Well I got everything ready to go...Bell and plate mounted, studs in plate, I adjusted the pivot ball to where I have about 1/4" space between the TO brng and the clutch fingers so that there is no contact between the TO brng and the clutch when the clutch is released. My problem is that when I depress the clutch it will not release the disk. So at this time I can't use the alignment tool to center the disk.
Should I make an adjustment to the clutch rod or do I make the pivot stud longer? I think that both will cause the Throw out brng to come in constant contact with the clutch fingers. Which is not good...correct?
Something else to consider is that when I measured from the clutch fingers to the back side of the adapter plate, My measurement tells me that I need to remove 3 inches from the front bearing retainer, and that seems excessive, but I have measured it time and time again.
I have a ford high performance disk a TRW throwout bearing and the pressure plate that worked fine with my M20
As you may remember I am using a hyd. clutch at this time.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance

 

Sly,
First, you center the clutch disc with the alignment tool before the tranny is installed.
Next, are you trying to check the clutch before the tranny is installed?
The pivot stud is the way you adjust the clutch, not the rod.
Have you bled your clutch?
If you are trying to depress the clutch with the tranny installed before you trim the bearing retainer, you can't. The retainer will push against the fingers locking up the entire mechanism and nothing will release.
From the back side of the adapter plate measure to the fingers of the clutch. Then measure the distance from where the tranny contacts the adapter plate to the end of the bearing retainer. Then cut off the excess plus about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch. If you haven't done this the clutch will not release. If you are free at the moment. Let me have your phone # and I will call you.
Bernie

 

I was trying to follow the other post but is getting too long and I'm startin to glaze over , so forgive me if you've already tried this. I had an issue with my hydraulics at first getting it to move. Turned out the master rod was not fully extended out which prevents fluid to be taken in from the resevour. Once I got full fluid thru it worked perfectly.

Chris

 

I adjusted my clutch rod before I put any fluid in. Mine is set so that the master cylinder bottoms out just before the pedal hits the carpet.
I also made a longer pivot ball. That is adjusted to just allow a small gap between the throughout bearing and clutch fingers with the slave completely bottomed out. The standard length would have probally worked but the extra length was just piece of mind.
As Bernie noted I also had to cut my front bearing retainer as the ford is too long.

Scott...

 

I talked with Sly earlier today and I think he is on the right track again. He is presently fishing with a buddy but is planning on being under the car most of tomorrow!
Bernie

 

The fork needs to be very close to the front edge of the bellhousing exit, but make sure it does not touch the housing or the pressure plate. If it is not close then you need a longer or adjustable pivot ball.

As Bernie said...also make sure that your brearing retainer is not too long. I had to remove 1/2 inch otherwise it would bottom out.

I would also suggest a smaller gap between the bearing and fingers, you don't need 1/4".

Also, make sure that the bearing pivots inside the fork. I had to remove some material on the inside edge with a dremel.

Attached is my T5 with Hydraulic setup.

 

Car guy...
Your fork looks a lot different than mine. Yours looks arched and appears to need very little of the rod that is coming from the slave.
My fork is pretty much flat and all of the slave rod is being used.
This I do not understand. I worked the fork so that the TO brng. moves freely
Is that the fork that you got with the '85 bell???

Edit...Now that I look ...that is not an '85 bell is it???

 

Sly,
His fork is not OEM. But the procedures are the same.
Bernie

 

Thanks Caveman!!
It was a pleasure talking to you yesterday!

 

O.K. Heres where I'm at...
I disassembled everything down to the flywheel. I double checked the id of the pilot to the od of the input...everything good.
I installed the disc and pressure plate with alignment tool. Everything good.
I did check and re-check the adjustable pivot and I got the throw out brng. as close to the fingers as poss without them touching.
I mounted the adapter plate to the bell and installed the bell to the block, and mounted the slave and re-bleed it. All good.
I measured the distance from the face of adapter plate to fingers on clutch. Measurement was 3 1/4". Total length of bearing housing is 4 1/4" so I removed 1 1/4"
I made sure that the throw out moved freely on the fork and installed both in bell.
Installed slave rod to keep the fork in place.
I put the trans up and it went in fine, no problems at all.
Had my wife depress clutch so I could see if the clutch would release...nope!
The clutch moves freely till it gets about 2" from floor, no problem.
As near as I can tell I have about 2 to 2 1/2" of unimpeded travel of the fork at the slave, maybe even a little more. Everything seems to feel good. No binding.
I'm stumped!!
Any suggestions???

 

How did you do you master rod? Did you thread the way Norval suggest? And did you Shorten the rod? I shortened my rod and welded back together which gives me full pedal all the way to the floor.

Chris

 

Bernie sent me an adjustable rod, that can be extended, but the pedal is bottoming out in the master. And I am getting good movement at the fork. Enough in my opinion to where the clutch should be releasing!

 

Take some pics of your slave cylinder and fork installed. It sounds as if the fork isn't on the pivot stud properly or you don't have the slave installed properly. When you mounted the throwout brg to the fork,will it rotate freely in the fork? Did you remove material from both sides of the fork to allow it to rotate? Also, I have to ask, is the thrwout brg face toward the clutch fingers and not on backwards? I wish I were there to help!
Bernie

 

I guess when I get the chance what I will have to do is take it apart and take pics of everything.
Do you think maybe I could try a longer slave rod and see if that helps?
I gotta tell ya Caveman, I have done a few clutches over the years, albeit never a hyd., but this one seems to operate smoothly with no binding or tight spots thru the range of pedal travel. Every thing seems fine except that the clutch will not release.
The pivot you sent me ....I have the outer portion secured in the bell...and the adjustable stud is close to 3/4 of the way into the bell. This I was **** about, and I am as sure as I can be at this point that if I adjusted the pivot out any more I would have constant contact with the clutch fingers. The unbinding travel of the clutch fork seems to tell me at this time that the fingers are compressing and should release the pressure plate.
One question I have is..with the pedal fully depressed I still have approx 2" till it would hit the floor. I hope this is simply the master bottoming out.
Thank you in advance.
This to shall be overcome..."It's only nuts and bolts"


I'm thinking of making an access hole in the bell just so I can see what is going on in there!!!

 

Sly,
It sounds as if the pedal is not going down far enough to the floor. Mine stopped just befor hitting the floor. Also, my pivot stud was not in the bell far at all; that is another reason I used epoxy steel putty to lock it to the bell after I had it adjusted. The pedal bracket has a stop for the clutch pedal. Is it bent not allowing the pedal to come all the way to the top? I had to straighten mine. I also cut a rectangular hole in the bottom of the bell so I could examine what was going on inside. Do you feel pressure on the pedal right after you start to depress it? Too much slop there will keep the clutch from releasing. You may need to lengthen the adjustable rod end I sent you. You are correct, you will get thru this and it sounds as if you will have a very smooth clutch once it is fully operational; mine was!
Bernie

 

Sly,
PM me you phone # again today.
Bernie

 

Sly, your master cylinder should not bottom out until the pedal almost conacts the floor. On mine the clutch pedal sits higher than the brake pedal. That should give you an idea of how much the master cylinder needs to travel.

If the system is properly bled (since the master and slave have the same diameter pistons) the slave will move the exact same distant as the master. Then if it still stops 2 inches from the floor you have something binding in the bell housing.

Double check the pedal travel and bleed from the bottom up to get all the air out. Heres a pic of mine, it's kinda hard to make out but you can see the clutch is a little higher.

Scott...

 

Sly told me that the tranny would not slide all the way against the bellhousing. He had to use the nuts to pull the tranny against it. I told him that if the tranny will not slide all the way against the bell, the throwout bearing retainer is still too long and needs to be trimmed to the proper length.
Bernie

 

Today is vette day so I will check everything again and have a report tonight. Thanks for the help.

 

Sorry I didn't report last night but here goes...I pulled the trans and bell. I re measured the input housing and I have 1/2" of clearance. So I lengthen the pivot by 2 turns and take some more meat off the fork just to be sure. reinstall and it RELEASES!!!! Near the floor. I have 3" from the floor with the pedal fully depressed and the clutch releases at about 5" from the floor.
AT this time I also need to know what the angle of the trans should be so I measure and find that after fabbing the trans mount I have 4*. At the rear end I have 7* I assume that I need 7* at the trans also.
I am also ready to fab the shifter. I find that the with the trans centered in the tunnel and mounted to the trans mount, the shifter is quite a bit to the right. I didn't think that I would have to do any cutting to the tunnel to bring the shifter up. Any one got the measurement as to where the shifter stub should come up thru the tunnel??
Am I missing anything???
Oh yeah the drive shaft measures out at 27"
Thanks guys!!!(You too Caveman!!!)