Vixen cable clutch arrangement - help needed
Discussion
Hi I called it the ratchet witch it was , some fords like the transit had a ratchet system on the clutch pedal the guys used the plastic fullcrum part of this and the pedals to convert mine , the ford pedals are much stronger , by the way the plastic fulcrum dose pivot on the shaft hope this explains it a bit as it does work well , regards keith
That black quadrant held the cable in its central groove and there would be a pawl at the other end of it that locked the quadrant to the pedal as soon as it moved off its rest. I can't see the pawl in those pics.... is there one there, Keith?
The cable passed over that black quadrant in a smooth arc, maintaining its angle to the entry point of the outer sheath, so maybe that's all the previous owner was trying to achieve, to avoid cable breakage at the nipple and wear on the entry point into the sheath?
These were introduced on Ford's of the 80s and 90s (Escort Mk3 on, Sierra etc) and it was a clever idea to maintain constant optimum clutch adjustment; the quadrant being spring loaded to take up all available cable slack every time the pedal was against its rest, As soon as the pedal was depressed, the spring loaded pawl jammed the quadrant, thus locking it to the pedal.
The plastic parts did wear and cables still broke, and they were hated by mechanics at the time (who probably didn't understand fully how they worked!... similar to their reaction to automatic chokes!) but in fairness they were a right fiddle to repair in situ, due not only to the fag-ash laden location, but also the powerful spring on the quadrant and the fiddly red plastic bushes between the pedal and the shaft. Those bushes in the picture do not look familiar, further causing me to think that the set up here is not complete, and is merely used to improve the angle of pull on the cable.
The cable passed over that black quadrant in a smooth arc, maintaining its angle to the entry point of the outer sheath, so maybe that's all the previous owner was trying to achieve, to avoid cable breakage at the nipple and wear on the entry point into the sheath?
These were introduced on Ford's of the 80s and 90s (Escort Mk3 on, Sierra etc) and it was a clever idea to maintain constant optimum clutch adjustment; the quadrant being spring loaded to take up all available cable slack every time the pedal was against its rest, As soon as the pedal was depressed, the spring loaded pawl jammed the quadrant, thus locking it to the pedal.
The plastic parts did wear and cables still broke, and they were hated by mechanics at the time (who probably didn't understand fully how they worked!... similar to their reaction to automatic chokes!) but in fairness they were a right fiddle to repair in situ, due not only to the fag-ash laden location, but also the powerful spring on the quadrant and the fiddly red plastic bushes between the pedal and the shaft. Those bushes in the picture do not look familiar, further causing me to think that the set up here is not complete, and is merely used to improve the angle of pull on the cable.
Yes right twin cam. I was one of those fitters that had to twist his torso to fit them .at the moment It is just being used as a cable guide but I have two new ratchets that came with the car whether I should bother trying to fit one properly , could be possible as the are ford pedals . On second thoughts maybe asking for trouble aspecelly in a confined space of a vixen .
Those quadrants (more often the pawl) did used to fail....the pattern versions stocked by most local motor factors (remember them) were fairly dubious & probably added a fair bit of extra jeopardy to the situation (certain auction websites now offer similar cut price parts which look ok but last a fraction of the life of OE parts...eslecially anything containing rubber). There was a trick to doing them....most people (myself included until I cottoned on) assembled the quadrant, pawl, pawl spring & tensioning spring onto the pedal with it all held in with the shaped plastic thrust washers which pushed into either side of the pedal & had nothing other than friction to retain them. As the tensioning spring was fairly hefty it was akin to the game "Buckaroo" where the whole thing exploded in your face (whilst being wedged in the footwell of said '80s Ford). The trick was to assemble the lot but leave the tensioning spring unattached at the pedal end. Once the piviot pin was through & the washers + spring clips were in place you could use a suitably fashioned hook to stretch the spring & engage it into the hole in the pedal. I used to do quite a few as most people hated doing them.
I have seen a similar setup which was manually adjusted with a long threaded bolt on the pedal which acted as the stop for the quadrant. I think it was a transit but can't quite remember for sure!
As mentioned earlier in the thread pretty much everything Ford pre auto adjuster had adjustment at the gearbox end of the cable, a plastic sleeve through the bell housing & two 17mm locknuts on the cable outer. No top stop on the pedal & adjusted to get the pedals level & keep some free play.
Cheers,
Stew.
I have seen a similar setup which was manually adjusted with a long threaded bolt on the pedal which acted as the stop for the quadrant. I think it was a transit but can't quite remember for sure!
As mentioned earlier in the thread pretty much everything Ford pre auto adjuster had adjustment at the gearbox end of the cable, a plastic sleeve through the bell housing & two 17mm locknuts on the cable outer. No top stop on the pedal & adjusted to get the pedals level & keep some free play.
Cheers,
Stew.
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