Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing 4/4 1600 clutch lever

Seeking advice from those who've been through this. On a short run a few days ago, changing up, as the clutch was depressed there was a sudden noise and suddenly no pedal i.e. the clutch would not release.

Kept driving in third gear thinking it through but realised I would sooner or later have to stop at a traffic light so pulled into a parking spot.

The clutch activating lever was not engaging with the thrust bearing and had moved outwards by a couple of centimetres. Disengaging it from the slave cylinder push rod allowed me to wriggle it around a bit and eventually push it back in to a position where it again engaged the clutch. Cautiously drove the 5 kilometres home with no problems.

This morning I took it to a nearby "oldtimer mechanic" and we put it over the pit. Can't see what the problem is but it's obvious something that locates it is broken or has moved. His diagnosis was that the engine and gearbox will have to come out to fix it.

I then drove home, about 20 km in moderate to heavy traffic and again it was ok but I was treating it like a delicate flower. As long as there is pressure on the lever it seems to stay in place.

Questions: What's the part that's likely to have broken or moved?

And is it definitely an engine out job or could I send a
trained mouse in through the opening in the bell housing?

Thank you for you listening and hoping someone can shed a bit of light on what's happened.

Kerry
PS Am booked in for a 200km rally on the weekend. Should I stay or should I go?

Probably the pivot that the clutch lever locates on. Its a folded piece of metal, roughly an L shape. Have been known to fracture!

Engine out job I'm afraid!

Arwyn

Yep, a well-known issue on earlier cars. It's a simple bell-crank arrangement with two arms at 90 degrees brazed to a tube. The braze fails and the two arms twist on the tube, closing the angle between them and reducing the clutch mmovement.

You don't need to take the engine or gearbox out to get to it, just get the car in the air. You can see the offending bit in the engine bay just where the clutch pusrod comes through the scuttle.

It's an easy job to remove it and weld in some gussets to hold it all in the right position.

1969 4/4 has a hydraulic operated clutch. No bellcrank involved. Pedal connects with master cylinder pushrod.

What I was referring to was the pivot point inside the bellhousing which the Ford clutch arm pivots on!

Arwyn

Tim it's definitely inside the bell housing. By clutch lever I mean the fork that operates the thrust bearing and which is operated hydraulically when I press the clutch. I can grab the fork and move it around by hand and there is so much movement that in some positions it won't operate.

Arwyn, thanks and that must be it. How do I describe the part for ordering? My workshop manual shows every type of clutch except the ford one.

Check the push rods ther could be adjustable threads to take up the slack.

Ah, right. Didn't realise it was an hydraulic clutch. Sorry to add confusion.

Thanks Ray. It's not one of the adjustable type i.e. the pushrod does not go through the end of the lever with a nut and screw on the end. It just nestles into the recess in the end of the lever.

Auster

Assuming it is the pivot, I think the gearbox was a set up used on the Escort Mk1 and the Lotus Cortina Mk2 with the 2000E box

I've not got part numbers but New Ford Parts Centre should have the part.

A watchpoint is there are a couple of different clutch arms depending on application - Lotus Elans and Cortina had different arms and I'm not sure of if the pivot changed with the arm.

Rays post also reminds me of a tip that the rally crews used to do which was to weld or braze a 3 mm steel disc behind the bowl the pushrod sits in to reinforce it!

Thanks Arwyn and I think I can track it from there. From what I have seen online there is a clutch fork to hub spring, a clutch fork to pivot spring (probably the one that has gone) and a `D`retaining clip. Could also be that which is gone.

So the plan is to do the rally with whatever dodgy stuff is going on inside that Bell Housing (actually it feels ok) order the parts, and then pull the engine out and see what's really going on.

Burton Power seem to have the bits I will need but I heed your warning about the different clutch arms. Mine is not the most common one that comes up in a google search.