Something broke with the clutch. I heard a crack/pop when I pressed the pedal down, when trying to shift from second to third gear, and then the pedal would not return back up. Slowed down a bit and managed to get back into second gear.

I have now removed the floor board and found a broken clutch return spring that had snapped into two pieces.

But I am worried about the clutch cable, because I can rather easily move the pedal up and down. How much force should be required to operate the clutch?

Btw, the car is an -79 SC

Regards,
Tommy

 

The clutch arm in the trans bellhousing is known to fail, could be what you hear go snap...But, you didn't say where the sound was?

 

My guess would be a broken clutch cable, or clevis near the pedal attachment. Perhaps broken pedal bushing.

 

The clutch return spring is obviously broken. My worries is that something else also broke ...

 

The "omega" over-center helper spring went away...FAST.

 

Recently, my clutch fork cracked enough that only one arm (tyne?) was engaging the throw-out bearing. Upon pulling the engine it was discovered that the Omega spring had vanished!

The pressure now required on the clutch pedal is maybe half what it was before replacing the clutch fork and Omega spring. And, the car now has a slightly stiffer pressure plate than before (I put in a Sachs "Sport" pressure plate and disk, which, by the way is partially aluminum and 5# lighter than stock).

The fork failure caused the clutch to not disengage completely, but the pedal travel didn't change nor was there any real change in pedal pressure. Perhaps the OP's clutch fork completely failed and/or the Omega spring did.

Good luck.