How far from the floor should the clutch begin to engage? (providing of course there is some sort of standard) Mine seems so far away (my point of reference is after driving a new Vette).

 

My clutch was ALL the way to the floor to disengage and immediatly started to engage right off the floor. It was a real bear to shift. I have short legs and a left hip that needed replacing. (recuperating right now) I had the clutch adjusted so it was a couple of inches off the floor and it made a huge difference in the shifting -- even with the painful hip-- Can't wait to get back in the car with my new hip.

I don't see why you can't adjust it so it is comfortable for YOU.

shmoky

 

You're working the adjustment from the wrong end. It's how much travel the pedal has from rest (fully released) to where the play is out of the linkage. It varies but this free play is usually measure at about one inch or so of pedal travel. This specification takes into account only proper clutch operation. It may leave you feeling the pedal is too close to the floor to fully disengage the clutch, but that can sometimes be subjective and not in the best interest of the clutch. Attemping to effect the adjustment by how far off the floorboard the pedal travels can lead to a clutch that doesn't fully release or a release bearing that is constantly loaded.

If you properly adjust the clutch and it seems you have to fully travel the pedal and it comes on too close to the floor, you may want to look at the linkage. Worn pivot points will give you this condition.

 

Different hardware provides different operating feel and distances. Generally, you want about an inch (1") of free-play in the pedal at the start to assure that the throw-out bearing does not have any load on it when the pedal is released. Then, if the linkage is designed and adjusted properly, the clutch should be fully applied within another 2" [or so] of pedal application....the shorter the stroke, the better, IMO.

 

On a typical GM setup, you can measure 4.750" from the engine to bell mating surface, to the pivot ball, set the pivot ball and lock it in place.

General rule of thumb is you need 1/8" to 1/4" gap between the face of the throw out bearing and the fingers of the pressure plate with the pedal all the way out at the rest position.
If you have the gap set at 1/8", the clutch will release within the first half of the pedal sweep, if you have it set at 1/4" it won't fully release until the bottom half of the pedal sweep.
If you have more than 1/4" gap, depending on how much more, you won't release until the pedal is on the floor, or not at all.

You can check this with a mechanics mirror and a shop light. Either go in thru the inspection cover on the bottom of the bell or by removing the starter and shining the light in thru the starter pocket and using the mirror, look in thru the fork hole opening and get a look at the distance between the bearing face and the fingers on the pressure plate. Adjust the clutch by the threaded adjusting rod if necessary to achieve the proper amount of gap and you are done.




Richard
Tech Support