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A tip for those new to Sprites

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Mike_in_CA

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When I bought my sprite three weeks ago, I had a feeling I would find a very common problem that my car had. The previous owner changed the engine to a 1098 and put in a rib case trans out of a 1275 car. What he did and what I was sure i would find was that he used the wrong pushrod for the clutch slave cyl. Most uneducated sprite ownes just assume that the pushrod is the same for all engine/trans combinations. There are in fact two different size pushrods that go between the slave cyl. and the clutch arm. The 948 and 1098 use a shorter pushrod then the one for the 1275. So, if your clutch is letting out very near the top of the pedal and you can not seem to be able to see why, then it probably has the longer pushrod instead of the proper shorter one.
 
Cool, what if it's releasing real close to the floor?
 
Another thing to keep in mind is that there are at least three variations that I know of to the throw-out bearing fork as well!! :wink:
 
and aren't the throwout bearings themselves different?
what is it about the 948/1098 that requires a different length pushrod? I would think Master bore size/slave bore/push rod length/fork length/bearing face design and thickness/pressure plate.
What variable requires a different pushrod?

My 1098 has a ribcase (as it should) replaced, probably from a newer than '63 though. I have the shorter pushrod but I had to put a nut behind it (essentially lengtheining it) I recently put in a 7/8" bore master, I tried with the pushrod nut removed at first but I had to put it back right away. My pedal is harder to push then with the 3/4" bore master and it seems to release/engage in the middle of travel rather than near the floor, other than that, I still get a "glitch" if I shift too fast, especially going into 4th, I have to let rpms drop a bit if I don't want the gears to "grind" a for split second.
 
ISTM that gear grind is more a function of the snycros than clutch release point.

Jim
 
So, you're telling me to rebuild one of my gearboxes, eh? Next winter!! I promise.
 
To the question of clutch forks and thorwout bearings. Yes there are three different clutch forks that I have seen. Moss Motors only sells one which is for the 1098 and 1275 even though they are different. So go figure. The throwout bearings and pressure plates are different as well for each engine. If you have upgraded your bugeye and did not get the engine, trans and slave all from the same car, then it is a crapshhot on the combination that will get your pedal where you want it. The 1275 uses a bigger bore slave then the other two. The longer pushrod is for the 1275 only, but if you have a trans from a 1275 car and have a 1098 engine, then you will have to play with it. On my old bugeye I had to grind the longer shaft down to a size between the two standard lengths. I also found out the hard way that not all the bell housings on the various transmissions are exactly the same. I installed a rib case onto a 1098 years ago and when I went to start the engine it turned a 1/2 turn and locked up. We fiund that the pressure plate was hitting a bulge inside the bell housing and we had to grind it down to clear. It too five times of pulling iand reinstallting the engine to get it right. That day I got really good at pulling a sprite engine! With all the year and size combos it is a matter of finagaling things to get it right. My experience has been to fit all the clutch parts, fork, pressure plate and throwout bearing to the engine size and then fiddle with the pushrod to get it where you want it, if the trans is not an exact match.
 
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