Clutch linkage broke on the wagon

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timbolia

timbolia

65Wagon
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The wife's minivan is in the shop so I dropped her and the kids at Union Station in downtown LA and I start the car to go back to work and the pedal pops down to the floor. I pull it up and it will pop to the up position, but nothing in between. I looked under the hood and the pin thing (I don't know what I am doing if you could not guess by now) that pushes, or pulls (don't know) on the clutch lever is hanging down. It is this half inch thick or so dull pointed thing about 5 inches or so long, that looks like it wants to be going in this hole (that all just sounds dirty) on the clutch.

So it wont go in gear and I had to join AAA to get it home. And I rode my bike in to work this morning. (man am I out of shape)

Let me know if any of this makes sense. By the way the tranny is a 4 speed probably from a 68 something.



Thanks
Tim
 
YOU are a guy who needs to learn to drive with OUT a clutch.

In my early days, when I ran around with the guy who would later become the first owner of my 70 sixpack car, he had a Chevelle. "We" broke the clutch up in Oregon on a long weekend, and drove that thing clear back down to Treasure Island without a clutch.

When I converted my 63 SS Impala from Power Slide to a 4 speed, I drove the thing down to a welding outfit to get the pivot ball welded on

I broke the link on my '70 TWICE and drove it at least 20 miles back to Miramar.

You start it up in first from a dead stop. You kick it OUT of gear before you get to a stop.

In between, you learn to shift by feathering the throttle, being careful, and popping it in with gentle pressure on the syncro rings.

Hell, one time I even drove my Yamaha 650 special a few miles when the clutch cable broke.
 
I did get it to start in first gear yesterday, but the hood was up, otherwise I would have driven it the 15 miles home in first gear through downtown LA traffic... maybe. But I did not get it to start again in gear and it still sort of scared me.

Any guesses what broke? And how do I fix it?
 
Sounds like the fork return spring broke and the adjustment rod fell out of the pocket on the fork. If so, all you need to do is put the rod back in place and get a new return spring to hold it there.
 
So the thing like this has nothing on the end of it. Should it? and if so where do I get one? Actually there is a nut on there towards the middle of the shaft, but that is it.
 

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timbolia said:
So the thing like this has nothing on the end of it. Should it? and if so where do I get one? Actually there is a nut on there towards the middle of the shaft, but that is it.
Click to expand...
Yeah, your year probably had a metal ball on the end of the adjuster that bears in the clutch fork pocket but the parts in your illistration will work also. There is nothing holding the ball on the shaft....an none needed if the adjuster stays tight against the fork but yours just fell off when the spring broke. You can make one out of a lug nut or buy a new one (you'll probably have to get a whole kit) on e-bay or through the typical resto sources. The return spring is nothing special but needs to be reasonably close in length. The strength of the spring is similar to the one attached to the E-brake ratchet. You should be able to find a universal replacement and modify the length.
 
So none of these things are here at the end of the rod. I am not sure about the spring or not, I will check tonight.
 
All the parts I find are for the BB and small block, will either of these work on my slant? The shop manual does not differentiate, so I think this should all be the same.

Thanks
Tim
 
The parts on the adjuster rod should be the same. The return spring might be different though.
 
So I drove down to Classic Industries new showroom in Huntington last Saterday and picked up the parts. I was putting them on on Labor day when the Z Bar broke. Now I need to get that fixed.

The Classic Industries guys were very cool though and the place is nice.
 
The Z bar can usually be welded to repair a broken arm. If the tube is torn, it's a bit tougher but doable if they're carefull. I like to reinforce the trouble areas with gussets or sleeves to keep it from happening again. The key areas are at the base of the arms and the tube ends around the plastic bearings.
 
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