removing and installing the transmission, now at 71 even the starter is getting a bit heavy for me.
Your clutch pedal released:
Your clutch pedal pushed in:
Last edited by 71 Green 454; Jun 8, 2022 at 10:00 AM.
and thanks for video,.,.
OP i would still triple check the bar for tightness (the nut into housing side especially) mine came loose 3 x and will reduce the clutch throw. Also curious of what rubbing???
also what is the freeplay for the clutch pedal?
and do you feel the same pedal pressure or is there very little pressure now? i couldn't see the orig video. it does look like enough fork travel. i have seen worn disks spread when one steps on the clutch as the rivets are letting go, but that would cause a drag, but not flat-out no disengage at all. and if that is the case, the clutch still has to come out. 80's are no longer welded crossmembers, i believe? there is a bit of a break.
You have dozens of pairs of eyes looking at this. While there is a 90% chance the transmission has to come out, it would be a bummer to miss something obvious from a photo you didn't post.
Especially if the Z-bar has failed.
Looks like a brake line rubbing? That shouldn't happen, and nothing inside the bellhousing would cause that.
