light action Griffith Clutch

[geeeman]

hi

i have been looking at some lovely Griffiths for sale, and im seriously temped to sell my pontiac and get one.

However, i found the clutch action in a couple of them to be heavy, while one was a tad better..

Due to a knee injury i need a light-action clutch, and i wonder if there is any mod that can be done to achieve this in a griff 500, without huge expense?

thanks

[V8Bart]

Not much help I know but I am disabled and have very weak legs and serious knee issues.
I had to swap my cluth last year and went for a high torque which did make it more hard work so you might want to check but think std clutch is slightly better.
I'm sure some of the guys with more knowledge will be along.

[MPoxon]

I remember Tiff saying that the Griff 500 LEs had a lighter clutch mechanism fitted. Does anyone know the details of this and whether it can be retrospectively fitted to earlier Griffs?

I am not sure if there is a better version of the review anywhere but here it is at 22:30:
http://www.streetfire.net/video/top-gear-20010503_...

[Derek Smith]

I have the same problem with my Chim. I spoke about it to a TVR dealer and I was told that making it lighter was "no problem". The cost was around £100-£150. The place has since closed, under a bit of a cloud.

I managed to find a comfortable spot and so didn't bother although traffic can be a problem.

[MPoxon]

Derek Smith said:

I have the same problem with my Chim. I spoke about it to a TVR dealer and I was told that making it lighter was "no problem". The cost was around £100-£150. The place has since closed, under a bit of a cloud.

I managed to find a comfortable spot and so didn't bother although traffic can be a problem.

I wonder what is was that the dealer was going to do to make the clutch lighter?

[Dave Westy]

I suspect the way to make the clutch lighter is to replace either the clutch slave or master cylinder.
You could either replace the master cylinder with a smaller bore or the Slave cylinder with a larger bore. (Best check that I've got this the right way round)
Replacing the slave cylinder is the easier of the two jobs.
Master cylinders are typically about £40 - £80 and Slave cylinders about £30 - £50.

The challenge is finding a replacement part with a prefered bore.

Hope this helps

Dave

[rigga]

Was under the impression the original spec slave was now no longer available,and any replacment item would render the clutch action heavier,this i indeed found out when mine went last year and i sourced one from TVR Power,the action is indeed heavier,but not to the point you need legs of iron to opersate it,interestingly though when the car went to David Geralds for service later in the year,they remarked on the feel of the clutch,and when probed about the info i had,reckoned they could source replacement slave cylinders that would be as light in action as the original..... so who knows.

Been out and done around 80 miles on country roads in and around the midlands and i can still walk ok afterwards so the heavier clutch to me is ok,as to getting it even lighter then ive no idea but interested to find out any mods that might do it.

[geeeman]

i found it interesting that the 1 cerbera i tried had a very nice light clutch action in comparison.. ofcourse it must be a totally different setup