[TR] Spitfire single rail gearbox clutch mechanism

[Stuart Greenwood]

I rebuilt my single rail gearbox and replaced the clutch 10,000 miles ago but I have been experiencing clutch judder for some time now. I was going to replace the clutch and resurface the flywheel later this year but recently I started the engine but when I came to put it in gear I found that the clutch pedal was absolutely solid... it would not move. I removed the engine and gearbox and found the release bearing carrier  had jammed on the sleeve that carries it.  It appears that the carrier had traveled too far along the sleeve and cocked over  at an angle and jammed.on the sleeve. Why this happened I don't know because I am using the correct clutch master cylinder and slave cylinder so the movement of the rod that is attached to the operating level should be correct and should not move the bearing carrier too far along the sleeve.I noticed that the sleeve could be increased in length by a good 1/4 ins since it doesn't reach to the end of the release bearing carrier and this would presumably stop the carrier from cocking on the sleeve. I don't understand why the sleeve is shorter in length than it could be... there doesn't seem to be any problem if the sleeve was made longer. Has anybody done this ?How good a fit should the release bearing carrier be on the sleeve? I can wriggle mine about when it is fully back on the sleeve but the movement doesn't feel to be excessive to me. The clutch is self adjusting in that the release bearing is always in contact with pressure plate diaphragm finger.  With only 10,000 miles on the clutch I don't see how the reduced the thickness of the driven plate would be sufficient to move the release bearing carrier a significant amount on the sleeve or that the diaphragm fingers have bent a little. I will check the crankshaft end float to see it that is the problem.Any thoughts on this issue would be welcomeStuart A Greenwood
San Diego
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