Before I hack things about anymore (like making a new clutch pedal!) I'd like to know how much the clutch fork should be moving when I press the pedal.

At the moment, with full travel of the pedal (as it is currently) the fork moves about 2 inches and it's incredibly stiff. I don't think my legs are that weak and I have trouble pressing the clutch pedal through full travel! At the moment the pedal had a fixed 'stop' and before I cut this off I want to know it should be travelling more!

Thanks,

James

hello james we must be at about the same stage
i have tack welded my standard sierra pedals in and i have a cable clutch my problem seems to be that to get the clutch to feel right ( engine is not runing so i cant test it ) i need a lot of clutch pedal travel do you have the same problem also do you want to know how much the full movement is on the clutch release arm if so i will go out and measure it for you
because of this and my concerns over the brakes i am thinking of going for new longer pedals and hydrolic clutch
cheers dave

Hi Dave,

If you'd be so kind as to measure the travel of the clutch release arm I'd be very grateful!

My clutch is very stiff too (that was CLUTCH I said... thankyou! ). So stiff in fact that I can't move it by hand when under the car- not sure if this is normal or not. I'm using a Nissan Micra pedal so can't compare so well.
I interested that you think it's still too stiff with the approx' 6:1 ratio Sierra clutch pedal- I doubt we have the weakest legs in the world and I'm sure old grannies etc. were able to drive Sierras!

I'm probably going for a longer pedal (than the Micra) myself. I want to avoid the hydraulic option (yet!) as it's more complexity/expense I'd rather avoid if possible!

Thanks again,

James

Not anything like all the answers you need, it would be very handy if some kind Locoster would measure the cable movement on a standard Sierra in any case here is what I know

(1) It is quite normal not to be able to move the lever at the gearbox -- it should need quite a lot of extra leverage to move the fork.
(2) From working on production car I know that the pedal movement can get very stiff if the end of the cable dosen't align properly with the end of the pedal.


(3) A lot depends what clutch plate you are using -- fwd clutches tend to have a shorter stroke the rwd clutches because the the presseure plate is designed to be more compact. Also you can't mix FWD and RWD clutch parts -- the driven plates tend to be thinner from new on FWD cars.

(4)Overstroking a clutch presure plate will shorten its life

One other thought -- Fords use a quadrant at the pedal end this will be more efficient than just attaching the cable to the end of the pedal.


[Edited on 7/4/04 by britishtrident]

hello james here is the info
standard sierra clutch pedal 12 1/2" long
it has a quadrant at the top which has a ratchet mechanism to automaticly adjust the cable
the quadrant is 2 1/2" radius so the ratio is 5/1
the clutch fork moves 3/4" total travel
i can move the clutch pedal with one arm but its quite heavy work
is that better for you british trident
any more info just ask cheers dave

great info thanks