I may talking out of school here, but given the conditions you describe, it
sounds to me that the taper pin has gone 'round the bend.
In my experience, if the clutch goes suddenly( as it sounds like in your
case), then the fork is rotating just enough on the cross-shaft
to not allow the clutch to engage or dis-engage fully. The symptoms you
describe fit the diagnosis well. !. The pedal still felt pretty much the
same. It will if the hydraulics are good, as it sounds like your's
are. When the taper pin broke on my '76 TR6 at 21,000 miles, I had no idea
what was wrong. Upon pulling the trans, I learned hat not only had the pin
broken, but the fork had spilit just above the pin. Double whammy!
I installed a used fork from a 1959 TR3, ( it's the same BTW), because I
did not have the approx. $75. for a new fork from the usual suppliers at
the time. It lasted 20 years until this year's tear down, at which point I
decided to do the 'magic clutch' deal , including a roll pin thru the new
fork so that the taper pin won't get a chance to break.
Just MHO,
Jeff Johnson
Triumphless for the time being, undergoing engine rebuild,
However, I've been powdercoating everything I can get my hands on,
including my brother's '69 MGB restore project car and my nephew's mustang
project car.
LBC's forever!
Powdercoat rules!
12:21 AM 6/17/00, Roger Elliott wrote:
>Hi,
>
>I sent this to the Spitfire list and didn't get what I felt was the
>"unquestionably" right answer ;) , so I thought I would try the Triumph
>list. By the way for the TR folks, the Spitfire has just a metal pipe
>from the master cylinder to the slave cylinder - no rubber hoses.
>
>I have an unusual (I think) problem with the clutch on my 80 Spitfire.
>I was driving to the Heartland MG meet and pulled into a McDonald's.
>The clutch felt just a little strange as I was coming to a stop.
>
>Well, when I came back out, the engine cranked over kind of slow then
>started up. I let off the hand brake and pulled it out of first -THEN I
>started rolling back which seemed a little odd. It wouldn't go into
>reverse without grinding, as a matter of fact it wouldn't go into any
>gear without grinding.
>
>Pumping the clutch made no real difference. It helped a little but not
>much. The pedal feel is normal as far as I can tell, but I can't
>shift. (I know this sounds like a clutch that isn't fully bled and not
>disengaging completely, but read on.)
>
>We decided to take my Spitfire and put it in the garage and just take
>Pat's 250 to the show. On the way to the garage, I discovered that the
>clutch is slipping and I can't go over 60 mph. That sounds like it
>isn't engaging well enough. So this sounds like opposite ends of the
>problem - the clutch won't engage fully and it won't disengage fully.
>
>The clutch has around 20,000 miles (I have never worn out a clutch that
>quick). I recently rebuilt the master and slave cylinders and flushed
>the lines so I could change to silicone fluid. The master cylinder is
>still full of fluid. I see no leaks from the slave, the bolt that the
>throwout arm pivots on is in place. That is about all I have been able
>to determine so far.
>
>Does anyone have any suggestions? At the moment, my best guess is the
>rebuild on either the master or the slave failed. Neither were leaking
>when I rebuilt them, which was done solely for the purpose of switching
>to silicone.
>
>Thanks,
>Roger Elliott
>80 Spitfire
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