[Mg-t] TD clutch rod broke

[Dave and Liz DuBois]

Doug,

Below is an article that I wrote around a a question by a gentleman on 
one of the T series forums online that will answer your question about 
the broken rod.

Something interesting happened on the way to the forum (actually while 
looking up information for Richard in regards to the clutch pedal stop 
in the TD/TF).  First, according to the T series Handbook, published by 
the New England Register, the pedal stop on the early TDs (TD/0251 
through TD/22250) was accomplished by the cable that operated the 
clutch.  Starting with TD22251 through the TFs, the cable was abandoned 
and a rod linkage was used to operate the clutch.  At this point, a 
clutch stop bolt was added to the bottom of the pedal box in the cars.  
The cable stop and the the clutch stop bolt effectively stops any 
further travel of the throw out bearing against the thrust plate on the 
clutch pressure plate beyond the point where the clutch disk is released 
and the prevention of possible damage to the clutch throw out bearing 
due to over travel.  Over time, the clutch cables were no longer 
produced and the early cars that had originally been equipped with the 
cable were converted to the clutch rod linkage, but since there was no 
mention anywhere about the clutch stop bolt, said bolt was not added to 
these cars.  Also the cable stop bolt in a number of the later TDs and 
in the TFs were undoubtedly lost or didn't get reinstalled during repair 
or restoration.

Fast forward a number of years and Mike O'Connor of O'Connor classics in 
California wrote an article in response to the breakage/bending of the 
main clutch rod in TD as a result of interference with the web of the 
clutch lever on the side of the sump.  Mike's cure for this problem was 
to grind the web of the clutch lever at an angle so that the clutch rod 
was no longer bothered by this web.  Also somewhere around that time 
frame, two other gentlemen in California wrote a seemingly unrelated 
article about, among other things, the missing clutch stop bolt and how 
to make one and install it in the early cars that never had one.  Both 
of these articles reside in my great file of things MG, having been read 
by me and filed for future reference (such as when someone like Richard 
asks the question about excessive clutch pedal travel).  In particular, 
Mike O'Connor's article piqued my curiosity as to why I had never had a 
problem with clutch rod breakage or bending even though the web in the 
clutch lever on our TD had never been modified.  My curiosity was 
piqued, but not sufficiently to make me explore the reason the clutch 
rod/clutch lever in our TD had not had any problem and so nothing was 
looked into or done other than check that the clutch stop bolt was in 
fact installed in our TD.  Because of Richard's question, I dug out the 
two aforementioned articles and made copies to send to Richard and it 
was then that the penny finally dropped - the missing clutch stop bolt 
was the reason for the need of Mike O'Connor's modification to the 
clutch lever on the early TD.  I also realized that I had never heard of 
a clutch rod being broken on a TF.  Serendipity is a wonderful thing.

While the O'Connor modification to the clutch lever is a quick and easy 
fix to broken clutch rods, it does not fix the root problem, nor does it 
prevent excessive pedal travel, resulting in excessive pressure being 
applied to the clutch throwout bearing or the thrust surface of the 
clutch pressure plate.  Since I can't attach anything to replies on this 
list, I will e-mail you directly with information on making and 
installing a pedal stop bolt.

Cheers,
Dave