[Spridgets] 1275 pressure plate question

[Marc]

Filled up the transmission, started it up, and not enough clutch pedal. 
No big deal, obviously my shortened push rod is too short now. Fire up 
the mig and built it up  1/16", tried again, 2 or 3 iterations and I've 
got clutch.

So I drive it off the lift - seems ok, although the clutch starts 
engaging really close to the floor... maybe pushrod could be a lil 
longer yet.

Anyway, it seems ok, so I back it out of the garage, and do a little 3 
point maneuver to turn it around. Due to the slope and position of other 
cars in the driveway some feathering of the clutch is necessary, but 
nothing I would consider unusual. I stop the car, get out and look 
and.... yup - theres smoke coming from the bell housing. Mo%@$F#(^ing 
car... That 5 lb maul in the corner  seems to beckon...

The car seems to operate normally, no untoward noises. Everything went 
together effortlessly, easiest clutch change I've ever done. The smoke 
doesn't even smell like anything burning, certainly not like burnt 
clutch (I know what that smells like). I wiped down the pressure plate 
surface with brake cleaner before assembly. I was careful not to handle 
the clutch disk or TO bearing with greasy fingers. The pilot bearing is 
new, and was greased. The splines were very very lightly greased. The TO 
bearing was clean (and brand new).

The TO bearing clears the pressure plate when the pedal is released. 
I've never seen anything like this on any vehicle I've swapped a clutch 
on. I'm tempted to say damn the torpedos, and drive it a bit to see what 
happens. Either it will stop smoking  or stop working... or catch fire 
and redeem itself...

 

Marc wrote:
> My son & I pulled the engine & trans, swapped in the new clutch kit, and 
> reinstalled the engine Wednesday night.. Total time 2 hours, however 
> that was just bolting the engine back in, no plumbing, etc.
>
> Spent a couple leisurely hours tonight taking care of the rest of the 
> details. Realized I don't have any 20W50 oil to fill the transmission, 
> so prob tomorrow night will be the test...
>
> robertduquette at sympatico.ca wrote:
>   
>> My apologies in advance ...
>>
>>
>>
>> If they do show up for sale is it still a 'free pedal'?  ;)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>   
>>     
>>> Date: Mon, 11 May 2009 17:24:09 -0400
>>> From: smarc at smarc.net
>>>
>>> If you start seeing lots of '73 midget bits appearing for sale in
>>> the usual places, you can pretty well bet I got sick of screwing around
>>> with it...