[FC] Clutch Problems in my FC (part III)

[Bill Wells]

Charles,

If you have the clutch parts installed properly and
have not mixed early and late, this should not be that
hard. Here are the items I have had to deal with on my
FCs to get the clutch operating.
1)Check the clutch cable. The rubber isolated cable
mount at the rear can go bad and allow movement under
load. This will subtract from your total cable pull
amount.
2)Make sure you have both the front and rear pull-back
springs installed.
3)Beware of thick carpet and mats under the clutch
pedal. You need as much travel as possible. That
clutch pedal needs to be able to go all the way to the
floor. Remember, stock was a rubber mat.
4) I have never been able to use the adjustment
procedure in the shop manual. You are not going to be
able to have a nice slack cable with the clutch
engaged and full dis-engagement possible. I adjust by
shortening the pull rod clevis until I can just get
the pin in by hand. I then start the engine and ensure
I can get into first and reverse easily, with no
crunch. If I have to tighten a turn more to do this, I
do it.
5)Do not try to use heavy duty pressure plates with
FCs. Everyone in my club(North Texas Corvair
Assoc.)who has tried has regretted it. The extra
spring pressure causes even more flex in the clutch
linkage and can cause you to over-shorten the linkage
to get it to dis-engage.

Now for the disclaimer. I have never owned an NOS FC
clutch cable. All of my FCs are well used and the
experiences I have had may be due to used parts. Also,
make sure you have everything inside the bellhousing
in order before blaming the linkage.

Good luck,
Bill
--- * Greenbrier Goon * <greenbriergoon@hotmail.com>
wrote:
> Hey everybody:
> 
> As some of you know, I have converted my late 1963
> Greenbrier from a 
> Powerglide to a 4 speed. It has a stock 1963 engine
> with the early-style 
> flywheel and clutch.
> 
> I am still having clutch problems.  It seems as
> though pushing down the 
> clutch pedal does not pull the cable far enough to
> fully disengage the 
> clutch.
> 
> Some people offered the suggestion of lengthening
> the pedal or converting to 
> hydraulic.
> 
> Today I designed and built a lever setup that pulled
> the rod that is 
> attached to the clutch fork futher than it would
> normally go.  It seemed to 
> solve the problem at first, but once the engine
> warmed up, shifting became 
> difficult again and I had to crunch it into reverse.
> 
> The only thing left is to pull out the whole
> drivetrain and see if something 
> is going wrong with the clutch.  When I installed
> the flywheel, I used a 
> steel disc under the bolts that Clarks sells.  I
> assumed it was supposed to 
> be there even though the parts-van I used for this
> conversion did not have 
> one.  Maybe the bolts are hitting the rivits on the
> clutch disc.
> 
> I also suspect a problem with the pilot bearing and
> input shaft.  I used an 
> NOS input shaft along with a new pilot bearing and
> it seemed like a very 
> snug fit between the two parts.
> 
> It also seems that the clutch fork may have a
> problem.  I am not sure if the 
> ball that it rides on is supposed to be adjusted to
> a certain height or not. 
>   It seems like it has to move a long way before the
> T/O bearing makes 
> contact with the pressure plate.
> 
> I am pretty sure the I have the correct pressure
> plate, disc and T/O 
> bearing.  When I bought them, I compared them to the
> parts I took out of the 
> donor vehicle.  They looked the same.
> 
> Charles



	
		
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