[TR] The story (drags on) continues

[Randall]

> The bear facts are I bled, re-bled I don't know
> how many times today.

Isn't that the definition of insanity?  Doing the same thing over and over and expecting to get a different result?
<g>

In other words, I think there must be something else wrong, not just air in the clutch hydraulics.

> Answer me this:  The way I installed the slave and have 
> driven the car like this is  with  the  rod facing forward.
> Now, diagrams I have seen really don't indicate which way the 
> darned thing points. 

Ok, here is a diagram that seems pretty clear to me.
http://s258.photobucket.com/user/TR3driver/media/Manual%20pages/TR6%20Workshop/untitled.jpg.html

Note that there is no return spring.  If someone has mistakenly added one, that would cause problems.

A few things to check:

1) When you force the clutch lever (the one that the slave is trying to push on) to the rear as far as it will go, what angle does
it make to vertical?  The arm should be still pointing forward slightly (meaning the tip is closer to the slave cylinder).  If you
can push it back until it slopes the other way, then dollars to donuts you've got a broken taper pin.  There might be something else
wrong (a broken fork or a bad throw-out bearing) but in any case the gearbox has to come out.

2) You may need help for this.  Push the pushrod & lever as far to the rear as you can, then have someone push the clutch pedal to
the floor while you measure how far the pushrod extends.  You should see just a bit more than 1/2" movement, about 9/16 or so.
Again, if you get it, the problem is inside the bellhousing.

3) Peel back the rubber boot on the MC, and visually check that the piston is out as far as it can go.  There should be only a tiny
bit of freeplay in the pushrod before it hits the MC piston.  If not, you probably have a broken spring inside the MC.  Fortunately,
it's a lot easier to replace than pulling the gearbox!

4) Also do a quick visual inspection of the joint between the MC pushrod and the clutch pedal.  There should be only a very minimal
amount of lost motion here.  If it is flopping around, you'll need to repair the oblong holes and replace the clevis pin.

Really sorry about your family problems.  Sounds to me like you need to be looking for a cheap clunker to buy for transportation.
Try putting out the word among friends and family.  Yes, you'll have to swallow a certain amount of pride, but someone is bound to
have an old POS that they will sell cheap (and maybe even agree to take payments on).  The kids turned up their noses at it, so we
sold a 98 Corolla to the nurse for $200/month.

HTH
Randall