Went to see a cousins baby tonight, when got back to the car some geezer approached me with the usual story about the mini he used to have. He then finished by telling me how they used to drive them w/o using the clutch - to which I replied "can be done if you know what youre doing"

And as providence's way of punishing me for being a know it all I got into the car and the clutch pedal sank to the floor. No clutch. Tried to drive it home by matching revs and sliding the gears in but redlights + traffic even at 9pm made it impossible. Gave up and called a tow (keep meaning to get that NRMA membership).

The slave seems to be pushing fine and the pedal rises back its just very soft. I can can pull the ckutch lever arm atleast half of the way out just by hand. Am I right in assuming the bearing is gone?

possibly pressure plate issues, maybe

Most likely the ball has broken off the bottom of the clutch arm. Easy fix.
Check that before tearing the clutch apart..

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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.

Yeah, What the good Doctor said

Thanks doc. I'll check it out tonight.

To do list:
1) get replacement steering column
2) get clutch arm
3) get nrma membership
4) call mum

Check the arm's 2 pivot pins while it's apart, if worn replace em.

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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.

Ok so its 9am and I still haven';t slept after work so beginning to doubt myself. Had a look.
Now help me diagnose this:

Firstly (and I reckon most importantly) With the the clutch arm removed the throw out plunger can be freely moved back and forth by hand: I can bring the throwout stop flush against the housing (its properly adjusted as I had a working clutch 2 days ago) and pull it back about 1cm.

To me this lack of resistance says trouble but is it just the bearing or worse or no way of knowing till I remove the cover?

Now just in case you need it here's the rest of the system :
-Firstly the pedal feels very light but it still rises easily after being depressed, just doesn't feel like there's any resistance from the clutch.-
-There is no fluid leaking anywhere, the clevis pin connecting the pedal and clutch MC is there.
- The MC is the new type plastic reservoir and a few years old.
- The spring is fitted and the clutch arm is tight against the adjustable stop. Depressing the pedal moves the clutch arm about 5mm back from the adjustable stop (this doesn't seem far enough but I can't remember if this is just my head playing tricks on me or whether it should be moving more
- With the spring removed and the slave push rod disconnected the clutch arm can be moved back by about the same distance.
-Pressing the slave cylinder push rod back into the slave causes the fluid inside the MC to rush out rapidly.
- The clutch arm bottom ball is not broken and is not worn much (plus my clutch failed suddenly rather than gradually due to wear.

ok, un-do & remove the 2x drivers side engine mount retaining bolts (in the subframe), rip the starter motor out, jack up that end of the engine & remove all the bolts holding the clutch cover onto the primary case, lift out the cover & inspect it all

tell us what you find & we can go from there

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

Will do it tonight when I get back home. What are the possibilities?