It's a magic cheapo clutch repair!

[bthompson]

...At least, that's how it turned out for me.

Since I've been using Nigel as my daily driver all winter, and it's been too cold to fix all the bits that are wearing out or falling off, I've just been keeping a mental catalog of all the new squeaks and stuff as they happen. It's gonna be a busy week, once the weather breaks.

One of the more alarming things is, I've been gradually losing my clutch pedal. This weekend it got so bad, with the pedal tight to the firewall, the clutch would still barely slip. Driving wasn't a problem as long as I matched revs, but going into 1st from a stop could be grindy.

Thinking it was fluid-related, I bled the line yesterday. No joy. I started to see dollar bills with wings. I replaced the slave last year, so I'm thinking the master's shot, and I'll have to grind around town 'till I can get another one.

Then, I pulled the cover to the pedal box to see if I was leaking fluid. Lo and behold, I find that the clevis pin is worn: two little grooves where it goes through the rod fork, and a corresponding looseness in that fork. I'd been losing a good 1 1/2 inches of pedal travel before the master even started to move! I couldn't believe such a tiny amount of wear could cause that much slop.

So what I did was cut two little strips from a Coke can, just big enough to wrap around the clevis at the points where it was worn. Shoved it back in, and hey presto! full clutch travel. Good enough until I can get a new pin--or solder a little more meat onto the one I have--or maybe I'll just leave it and see how long it lasts. :wink:

 

[lesingepsycho]

Good job! Sometimes a little bit of ingenuity is better than a mental list and a catalog. Heck of a lot cheaper too!

JACK

 

[dklawson]

That's a common problem with the pedals on Minis too. In addition to fitting new clevis pins, the other part of the fix is often to weld flat washers to the side of the cylinder pushrod to restore the fit of the pin (get rid of the oval).

 

[DrEntropy]

Bill, check your local NAPA or ~real~ parts store for Dorman parts. Dorman has clevis pins to match those in your application. Pennies compared to the "usual suspects" and right down the street.

 

[RickB]

This is great stuff - the clutch linkage on my MK2 Sprite is pretty loose and I only have very little pedal - this could also be my problem.

However it strikes me just this moment that I have a MK1 Midget spares car - I should look at the linkage and see if it's 'fresher' than that on my Sprite!

 

[Guest]

YEEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAW !!!!!!!!


Yew wunna us now boyah !!!!!!!!!

Git yer duk tap' handee !!!!

don' fergit yer balin' waer !!!!

Gunna cawl yew Cuzzin Clevis !!!!!

:hammer: :thumbsup:


now slyd 'cross'in da huwd lyk wun'na dem Duke boyahs!!!