I'm pretty sure they serve a purpose of being there
just waiting for the doc to comment now.....

The nuts are there for a reason, if everything is working fine you don't really need them but as you can see by the number of threads about clutch problems they don't always work as they should.

If your hydraulic hose on the clutch is old and swells up internally (like they all do after a while) you will push down on the clutch and it will work OK but when you lift the foot the hose will restrict the return flow of the fluid. So you will be sitting there with your foot off the clutch and it will act like the pedal is down. Slowly the fluid will drain back through the restricted hose and the clutch will engage (probably when you least expect it!)
The nuts are there as a safety catch. They are not meant to ever be adjusted. You set them and forget them. Your clutch is adjusted with the little bolt not the big nuts.
If you don't have the nuts and your hose stuffs up you can end up pushing the clutch too far and it will cause problems. If you have the nuts in place you will not damage anything.
It its your choice!

I dont plan to remove those 2 big nuts anyway

I'd like to keep my nuts!

Can you get someone to look while you push the pedal, see if the nuts go hard up against the cover or if there's a gap.

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I've tried this with a long bar stuck on the clutch pedal holding it all the way down

there's a small gap between the throwout stop nut and the cover maybe around 2mm to 3mm

Well you can't do any more there.

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The best way to adjust your nuts is to have a female assistant with long legs in a mini skirt sit in the drivers seat and pump your pedal while you fiddle

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

TimB I tried reading the embossed writing on the cylinders and I think its facing the firewall, couldnt find any small mirror to try if I can read it.

only the made in england is readable.

Also tested the clutch pedal in and the arm didnt slowly moe back, so thats good

About those nuts.YES keep em! they are very important to the overall safety with the clutch and in the book it says don't touch em..unless your clutch has previously been removed then they must be re adjusted. just read any service manual it will show you.

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1964 Morris 850, 1330 Supercharged - 81.8hp atws.
1975 Leyland Mini S 1100S powered - Nice and reliable.
1977 Leyland Mini LS - Project LS-T

I wrote up some stuff to help out TimB regarding the clutch, but it's hard to cover everything and often many parts will get changed before the clutch action is acceptable. This can be very frustrating...hang in there

The main thing I have found, apart from the obvious hydraulic circuit issues such as rust/worn seals etc, is worn/bent mechanical components. I don't think the manuals cover these things well, nor cover issues of having the wrong cylinder size either

The big locknuts are to stop clutch overthrow, as in if you pump the clutch quickly, it stops it overloading the thrust bearings in the engine. There are issues either way if you leave them on or take them off. I would back them off till you sort out the action and then adjust them as per manual.

Daniel

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Mafs waz not my strong subgeckt at skkol