I had a similar situation due to leaving my
rebuilt-engine-and-clutch-but-less-than-fully-restored 66B in a humid
New Jersey garage for a year or two. I worried about this for a while,
then decided to follow the draconian-sounding advice I'd been given: I
jacked up the rear to keep the wheels of the ground, started the engine
and (with no real load on the drive system), gingerly changed gears a
few times while pumping the clutch. The mild shocks to the drive train
broke loose the clutch in a few moments with no evident damage to the
trans, which is the more fragile, but correct early style. The clutch
feel showed no signs of roughness afterwards, so the rust must have been
pretty superficial. I've heard one can also fix this by driving the car
(starting in 1st gear) and shift gingerly, but this seems a little more
risky to me.
So now a question for those who have actually taken such a frozen clutch
apart: is the rust on the input shaft splines?
Geoff Cram
66B
gcram@wdni.com
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From: Anthony Rayner
To: MGB
Subject: Clutch rusted shut!!
Date: Tuesday, August 20, 1996 5:01AM
Dear all, I have a bit of a problem! My fully restored MGB('65, mark I)
is in Australia while I'm travelling around the world. I've been away
for
6 months so far (working in scotland) and I left my car at my parents
place. They are starting the engine up for me about every 2-3 weeks,
but
I forgot to tell them that they should drive it around a bit too...to
stop
the clutch from rusting shut. Well...too late, the clutch doesn't want
to
disengage now! I won't be home for another 6 months so has anyone got
any
ideas on the best way to loosen the clutch up such that it works
again...but without having to pull the engine out or anything? I have a
few ideas but nothing very good to be honest! Help! I don't really
want
to get home and have to replace the clutch unless I have to! It worked
just prefectly when I left! Thanks everyone! Tony Rayner
charayne@dingo.uq.oz.au '65 MGB mark I
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