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I'm trying to adjust the clutch after putting all of the linkage back together (was in boxes when I bought the car) and the clutch will not adjust corectly. If I set the correct amount of freeplay then there doesn't seem to be enough tgravel ie the clutch will not engage when I push the pedal all the way to the floor. If I adjust it so the clutch engages then I have no freeplay and the pedal to floor distance is way too much about 8". I'm afraid the problem is the clutch fork post is not correct but I really don't want to pull the tranny to fix it. I was planning on driving the car this summer and doing an engine tranny swap next winter.
You're assumption sounds correct or a least a good possibility. You might be able to change the clutch pivot ball without completely removing the transmission. After it's disconnected you might be able to slide it back far enogh to change the pivot ball. I've never done it but I was tempted to try it last winter. Maybe someone else has.
Are you positive the throwout bearing is installed correctly in the fork?
You should be able to remove the boot around the clutch fork where it enters the bellhousing and get a look inside. If your 71 is like my 75, the spash guard on the lower bell housing is in the front and does not allow you to see the fork. Should look something like this:
You will have to pull the tranny. You either have an incorrect clutch, t.o. bearing and/or pivot ball. No way to change any of them without removal. However, If you want to cheat, you could fabricate an extension onto the lower z-bar. This will give more throw but will also give a harder pedal. You can also try removing the clutch pedal stop rubber (it's good for an inch or so of pedal travel).
Bubba (that's me) has 2 workarounds. 1, I took the stock clutch rod and cut it in half, then screwed each half into a threaded piece I found at the hardware store. Instant clutchrod extension, lower thing in pic below.
Later, I bought a Mr Gasket adjustable clutch rod (part # around here somewhere... ) which is longer than stock and long enough.
After doing some more checking it appears that it has the wrong pivit ball and the clutch linkage does not provide enough throw. Lenghting the push rod won't fix this it will just add to the throw distance not the total throw which is my problem. So I'm going to run it for a while with out any free play. I guess this will eventually cause my TH bearing to fail.
70vert is right I could lengthen the lower arm of the z-bar and get more travel. I could drill another hole in the bar and attach the extension with two bolts. I wonder if the z-bar is hardend steel might be tough to drill