mauriw
Author
Discussion

mauriw

Original Poster:

8 posts

173 months

Saturday 23rd April 2011
quotequote all
HI am a new Member. I own a 1962 Grantura 11A which I have owned since 1985. Much work has been done over that period but has had little road use and I now have a car with seized Brakes and clutch. I have just rebuilt the front calipers and now trying to bleed the rears. The bleed nipples are difficult to open the nearside is particularly awkward because of the handbrake assembly. My main question is how to approch the seized clutch. I have fitted a new Slave cylinder but do not want to put too mush pressure on it. I am elderly and I will want to sell the car when I can establish some idea of its worth. Mostly original but repro. bonnet 1622 Engine. any suggestions appreciated. The car is listed on TVR Jomar Registry Chassis No.7B515

Adrian@

4,420 posts

299 months

Saturday 23rd April 2011
quotequote all
Do you know if you can look into the side of the clutch along side the lever arm...seeing these rarely, my thoughts are that you cannot, (I visualise the lever arm mounted on top of the bellhousing) which if this is the case then splitting the box off might be the only option.
Adrian@

tvrski

248 posts

239 months

Saturday 23rd April 2011
quotequote all
put it in first gear and start the car with the clutch pedal to the floor (or as far as it will go), while driving there is a big chance your clutch gets loose again.

DavidY

4,489 posts

301 months

Saturday 23rd April 2011
quotequote all
Equally put it on axle stands and start in gear, leave it to run for 30mins or so, you should then be able to free clutch, first gear change will be a bit brutal though!

thegamekeeper

2,282 posts

299 months

Saturday 23rd April 2011
quotequote all
tvrski said:
put it in first gear and start the car with the clutch pedal to the floor (or as far as it will go), while driving there is a big chance your clutch gets loose again.
Probably not the best advice for a car with no brakes and not used for many years. He said he,s elderly and wants to sell it, not die in it

thegamekeeper

2,282 posts

299 months

Saturday 23rd April 2011
quotequote all
mauriw said:
HI am a new Member. I own a 1962 Grantura 11A which I have owned since 1985. Much work has been done over that period but has had little road use and I now have a car with seized Brakes and clutch. I have just rebuilt the front calipers and now trying to bleed the rears. The bleed nipples are difficult to open the nearside is particularly awkward because of the handbrake assembly. My main question is how to approch the seized clutch. I have fitted a new Slave cylinder but do not want to put too mush pressure on it. I am elderly and I will want to sell the car when I can establish some idea of its worth. Mostly original but repro. bonnet 1622 Engine. any suggestions appreciated. The car is listed on TVR Jomar Registry Chassis No.7B515
Unfortunatley the only realistic cure for the clutch is to fit a new one. If its stuck on the flywheel or stuck on the splines then it really needs replacing which is an engine out job. Also with the brakes, you really need to replace both rear wheel cylinders and probably the master cylinder. If the bleed nipples are seized the pistons probably will be also and even if they are not, as soon as they start to move the seals will fail, leak and result in no brakes. No second chance with brakes!!!!

tvrski

248 posts

239 months

Saturday 23rd April 2011
quotequote all
thegamekeeper said:
Probably not the best advice for a car with no brakes and not used for many years. He said he,s elderly and wants to sell it, not die in it
offcourse you don't do this before fixing the brakes! and attaching a steering wheel, and putting some good tires on, and washing your windows, etc.

mauriw

Original Poster:

8 posts

173 months

Sunday 24th April 2011
quotequote all
Thanks for all the suggestions. The clutch was a new one originally. I was'nt sure if it was Engine out (beyond me) or whether if the propshaft was removed (after marking the H/S positions) whether there was enough room to split gearbox from bellhousing. I was going to try putting the car on axle stands at the rear and try warming it through once I had sorted the brakes out. Anyway thanks for all suggestions

Mauriw

Adrian@

4,420 posts

299 months

Sunday 24th April 2011
quotequote all
IMHO the 2a drive train is not strong enough to withstand shunt abuse and PERHAPS you should use a broom or something to press the pedal and then get under the car and with a hot air gun blow into the bell housing area trying to warm the rear of the flywheel whilst running the engine as there is so little heat transfer between the 2 you need to generate the heat.
The root cause is old clutch materials which are steel based (unlike modern brass based materials) which in truth WILL only stick on again and again (as I mentioned previously on other threads aged new old stock clutches/brakes should NOT be purchased) and a replacement is the best advice...granted you at this time want the cheapest route.
Adrian@

DavidY

4,489 posts

301 months

Sunday 24th April 2011
quotequote all
Adrian

With it on axle stands there is not much shunt abuse as everything is free to turn, ie there is no friction created with the road surface. I'm sure that running the car like this for some time will generate enough heat to enable the clutch to be freed. Yes you could apply additional heat, but that may spend a lot of time heating the casing. (You could always light a fire underneath, accepted practise for WWII tanks that wouldn't start, vut I wouldn't recommend it!)

thegamekeeper

2,282 posts

299 months

Monday 25th April 2011
quotequote all
Mauriw, when you said the clutch was new originally, how long ago was that? Adrian,you should warn all the guys running Granturas in historic racing about the weakness in the transmission! "B" series (MOWOG) components were not exactly precision engineering by modern days standards but was very "agricultural" so pretty robust.
There is plenty of heat generated by the engine running for a while to warm everything up but its the inertia of the flywheel accelerating and decelerating which will break the bond between the driven plate and the flywheel which will free it if anything will. You will probably find the bellhousing and the gearbox are integral if its an original MG Magnette gearbox.
David, I think they used to light the fires to thaw out the diesel but not many of those tanks were made of GRP.

DavidY

4,489 posts

301 months

Monday 25th April 2011
quotequote all
Steve, it was meant as a joke!

thegamekeeper

2,282 posts

299 months

Monday 25th April 2011
quotequote all
Thanks for explaining that.

Adrian@

4,420 posts

299 months

Monday 25th April 2011
quotequote all
Steve, David, My thoughts are ...not a weakness in any sense when things the road wheels are on the ground BUT in full droop I would not want to even rotate the suspension let alone trying to break the stuck clutch off, a little bit of mechanical sympathy is called for.
Now the problem has been raised I will look at Richard Carters 2a (as part of the rebuild that is on going) and a simple as an access port in the casting that we can put a blanking plug of some kind is called for.
Adrian@
Funnily enough job for today....clutch stuck on a 3000S, I better get on with it.

DavidY

4,489 posts

301 months

Monday 25th April 2011
quotequote all
Adrian

Full droop is not required, put axle stands under the chassis, and then jack up the hub carriers using trolley jacks (and wood spacers)

Adrian@

4,420 posts

299 months

Monday 25th April 2011
quotequote all
David...A job for a skilled mechanic ...not me then...MY customers stuck clutch sorted.....8 mins..1 x broom handle to hold clutch down, 1 x specially adapted long screw driver and a Birmingham screw driver...jobs done!!
Adrian@

matchless_mike

51 posts

218 months

Monday 25th April 2011
quotequote all
Good advice here from those who know and can do. However, my advice would be to sell the car as it is. If its recommissioning required, best pass it on to an enthusiast with the time, know how and energy. I'm sure the car will fetch a good price as they are rarely for sale.

TVRHTV

50 posts

174 months

Wednesday 27th April 2011
quotequote all
I'm about to change the clutch on my 1800S, talk of "engine out" is making me think I'm not going to be able to do it by removing the gearbox, discuss!

Thanks
Kit

Adrian@

4,420 posts

299 months

Wednesday 27th April 2011
quotequote all
TVRHTV said:
I'm about to change the clutch on my 1800S, talk of "engine out" is making me think I'm not going to be able to do it by removing the gearbox, discuss!

Thanks
Kit
IMHO...I take the bonnet off and pull both.
Adrian@

TVRHTV

50 posts

174 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2011
quotequote all
IMHO...I take the bonnet off and pull both.
Adrian@ (how do you get previous text in that nice little box?)

Adrian, thanks for the information, unfortunately I do not have an engine crane or hoist and will be changing the clutch on my drive (the weather will change immediately I start) which is why I would prefer to drop the box with the car on ramps. Is it that the bell housing bolts are inaccessible or an other reason for suggesting engine and box out together?

Thanks

Kit