Not long after I got the car, it suddenly lost the ability to shift gears and the clutch didn’t allow free wheeling so I had the car towed. I pulled out the gear box and bell housing. Upon inspection I found no fault that would cause the failure to shift. The parts seemed worn and the release bearing was dry. I repacked the bearing, but was strongly encouraged to replace that with a new one. I couldn’t locate a new one. I still didn’t know what caused the failure so, like a true professional I started replacing everything.

Tim Engel revealed the existence of the clutch cable front abutment, which proved to be the issue. I could have replaced that for no out of pocket expense. I made one that will never break and looks like it came out of the Flintstone car.

By then, because I knew too little to assess the true condition of the components, I had already begun wholesale parts replacement which would also ensure that this operation would never be necessary again in my life time. New cable, pilot bearing, disc, release bearing, & pressure plate. It’s not the brightest way to do things, but I was baffled and wanted a one time permanent absolutely assured solution.  I wasn’t sure how long the present components would last and calculated that if I returned them to the car, they would wait until I had neither means nor ability to repair them, then fail catastrophically. So it made sense to get all new parts.

As

As it turns out, the disc and pressure plate were fine. I’d probably use them again. I was put off by the grooves and rust. The rust is nothing. The grooves seemed not to impede the effectiveness of the unit appreciably.

I have lost some more of my ignorance, replacing it with knowledge at the cost of money and time.

I had never replaced a clutch. Rather than follow in my footsteps, consider the following costs.

Kit: somewhere around $450

Pilot bearing: $10 and a couple of hours to fetch it from the big city.

machining on of the release bearing carrier: $60 because my carrier was an odd ball and I took it in twice.

Centering dowel: $10

New split pins, $16 or so. Split pin removal and replacement is apparently an art I have now learned. It was nearly impossible, but now is no big deal.

Knowledge and experience = power.

I also sourced the drive line shims and will use them when next I do drive line service. By then the split pin on the side that needs shimmed will be broken and I’ll know where to put them. I caught on a little late this time. Harmless, but will fix.

Numerous replacement fasteners because they fall into some fourth dimension when I pull the guts out of my car and are missing when I  return the guts to their places even when I stick them into labeled baggies: $20

Paint and deadly chemicals because I discover things that need dressing up: $70

White bread: $2  Used to expel the old pilot bearing.

Long drift pins with the dome on the end: $20

I don’t remember what the new cable cost me.

While the gear box was out I stripped the exterior surfaces and got them squeaky clean then painted them with Por 15

Here is my descriptor for removing the pilot bearing.

Fact: Knowing what I know now, I only needed to replace the abutment, clean the dry grease off the slide shaft, and pack the release bearing.

The new clutch introduced a new issue. It was grabby, which I now ascribe not to the clutch kit but to it’s drenching with sticky coolant when I replaced the thermostat. It was also full on full off with no in-between. Between the two conditions the car was a royal pain in stop and go traffic which I then excelled in finding.

Now I know all the steps and sequences and can actually maintain my clutch that will never fail again.

I pulled the clutch and cleaned it all up and extended the carrier bearing a bit closer to the springs.

At the end, I tried turning the wheels in gear to assist in tensioning the outer belt on the cam pully. It didn’t work. I was sure I’d developed a catastrophic problem causing the clutch not to grab. Both wheels were off the ground. When I dropped the car off the jack stands all was well but until then I was sure I’d have to pull it all apart again.

This last issue, which was no issue at all, was the one that forced me to analyze and learn how the clutch actually does it’s magic.

Happy ending.