Clutch (please help) i,m lost

I just put a T-5 in a 64 ford fairlane. New Clutch,Throw out bearing, Cable. I put it all together, And for the love of god, Hercules him self would have a hard time pushing that pedal in. The cable is not bound up, moves freely when disconnected. its really driving me crazy. I have NEVER had this problem in any other car.. I messed with it for 4 hrs yesterday, and at this point I am drawing a blank. If anyone has any suggestions, Please feel free.. THANKS FELLAS................JEFF



DO OR DIE, SPARKS WILL FLY. It can be built

 

sounds like leverage

 

Any help would be really appreciated .

 

CABLE ?? is that a T5 thing?

 

Don't you mean linkage? When I installed a T5 on my 235 I had to cut the input shaft and extend the splines. Could your bearing be running out of travel due to the splines being to short?

 

It is a brand new cable, No linkages. The tranny is out of a 95 mustang, and the motor is out of a 92 mustang. Basically put the same set up in a 65 falcon for my father, and it works great. Its crazy, if you unhook the cable from the tranny everything moves great. Also you know how when you push a clutch in halfway it has a relief point and becomes somewhat easier at the end... This actually gets harder. The cable, throwout bearing and pilot bearing are brand new. The tranny has just been rebuilt. And the clutch is a Spec 3, slightly used. It worked great in my buddies car... Usually I can walk away from a project, think about it and come to a reasonable conclusion.. This time, I HIT A BRICK WALL...

 

I'd say that the clutch disc/pressure plate may not be compatible especially if it wasn't native to the Mustang-donor set up. Where did that clutch go, did you match it up with what you put in?

Bob

 

This might be some thing to think about, First do you have all compatible parts for the throw out fork, pressure plate, clutch disc, throw out bearing and collar. One of the reasons I ask is that I have encountered some T-5 conversion issues with the pressure plate fingers rubbing on the transmission input shaft collar or throw out bearing collar as the clutch is depressed and binding up. This makes the pedal pressure really stiff. Because you say the cable works freely unhooked it appears to be internally in the clutch area so this would be the first place to look. Here is a picture of what I found, it might or might not be the same as yours but its a suggestion

 

I checked, If you buy a new clutch and pressure plate. they are the same part # from 1986-1994. So It shouldnt be a problem.. I actually just double checked in JEGS... I'm on the verge of insanity Cant retain anything at this point.

 

Thanks guys, I'm still investigating

 

I think more and more people will start to use that new hydraulic throw out bearing from American Power Train ... Thats the best thing that ever happen to a stiff clutch ...

 

I'm assuming you have a similar clutch quadrant setup in your Fairlane? The parts you have should work just fine and the Spec clutch should be ok as well with the setup. My best guess would be the clutch disc is not aligned completely with the pressure plate and input shaft and is causing a binding issue or your pressure plate may have worn or damaged forks. The setup your running is fairly common so a parts miss match to me is pretty slim. If is were me I would remove the trans again, align the clutch disc with the input shaft or install tool again, and inspect the pressure plates forks for wear. Just my two cents. Was the clutch for a 95 model as the trans year is or is it for a 92 as the engine year is? Not saying there should be too much difference but just curious. Good luck.

 

You did make sure the clutch disc was not installed backwards, right? Pull the clutch bell cover and look at the throwout arm movement when the clutch pedal is being depressed. That should tell you what the problem is. Good Luck and calm down, you'll figure it out. If building a hot rod was easy everybody would be doing it.

 

What he said^^^^^^^hated it when my dad would tell stuff like that. He was right though.

 

I was saving that for a future post after getting some OP feedback, something you wouldn't know 'less you've done it.

Bob

 

maybe your cable is too tight a radius causing it to bind

 

Well went out in the garage and did some investigation on the issue. Depressed the cluth by hand at the bell housing, Everything moves freely without any binding. It even has the relief point when moved manually. After getting into it further, Found that it is in the geometry where the cable hooks to the pedal, The angle is off. It was hard to tell being its so tight under there. The cable has no binding anywhere. It is how the pedal is pulling on the cable. The 64 Fairlane has a very low cowl panel and it is hard to mount the candillever properly. It hits the cowl and windshield wiper mechanism. me and my bubby are gonna reconfigure the pivot point and see what happens..... I will keep you posted.. FELLAS I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL THE HELP WITH THIS..... THANKS AGAIN , JEFF

 

Right on!

 

Great! Glad to hear you figured it out. The first thing that came to my mind was the pivot point. Hopefully it's a quick fix.

 

Ford guys get it done! If it won't go...force it!...If it won't force...break it!

 

Tommy D .....I have broke alot of shit over the yrs. THANKS AGAIN GUYS

 

Glad you found the problem. Sometimes its the simple things that cause the worst problems.

 

The first reply to your post was what ya found out, leverage.........YG