My clutch plate has stuck on twice now. The first time the engine had sat rebuilt for a number of years before being installed and fired. The clutch would not disengage at all, and through fault finding I pulled the wok off, loosened the diaphragm and managed to loosen the plate from the starter motor access. All good, clutch worked as expected for a good 6mths.

I hadn’t been able to move the car for 7mths, went to move it yesterday and couldn’t get it into gear again. Popped the cover of again, freed the plate again and all good. I’m in Sydney and the car has had to be outside under wrap and gazebo, so I assume the moisture in the air has been enough to create surface rust on the plate and make the plate stick on. Never had this issue on my previous minis 20yrs ago, but they were daily drives.

My questions are; does this affect other people, is there a way to stop it ? If you don’t drive over winter, how can you make sure the car doesn’t seize up.

I’m about to pull the engine to send car to paint, so will be able to inspect the pressure plate. Maybe it needs another skim if rust is more than surface.

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1966 Mini Deluxe - “Gabby” 34 years under restoration and counting...
1970 MGBGT
1959 MGA

It sounds like there's air or water in the hydraulic system. Get it flushed and check for leaks.

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Pretty sure plate is stuck on. Once I have freed the plate it works as normal without having adjusted the hydraulics which are all new with new pins etc. I could also see the pressure plate moving when the starter was out, so I suspect it is stuck to the flywheel rather than the pressure plate.

The common ‘documented’ method to release is to jack the car and run the car in high gear with clutch depressed, then pump the brakes to use the torque to free it - i’m just not that trusting of my jack and i’d rather solve the cause of the issue.

Doesn’t seem like it is a common problem with people on the forum, so maybe the surfaces need machining again and a new plate. Plus making sure it gets used !

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1966 Mini Deluxe - “Gabby” 34 years under restoration and counting...
1970 MGBGT
1959 MGA

yeah - not a common problem - not that I've heard anyway. I vaguely remember a car once, but it was 20+ years ago..

My car doesn't usually sit for more than a few months at a time but did sit from October last year to April and no sticking.

Do you live somewhere especially humid? (hint - fill in your profile location)

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

If you do get to bottom of this, please let us know.

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Hint taken, i even added an avatar.

Sydney, and it was very wet through March/April this year. The clutch housing exterior has oxidization which wasn't there in January and any of the bolts that have lost their zinc now have surface rust on the heads.

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1966 Mini Deluxe - “Gabby” 34 years under restoration and counting...
1970 MGBGT
1959 MGA

Car was parked outside?

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?