G-day all,
Just after a bit of advice with clutch adjustment.

With the release leaver disconnected from the slave cylinder, should I be able to move the lever to the fully actuated position by hand so i can adjust the throwout stop against the cover boss? I can only move the lever a very small distance & the throwout stop is not moving.

With the slave cylinder connected & the clutch operated with the pedal, the throwout stop moves but with the pedal on the floor, the throwout stop is not touching the cover boss so I assume I just need to adjust it?

Thanks.
Dave

You'll probably get different opinions on it but I just remove the return spring off slave cylinder. Makes it self adjusting, been doing it for ever with no problems.

You can just remove the spring, and depending on who you ask, you can remove the stop nut too. In very rare cases the stop nut will protect over-extending and damage to the clutch. I keep mine on, because why not?

After bleeding the slave cylinder and making sure your clevis pins are in good order (too worn down and you will have a lot of pedal travel before the clutch arm even moves), I get an attractive assistant to push down the clutch pedal, and wind in the stop nut until it almost touches the cover.

Ummmm...could we please see a picture of the attractive assistant

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"Show me the Mini!"

This is Keith Calver's method of clutch adjustment.

https://www.minispares.com/Blog/post/20 ... nkage.aspx

I use his method and it works a treat.

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1963 Morris 850

the cone nut and lock nut on the clutch bearing spindle are superfluous. back them off.
As previous, make sure the clutch hydraulics and clevis are in good nick and assuming the slave cylinder piston itself isnt moving out and hitting the circlip, the clutch operating arm should only need a 'rocking' clearance on the 7/16" AF bolt head with the return spring fitted.

also, the clutch arm often gets intentionally bent (you may have one) by a common workshop practice and oxy torch because the slave cylinder piston needs to move back down the cylinder bore because the flywheel goes back on the crank taper a little more each time it comes off....assuming the same flywheel is being used.

excess wear on the little ball end of the lever or it being broken completely off are also annoying traits.....

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....you just lost him his insurance bonus!

997

I used an old ball joint seat (the same as those pictured at the top of the image below) between the push-rod and the plunger of my slave cylinder to pack it out a bit more. They seat nice an tight (I think I had to sand the outer diameter down a tiny bit). This means no arm bending required. I think you can also get lengthened push-rods too.

I have not seen that before! Something new every day

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Thanks for the tips. I tried Kieth Calvers method & i think that worked well. I also flushed the fluid & found a bit of air in the system too. Head going back on shortly so will see how the adjustment really went when I run the car.

The idea of having the return spring and manual adjustment I think goes back to the days of carbon block release bearings, which if left wrongly adjusted, wore quickly. The modern release bearing is a lot more robust, most modern cars that have hydraulic clutch releases, don't use return springs. In the six trillion years I've been a mechanic I'd say probably a third of dead clutches I've seen have been caused by badly adjusted releases. The rest of them were usually bad driving.

I agree. I also flung the spring and the stop nuts years ago with no ill effects.
It's worth noting that the Rover Minis use a verto clutch with similar clutch arm and slave cylinder, and no adjustment stop. Yes I know their release bearing is different.

BTW, a Hillman Imp in 1963 had a carbon release bearing and was self adjusting. It's not a new idea.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Hi Doc
What do you do with the stop bolt?
Do you have a set gap of say 20 thou or adjust it as required to give you 20mm pedal freeplay?

Screw it in a lot, ensure you always have a gap there.
The little spring inside the slave cylinder keeps the arm away from the stop screw. It applies very gentle pressure against the release bearing. As the clutch plate wears, the release plunger gradually moves outwards, the clutch arm and slave cylinder follow it. = Self adjusting clutch, like 99% of modern cars.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.