S3C Clutch Operating Arm

[davedogfish]

I'm in the process of replacing a rather weepy clutch slave cylinder. Having mastered the keyhole surgery skills required to remove the cylinder and its mounting plate, got over the shock of paying TVRcarparts £70 for what looks to be a standard TR7/Rover SD1 part and reassembled the unit I am faced with a small dilemma. There's a choice of two holes on the clutch release arm for the cone-shaped spigot on the end of the operating rod - a small hole at the end of the arm and a slightly larger one just inboard of this. Whilst the holes are linked, once inserted, the spigot doesn't appear to be designed to slide freely between the two. I would appreciate any advice re. which hole I should locate the spigit in when re-installing the cylinder and mounting plate.

Thanks Dave

[phillpot]

The hole in the clutch arm is normally a sort of "keyhole" shape, the big round bit being at the in board end and the slot bit going towards the end (this was designed by Ford for cable operation). The pushrod should push against the larger (inboard) part of the hole. This design (I use the term loosely,bodge might be a better description) usually wears a groove in the "ball" part of the pushrod.



This is an arm I modified to try and make a better "fit" between the pushrod and arm.



HTH Mike.

Edited by phillpot on Thursday 16th February 21:04

[davedogfish]

Mike, many thanks. I should have figured this out myself but I forgot about the cable clutch origins. Although the point of the spigot does fit through the small hole this leaves the rod emerging from the end of the slave cylinder offset at a 20 degree angle. Your mod to the clutch release fork looks to be a great improvement but I think I'll wait until a clutch change before following suit. I really appreciate your help and the images you've posted.

Dave

[Griffinr]

This thread prompted me to look at my slave cylinder push rod especially as the clutch had begun to feel “different” recently. Sure enough the push rod ball had worn badly and was now running in the wrong hole. So out with the welder and file and all is well again. Thought I’d check a few other things while I was under there as the starter had also started sounding “different”. Just as well I checked as one bolt was missing and the other was loose. A few more checks revealed loose bellhousing bolts as well. Not sure if these things were never tightened properly in the dim and distant past or they have worked loose but I will be doing a periodic check in future.
Rob.