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Worn clutch pedal bushing FIX


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I purchased my '87 Conquest from a former road racer.  When I got the car, I noticed that the clutch pedal felt weak.  No matter how far to the floor I pushed the pedal, I always managed to graze 3rdgear.  My assumption was that the clutch master cyl. or slave was worn out.  After re-kitting both, and several hours bleeding,

the problem was no better.  Finally, after consulting with a friend of mine (who just happens to own a tranny shop), the actual problem was indetified.  The clutch pedal

hole, used for the mast. cyl. mounting pin, had been elongated after years of racing.

The solution of my friend was to weld the hole up and re-drill.  Although this would have solved the problem, I really did not want to wait until I had access to a welder

(even though we are only talking about the weekend here).  

 

 

My clutch pedal did not always return to the origional heighth. For some reason, as the pedal wore, the pincreated a catch.  Recently I had noticed a popping noise when I first pushed in on the pedal. The noise ended up being the pin hitting the other side of the elongated hole.

 

I will see if I can clarify my actions( unfortunately by brain works much faster than my fingers).

 

After the clutch pedal assy. was disassembled from the car and the pedal removed,

I drilled out the hole for the push rod pin to 31/6", trying to center the new hole in relation to the damage as much as possible.  (Now if your pin hole is worn out larger than 1/2", you will need a different bushing than the one that I used.)  

 

Next, I prepared the new bushing for the pin (HELP part # 38377).  The O.D. of the push rod pin is 13/32", and the I.D. of the bushing is .376"(slightly over 3/8"), so a little sanding of the bushing will be necessary.  The Dremmel comes in very handy for this, but it can be done by hand with sandpaper or a fine file.  Remove the material evenly around the I.D. and check for fit often.  The pin should clear easily, but not have any 'slop' inside the bushing (don't be tempted to do this step after you insert the bushing into the pedal as the friction from your sanding can 'spin' the bushing in the new mounting hole).

 

After I was satisified with the fit of the pin, I turned my attention to the mounting hole.  The O.D. of the new bushing is .495(just under 1/2"), so once again a little sanding is needed.  I chose to sand the bushing to ensure a tighter fit and make a mistake (like taking off too much material) much easier to correct.

 

Now that the  O.D. and I.D. are correct, I trimmed off the flange on the bushing and tapped it into place on the clutch pedal.  The bushing should need a little coaxing to go in, but not so much as to distort the shape.  

 

Once in place, a little more sanding to match the bushing to the pedal thickness was necessary.  The pedal was then ready for re-installation.  A quick check of the pin clearance and reassemble the clutch pedal assy. to the car, using a tiny ammount of grease on the pin at install.  

 

Now I know it sounded like a lot of sanding was involved, but I assure you that it goes very quickly.  I am only talking abuot 1/64" here or there.  I only spent 2 hours total and that included figuring it out as I went along.  This should be very simple and with the brass insert, no further damage should result to the pedal.

 

 

P.S. If you don't own a Dremmel or equivilent,.....GET ONE!  I love these things.

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  • 8 months later...

OK, that sounds good. The stock pedal pin - master cylinder rod does not have a bushing. So, you are saying you added one in? That sounds like a god idea.

Actually, welding the hole,and drilling through the weld with a new hole would make the set-up stronger than the stock metal used for the master cylinder rod.

I got one from a road race team too. Team Mitsubishi in fact, off of one of Dave Woiln's cars. It too was wallowed out at the fork (2 holes that the pin goes through). I did not try to fix it since I had a perfect spare that looked to be brand new, but is really old, w/148K on it. It just never saw more than a stock pressure plate in it. So, stock set-ups will last forever, but HD clutches will wear fast on race cars, and faster on a daily driver.

Also, the can that the fork rod (pedal rod) goes into, has a plastic base to it that supports the pressure too. It flexes with a HD clutch, and you really should pull the can out, and pull the rod out, and weld a thick washer there to add strength to the plastic inside part of the little can. Someone else turned me onto this, so if your adjustment seems to change on you for no reason, that's why.

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  • 1 year later...
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