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T-Series More clutch failure symptoms

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I could probably come up with a flathead V-8 ford.....

I used to pull engines on B's and leave the trans in the car.

When you get it out, might be a good idea to do the head gasket and clean/paint the engine.

I am puzzled that you have instantaeous movement, yet 2" free play on a self-adjusting clutch.

I'll have to ponder my days doing these in the shops I worked in.
Don't recall that ever happening, even with TO bearings burned to powder.
 
I'd love to see what is going on inside the clutch to make it act like that.

I've looked into engine swaps on the B before, but I'd go with the GM V6 60 degree crate engine mated to a 90's Camaro T5 5-speed, and upgrade other parts of the car after (coil-over shocks, improved rear end, etc). Probably start out carburated and do a DIY EFI MegaSquirt kit after a while. Annnd throw in an AC system while I'm at it. And also take the outer sill off and repair some rust...

So much to do.
 
Ah, but an 8BA Merc, Isky cam, Offy heads and 4BBL intake with a 390CFM Holley, Mallory, ported and relieved, about 100 over, headers............
 
With the wear you described in the pedal post, the pivot bolt and arm in the tranny may also be worn to an out-of-tolerance condition. Add a worn T/O bearing and it'd be enough to cause the grief you're goin' thru.

I've got a "collection" of worn linkage bits someplace around here, forks with so much wear the pivot bolt looks like a crankshaft and the bushing in an arm worn thru to the point it has started to oval the parent material... nasty.

I've seen pressure plate failures but usually it would be that one or more of the "fingers" fractures and falls into the works and then the pedal feels more like a brake pedal. Dave's explanation of the hydraulics being "self-adjusting" is the way the thing is supposed to work. Slave will only return to the point where the T/O is just off the face of the PP collar... if the bearing is worn to the metal, the slave will STILL push the same stroke, it just isn't enuff mechanical movement to disengage the PP.
 
Sounds pretty nasty, and I hope the pivot bushing hasn't worn enough to damage the surrounding metal...that sounds either expensive or hard to fix. Is the transmission housing steel? I suppose I could weld and drill it, then push a new bushing in place.

What do you mean, Doc, by the "fingers" breaking off? Are those the small bits of metal where the TO bearing rests in the fork arm?
 
Trans case is alloy. Usually the pin and clutch fork are the only things to wear. There is a bushing in the fork arm which is replaceable and pins are available, if it turns out those are part of the issue.

The "fingers" are the spring steel bands radiating out from the T/O bearing surface to the ring of the plate, which pressures the driven disc against the flywheel. When you push the clutch down they are forced inward and in effect "oil-can". The face of the PP then "releases" the driven disk. They can fracture and pieces get wedged in the works.
 
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