art

I've only been driving this for a short while, but the clutch effort is very high, and makes it tough to drive well. Cable is new, pedal bushings are new, etc. There is no binding or other problems in the system. The bushings on the release arm are loose and must be worn some.

I saw mention of a hydraulic conversion by H&H, but can't find any info-they don't seem to have a website. I thought about using a concentric slave cyl. I have done this on other cars and it works well.

Would adding the helper spring from a later car be an alternative?

Does anyone know if a centerforce PP would help? They only seem to advertise for increased holding power, not for lighter effort, so they may not have a 'stock' application.

Thanks

Peter Zimmermann

art: This is almost impossible to answer without seeing the car, but here are some things to check. (1)Under the back of the car, along the left side of the transmission, is where you'll find the bowden tube (the black part of the clutch cable that anchors at the firewall and under the diff). The bowden tube must go over the top of the throttle lever on the side of the trans. If it goes under it will bind as you depress the clutch pedal. (2) There are aftermarket cables that produce an unusually high pedal effort - try to verify your cable's origin. (3) Under the pedal board you should have a helper spring on the pedal assembly. It will be about 5 inches long, and the coils will only be at one end. If this spring is missing it must be installed.
You don't say how old the clutch is. If it's quite old (50K miles +) the grease for the throwout bearing might be dried out, or the pressure plate itself might be bad. I've seen pressure plates common to your year car produce an extremely heavy pedal. I don't know if Sachs mis-manufactured some, but I've removed engines, replaced the pressure plate, and fixed the car. These are some starting points for you...
Pete

art

Pete,

Thanks for the thoughts. This turned out to be an un-exorcised demon of past mechanics. The mount on the trans for the clutch cable was broken off when I got it, so I had made one, but the release arm had been put on in the wrong position so that it had decreasing mechanical advantage as it swung, and more importantly the cable was put into a much more severe bend due to compression than it should have been. I mocked up a new mount after rotating the release arm to a more suitable position and it made a BIG difference. I will make a new cable mount today and should be in good shape.

Peter Zimmermann

art: Good deal - I've had to "create" a couple of cable anchor points myself over the years. Good catch on the arm mounting position...
Pete