Greetings!
No, I haven't been incarcerated or hospitalized, I've just been busy enjoying the Holidays and family in recent weeks and haven't updated my blog. Most of the time spent in the shop have been spent on Gary's '51 Chevy coupe, and most of THAT time has seen me under the dashboard laying on my back wiring up the new and refurbished gauges & other components. It's finally finished and the car runs well. I tried to drive it out of the shop and had a problem disengaging the clutch. I have a hydraulic system on the car but putting more force on the pedal just flexes the hanging pedal assembly but doesn't disengage the clutch.
I finally broke down and called my friend Tim from Tim's repair in Sunnyside and the two of us carefully worked the clutch pedal and observed the action under the car. Apparently the hydraulic system is just fine, but the mechanical components inside the bell housing are stuck. So, I removed the darn transmission and aluminum bell housing to inspect the clutch arm action. Did you know that a Saginaw 4-speed manual transmission weighs 80lbs? I'm just glad I exercise regularly, because it was difficult to bring the heavy transmission down from the frame mounts unassisted. My next shop is going to have a car lift so I can do this standing up (and able to jump out of the way).
With the transmission and bell housing mocked up on the floor I worked the release fork several times, watching the relationship of the moving parts. Clearly, it was binding whenever pressure was applied to the clutch pedal.
Looking at the open end of the bell housing you can see the fresh parts, but can you see that the clutch fork fingers aren't in the center of the clutch release bearing? I checked the part number on the fork and its made for a mid '70s GM car. While in town recently, I went to the auto parts store and bought a new fork for a '78 GM application and brought it home to compare the two.
The mouth of the new release fork was about 6/100ths of an inch wider and the retaining spring in the back is about that same distance different also. I installed the new fork and simulated the clutch action and it works perfectly! All I have to do now is bench press the trans back into the chassis and hook everything back up. That'll be a half day's work or better, but that's okay; I'm looking forward to driving this creampuff.
Gary came out to the shop recently to check on progress and had really hoped to hear the car run, now that we have the new exhaust system installed. Unfortunately, I'd taken enough things apart, including the exhaust system, that I couldn't start the car during his visit. I'll be sure to call him as soon as I button things back up. Anybody interested in buying a mid-70s GM clutch release fork?
Doug
No, I haven't been incarcerated or hospitalized, I've just been busy enjoying the Holidays and family in recent weeks and haven't updated my blog. Most of the time spent in the shop have been spent on Gary's '51 Chevy coupe, and most of THAT time has seen me under the dashboard laying on my back wiring up the new and refurbished gauges & other components. It's finally finished and the car runs well. I tried to drive it out of the shop and had a problem disengaging the clutch. I have a hydraulic system on the car but putting more force on the pedal just flexes the hanging pedal assembly but doesn't disengage the clutch.
I finally broke down and called my friend Tim from Tim's repair in Sunnyside and the two of us carefully worked the clutch pedal and observed the action under the car. Apparently the hydraulic system is just fine, but the mechanical components inside the bell housing are stuck. So, I removed the darn transmission and aluminum bell housing to inspect the clutch arm action. Did you know that a Saginaw 4-speed manual transmission weighs 80lbs? I'm just glad I exercise regularly, because it was difficult to bring the heavy transmission down from the frame mounts unassisted. My next shop is going to have a car lift so I can do this standing up (and able to jump out of the way).
With the transmission and bell housing mocked up on the floor I worked the release fork several times, watching the relationship of the moving parts. Clearly, it was binding whenever pressure was applied to the clutch pedal.
The mouth of the new release fork was about 6/100ths of an inch wider and the retaining spring in the back is about that same distance different also. I installed the new fork and simulated the clutch action and it works perfectly! All I have to do now is bench press the trans back into the chassis and hook everything back up. That'll be a half day's work or better, but that's okay; I'm looking forward to driving this creampuff.
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| Gary's coupe up on the rack at the muffler shop getting a complete system installed. We used Flowmaster Hushpower mufflers to give it a mellow 50s sound. I wish I had this lift at my shop, especially when removing transmissions! |
Doug
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