Spitfire Help - Clutch Problem on the Road!

[urchin]

Today a Corvair friend gave me a ride to Canton, ME, where I picked up my new-to-me '80 Spitfire. The car had been stored for many winters in a barn, and this past winter, in a shop owned by a mechanic in that town. It turns out I'm the second registered owner of the car; indeed, it came with a "Passport to Service" that registered the car in the name of the original owner. It was purchased at Tom Connelly Pontiac by a man who lived in Norwood, MA, on 3/30/81.


I brought a tow strap, an electrical kit, a socket set and a tool bag, along with some vital fluids. I started up the car and listened from problems - none were evident - so we headed back the 80 miles to the coast. The two lane roads provided a perfect test for the car. It stumbled under acceleration for a mile [no wiggle from the tach, though] so I stopped on the side of a farm road and poured in some Marvel Mystery Oil into the gas tank.


Within a few minutes the driving smoothness improved and I really enjoyed re-acquainting myself with a Spitfire [my last one was a 1978, owned between 1989 - 1998]. The car ran very well until we hit traffic in Augusta, ME, when the temperature climbed to 3/4. Happily, I watched it sink back as the fan must have kicked on and reduced the coolant temperature.


I made it to the ferry terminal without incident until - cue the drum roll - I pushed the clutch to move the car into the ferry line. Suddenly it locked up; by that I mean you could not push the pedal in at all. I rolled the car down an incline and into a parking space. Nothing would seem to free the clutch. The clutch and transmission had been working very smoothly and without any graunching, but now, it felt as if there was a metal to metal interference. Pulling back the boot on the clutch master showed that the linkage looked clean and fresh (new cotter pin, shiny bits showing) but I could not see anything else, nor could I get underneath the car.


I had to call a tow truck to get the car and take it to a shop. What are the possibilities here?


Thanks,

Jeff

 

[Trevor Triumph]

Check the pedal separate from the master cylinder?

 

[urchin]

The pedal appeared to be fine, but I did not separate from the master cylinder, no. I'll mention it to the garage.

Jeff

 

[dklawson]

You said the clevis looked good but it and the stuck pedal pivot were what came to my mind also. If you pull the pin and the pedal won't move you know that the binding has to do with the fulcrum pin for the pedal.

Apart from that... the only things I can think of are hydraulic failures. Old DOT-4 can turn cristalline. Perhaps a huge chunk of that material broke free and plugged the metal pipes. It's hard to imagine a scenario for this... but the slave cylinder could have bound up somehow. If you have tiny arms you can loosen the bleed nipple and try the pedal to see if you can get fluid out. With help you can get the slave out from below without pulling the transmission tunnel. It's fiddly but can be done.

 

[urchin]

Thanks, Doug. I"ll suggest this to the garage. I'm hoping that the problem does not require separating the transmission from the clutch assembly.

Jeff

 

[HealeyRick]

Sorry for your troubles, Jeff. It really looks like a nice car and you should have some enjoyable summer drives once it's fixed. Can't offer any repair advice, but maybe you should get one of those t-shirts that read "I'd rather push my Triumph than drive a Healey" (sorry, couldn't resist. Best of luck for a quick and cheap repair.)

 

[urchin]

Good idea, Rick! The garage called this morning and said they had discovered the circular bracket that holds the slave cylinder in place had broken and requires replacement. It's in the Haynes Manual and sort of looks like the similar clamp arrangement that holds the distributor down and in place. I'm trying to find a replacement one now; Vic Brit doesn't show it as a piece and I'm checking the major catalogues now. I'm also trying a few sports car shops in Maine to see if anyone has a parts car.

Jeff

 

[urchin]

Lucked out and found a used bracket in good shape at Penn Ridge Motors here in Maine. Tim Hutchison had one, bead blasted it to make certain it's strong and will ship it to the garage today. Hopefully that's all that's required.

Jeff

 

[dklawson]

If it is the part I am thinking about it's hard to imagine how it failed. Please get the broken part back and post a picture.

Hopefully the garage was able to remove the bracket from below in the narrow space that is available. Removal from below will cost a lot less than if they had to pull the tunnel cover.

 

[urchin]

Yes, Doug. I'm hoping the same. I'm sure they will try and do it from below. The mechanic said he found the problem by looking under the bonnet. They usually save the parts for me so I should be able to post a photo.

Jeff

 

[urchin]

I picked the Spitfire up yesterday with its new/used slave cylinder bracket. The clutch works just fine and I put about 30 miles on the car, picking up a friend for lunch [she loved the car] and enjoying racing it up and down a two lane, 55 mph back road. I boarded the ferry for home and last night, sought to figure out why I had no tail lights, parking lights and directionals. I flicked the headlight switch on and off a few times and then suddenly, it stopped clicking and went limp. So I called the same shop to see if he had a light switch [he did] and ordered one. I'll disassemble the fascia panel when it arrives and see if that's the problem. The shop also suggested the issue might rest with the hazard switch, too [all the hazard lamps work].



Jeff

 

[dklawson]

Wow ! I didn't think it would be possible to break the ears off of that cylinder mount. Is there evidence of corrosion damage around the bolt holes and/or where the ear broke?

Sorry about the electrics. I typically use a coarse piece of Scotchbrite to clean the electrical connectors when I am servicing a problem on my cars and re-assemble the connectors with a bit of dielectric grease. The grease seems to do a good job of keeping moisture (and therefore corrosion) out of the connections.