Spitfire Spitfire Clutch stopped Clutching

[php411]

Hi, I'm new here (introduced myself already) and now I have a problem.

I let my 1978 Spitfire 1500 sit in the garage last week to keep it out of the rain and today drove to work again. It's been my daily ride for the last month since I bought it and has been great (except for a constant miss on Cyl #1). Today, though, the clutch pedal, though feeling the same as always, would only engage in the last little bit of pedal travel.

Actually, it started out just a little "off" though working OK (I thought after a week I'd lost my touch) and got progressively worse through the 4 mile drive to work. By the last quarter mile the pedal could barely get the clutch to engage at all when I had it jammed into the firewall and I had to force a couple of gear changes to make it to the parking lot.

Now it sits out there, parked in neutral, and I don't know what to do. I haven't checked the crankshaft thrust washer endplay yet though I know that's a culprit in these sort of things. Is this how it might behave if the washers have fallen out?

I have driven lots of stickshifts but this is the first one I owned so working on clutches and the such are new to me.

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[Tinster]

Well Kevin,

I just replaced both my crankshaft thrust bearings and my
clutch acted fairly normal.

When the taper pin of my clutch throw-out bearing fork
sheared in half, I had problems similar to yours.

First check and see if your clutch master cylinder s full.

dale(Tinster)

 

[70herald]

Well start by checking the obvious such as the clutch fluid.

Next pull off the cover over the transmission. The clutch cylinder will be on the left side of the bellhousing. Make sure it hasn't just slipped back a bit.

Now look on the right side of the bellhousing there is a pin which holds the clutch release arm. This has a rather annoying tendency to work its way out of position and leave you with no clutch. The solution is a longer pin with a circlip on the top and bottom. If this has slipped out of location you most likely are going to have to separate the engine and trans to get it back into place.

Of course there could be something inside, which you can't see but I think these are the most likely problems.

 

[php411]

I just went out and checked the fluid level and it was indeed quite low. After getting a friend to drive me to an auto parts store I topped it off, pumped the pedal and made sure it didn't need any more right now and took it for a spin. It seems to have fixed it.

Now, I wonder where the missing fluid went/came from? I can get home with no issues but I've added to the list of other things to look at and check out!

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Deleted member 8987]

Leaking hose, slave, or master.
Run your hand around the hose, see if it comes up "wet".
Pull the boot on the slave back, see if it's wet.
Look under the dash at the shaft into the m/cyl, see if it's wet.

 

[mikecyc72usa]

My GT6 and TR3a both had the same symptoms when I had them. Both times the return spring in the MC had snapped, and each push on the pedal the spring would twist a bit, and kind of screw together.