smorris

Sent you a PM, if you don't need all 5 , I could use one!

perryinva

Thanks for the pic, Mike! I hope to do this over the weekend. I picked up the $4, 4 spring set from Home Depot a few weeks ago, and had assumed you use one of the 2 shorter ones, not the longer ones! That's a lot of spring to fit in there. Was there any trick to loading the new one in?

mklein9

perryinv, I got the springs from McMaster-Carr, not Home Depot, so I can't tell what will happen with those. There was nothing special to do. Take the original spring out, put the new one in (I greased the ends lightly with lithium grease paste). It takes a push to get it seated but the first time it is compressed in the body that's taken care of.

TheInfamousDrew

Did this yesterday. It killed my back, however WOW what a difference.
I had trouble getting it out because there wasn't enough room to slide the pin out.

In the end I just pushed the clutch to the floor, twisted the assembly, and pulled it out.
Makes the clutch feel 1000x better. No more crunch at the end of the travel. I felt like I was going to break something when I pressed it...lol


Anymore free, cheap or easy mods?

mklein9

I have about a month and a thousand miles on the reduced-spring mod and it is most definitely a keeper. As I mentioned in a previous post I could consider a slightly weaker spring still but this is just fine. Cruise control works perfectly and almost all the precise feeling of having no spring is still there. Shifting is ultra fast with no jerks, and I rarely stall (and only because with this mod I can engage first gear at such a low RPM I kind of sometimes go too far).

I happened to drive a friend's 2002 Turbo last week. He had asked his mechanic about the clutch spring mod and the mechanic said no, the Turbo is different, it doesn't need it. But of all the things that are wonderful about the Turbo, the clutch is not one. It feels like mine did before the mod: super soft, no feeling of where engagement is, have to rev up to start in first, jerky shifts.

perryinva

Praise the Lord, we-a have-a clutch feel again!! Used the Home Depot spring, seems like it would be too light to be effective, but it works the champ! Like others, I never realized engagement was so high up, but now feathering and engagement is effortless. I notice very very little increase in foot effort, certainly not even remotely enough to ever go back to the old spring. THANK YOU to all that paved the trail for this no brainer mod. Wow. I really can't believe the difference. Seriously, by far the absolute least expensive ($4!) best 1/2 hour mod of all time on any car I've ever owned.

Likewise, you better be pretty limber with a good back to do this. And already have the dowel cut to the right length to hold the clutch pedal down, which I already had from power flushing & bleed of my brakes.

iim1awh

Just finished doing this mod this morning, for what turned out to be a super simple mod the improvement in the driving experience is spectacular. I am of to home depot for the recommended spring and will be reinstalling it in a few days after I put some additional miles on the car.

Toon

I have done this mod in the past but now wanting to put the spring back in.
I have been having a go at it far a couple hours now but no matter what I try it - I can't get it back in.

Could anyone tell me please how to put teh spring back in as I'm clearly missing some vital inforation on this ....

Thanks!

heliflyer

At the risk of being flamed, you guys that are brought up with automatics just need to learn to drive a stick shift!! :-)

Toon

I'd rather see awnser to my qn.

nick49

Ha, ha!

When I learned to drive, pushing a clutch was a chore. And on a truck, you needed serious leg muscles. At a stop light you learned to find neutral quickly. Holding the clutch disengaged for any period of time and you'd get the "sewing machine leg" syndrome. I now only get it from being stuck on a pitch while rock climbing.


Oh, sorry I can't remember how to put the spring back in as it was over 6 years ago I started this thread.

mklein9

Toon, here are the steps to put the spring back in.

1) Gather the tools you'll need (small screwdriver or two, small pliers, safety glasses, flashlight and/or shop light). Decide if you can push the clutch pedal down yourself or need some help from a piece of wood or a helpful bystander. Park the car where you have plenty of room on the driver's side for flailing body parts and other items.

2) Make sure you have the spring assembly tensioned with a nail in the rod's hole. If not, you have to compress the spring and put a nail in

3) Wriggle underneath the dash and get all your tools within reach. Turn the light on and make sure it stays put.

4) Pull off the air duct. Bend it where the corrugation is and pull one end at a time.

5) Push the clutch pedal down part way and look carefully at the place in the clutch mechanism where the "business end" of the spring will mate. You must clearly determine which side has the hexagonal hole. I spent a good half hour struggling with this, certain of my impeccable memory, until I realized I was trying to push a hexagonal end into a round hole and vice versa.

6) Now push the clutch pedal most or all of the way down. Point the spring assembly with the rod (with the nail in it) pointing straight up (vertical), and the cross bar on the other end of the spring assembly oriented so that hexagonal end is on the same side as the hexagonal hole in the clutch mechanism. Wiggle and rotate the spring assembly a little bit while pushing it up through the clutch mechanism; it doesn't take much wiggling and will go right through. Let the two little stubs on the sides of the spring assembly rest into the receptacles on the clutch mechanism. The spring is now in position for the next step.

7) This is the hard part, but once you figure it out it literally takes only a few seconds. It's hard because a lot of things have to line up right while you are holding the clutch pedal part way up. Let the clutch pedal up just a little bit and at the same time pivot the spring assembly around the stubs so the cross bar at the "business end" of the spring assembly meets its receptacles on the clutch mechanism. The rod (with nail) will be pointing somewhere into the passenger compartment. You will quickly see how much to pivot and how much to let the clutch up so they meet. Here again be absolutely sure you are matching hexagonal end with hexagonal hole. Once you have the cross bar just entering the receptacles, try letting the clutch pedal up a bit more and confirm that the spring assembly's cross bar ends snap into place in their receptacles. You may need to do this a couple of times, lining things up a little better each time. You'll figure it out but it would be nice to have a photo here. This is the part that if you are really good at this it takes just a few seconds.

8) Once the cross bar is in the receptacles, all the hard work is done. Let the clutch pedal out slowly and confirm that everything stays lined up and the spring's cross bar is fully engaged in the receptacles. Once you let the clutch pedal all the way up, the nail will either fall out or you can pull it out from the top, depending on which way it was put in originally.

9) Replace the air duct. You are done.

Toon

Mike - thanks for the instructions !!

So this is exactly as I thought it needed to go.
Now I need to figure out how to have the clutch engaged and at the same time wiggle the spring into the bracket.

Holding it down with one hand and trying to fix the spring with the other doesn't do it for me as I clearly come 1 hand short

I've seen people mention a dovel or stick but would't that be in the way on where I needed to lie in the end ?

Thanks !

perryinva

Without the right size dowel/broomstick, you would have to have monstrous arm strength at an awkward angle to push in the clutch. The stick absolutely does not get in the way, though it does seem it would. You anchor the stick on the passenger side of the drivers seat bend in the floor. Works perfect. I'll measure my stick and post.

And I absolutely did learn (1972), and have always owned standard shift cars and trucks my whole life, though my current truck is an auto. The vague engagement of the clutch with the original spring has nothing to do with that at all, there is just zero feel of the where the clutch actually engages. Replacing the spring does make the clutch a little harder to use, but the feel is near perfect. If you think it is fine as is, then either your car is the exception, or you haven't tried the lighter spring mod and don't realize what you are missing. It is a HUGE improvement.

BTW, the Home Depot kit comes with 2 long and 2 short springs. You do have to widen the actual ID of one end of the long spring with a pair of needle nose to make it seat right, but it is a very small amount. I also wondered if you can double up, one long, one short, end to end, as the long spring is pretty soft, and a slight stiffer one may help. Anyone try that?

6ta1

very good instructions, wish I had paid more attention before doing it this morning as I think I messed up step 7. It still worked though as the home depot spring tension is enough to keep the cross bar pushed again the clutch pedal assembly (hard to explain what I am trying to say)

Clutch action is very much improved with a more "positive" feel of when it engages.

Shifts are faster & smoother which makes heel & toe much easier to do.

Anyone who feels that the pedal is too stiff after this mod seriously need to get back in shape. I have had bone stock cars with the same pedal stiffness.