Clutch Travel

Any suggestions on raising the point at which the clutch engages - have rebuilt both the slave and master cylinders and clutch still only engages right at the bottom of the pedal travel.

This is a 70...right?
Didn't they got to "self adjusting" by then? As in, no adjustment on the rod from the slave?
If so, you didn't perchance stick a return spring on the arm, like on earlier units, did you?

Make sure you're getting a full stroke at the master cylinder. I don't know what car you have, but on the bugeye it should be at least about a half inch. You can adjust this with the pedal-stop adjustment, then make sure that the pushrod has only about 1/16" slack when the pedal is in its rest position.

I had something similar happen: make sure there's no slop in the pedal linkage. If the clevis pin is even a <span style="font-style: italic">little </span>loose, the geometry of the lever will put the pedal almost on the floor before the master cylinder rod even moves.

Take off the top of the pedal box and look at the levers move -- if the clevis' holes have elongated over time, your problem may be more mechanical than hydraulic!

Solutions are many: re-drill the holes for a larger clevis, or weld the hole smaller and drill it out so the clevis is tight again. I cut a small strip out of a tin soda can and made a lil' bushing in the clevis hole, which has worked great for me. Went from pedal on the floor to engaging within the first inch of travel. :thumbsup:

Will check that as I definitely have travel in the rod before it engages the master. And sorry - it is a 70 and no spring.

Thanks

One more thing--make sure the clutch is well bled. You may be aware that these are notoriously difficult to bleed completely.

It's important to remember that, as long as the clutch is well bled and of course not leaking, the hydraulics aren't the issue any more. A certain amount of movement at the MC will give a certain amount at the slave. End of story. The rest of the mechanics are the issue. Anything that limits movement, like looseness, can be the problem.

I had this problem for years, and finally solved it after thinking it all out correctly. My clutch (err... my CAR's clutch) now engages very nicely in the middle of its travel. The key was to get the pedal stop in the right place--the shop manual provides very little guidance on this.

Reason I asked on the spring...seen it done.
With no adjustment rod, the piston is supposed to "float" with the TO bearing just off the plate fingers. Put a spring on, sucks the piston to the bottom of the bore, and you've got no clutch pedal.