Avanti clutch adjustment help needed

[sbca96]

OK, finally getting around to adjusting the clutch on the Avanti before leaving
to a car show in the next hour or so ...

I adjusted the return spring length to 10 inches as listed in the shop manual.

Second step I dont understand fully :

"Adjust the clutch pedal-to-bellcrank rod to give 1/2" clearance between the top end of the bellcrank, and the body flange of the front side of the firewall."

Body flange? I just see a hole where the rod comes through, which is just
fiberglass, no "flange" that I can see. Do they just mean the fiberglass? It
looks to be a hair over 1 inch now, and it doesnt look like there is enough
thread to shorten the rod to give only 1/2 inch.

The last step is to make the pedal travel adjustment. What IS "pedal free
travel" exactly? IS that the amount the pedal move prior to the throwout
bearing touching the clutch disc? I assume thats the case.

I am doing this because the clutch engages just about an inch off the floor
and its a little unnerving. I think the adjustment got messed up when I put
spacers under the rear engine mount to get the engine off the firewall.

Tom

[jallen]

Hi Tom, assuming you are still tweaking the linkage adjustments, and if you are working by yourself, disconnect the return spring so you can determine
your free travel from underneath the car. 1" to 1 1/2" should be plenty of free travel and SHOULD bring your point of engagement closer to the middle
of your clutch pedal travel.

[sbca96]

Yah .. I didnt get to adjusting the linkage yesterday, ran out of time so
I drove it as-is. I still dont know what the "body flange" is. I got under
the car to look at the linkage and its above a crossmember and on the
inside of the frame. any hints on how to get to it? Looks like it may be
easier to remove it from the car to adjust, but that's crazy. Ideas?

Tom

[sbca96]

OK, so I went out and removed the adjusting rod, which after removing
the cotter pin through the L shaped end, just fell out onto the ground.
Thats when I see that there is a nut missing off the end of the adjusting
rod. It only has a nut that pushes on the clutch arm, but not the one
that pulls it back - lovely. It looks as tho to get the clutch pedal off the
floor, I need to lengthen the rod by about 1/2 to an inch to put a nut on
it like the shop manual shows. Whats going on here?? The L shaped
end is worn on the area that goes into the bell crank, but not enough
to cause this issue. Is there a way it might have been assembled wrong
by the trans shop when they did the clutch for me back in 1995? When
I pulled the trans, I saw they didnt attached the springs to the arm holes
on the throw out bearing. (as seen in my TKO thread).

Tom

[sbca96]

Lots of readers, not a lot of input so far ...

I took the assembly out of the car, except the bellcrank. Looks like I need
some pieces from what I can tell. Anyone do any cool upgrades in this
area while I've got it apart? The pivot axis shell on the support bracket
has the hole broken out and allows the operating shaft to move around.
The operating rod has a worn L shaped end, and the swivel is severely
worn. I may need to remove the bellcrank and drill the hole out to install
a bushing, or has anyone used a nylon insert?





Tom

[jallen]

Hi Tom, do you have the chassis and body parts catalog? You need plate 02-1, which shows the entire clutch linkage. Looks like you are missing some parts, and I can't id the small parts you show in
your pics. There are 2 bushings that support the bellcrank, and you may need them both.

[sbca96]

I have the Avanti shop manual, and it looks like I have all the parts, they're
just all very worn, and that one with the 3/4 nut on it is a broken piece. I
think its supposed to have a keyed hole, but its all blown out. I could remove
the boot and cut the top off, weld in a new top with a keyed hole. But I do
need to varify that.

Tom

[sbca96]

I was cleaning parts tonight and found that the piece of metal my magnet picked
up in the oil goo on top of the frame contained the piece that broke from the cap
on the support bracket! Its the whole missing piece. The luck.



The pieces in my picture are items 29, 36, 22 and 26. The severely worn piece
is item 26. 36 looks to be usable, and 29 might be repairable.

Tom

[Bob Andrews]

I'm one of the many with no idea but looking in hoping to learn

[WCP]

On one of the Avantis that we did, we used a part (27,28,29 &30) from another Stude application, by removing the rivets to separate and discard part 30 and ground the radius of part 29. It worked perfectly. Check with SI or other vendors for a part with similar spring steel dimensions. I can't recall the application of what we used, but I still have the piece #30, if it's appearance would help identify the application.

[sbca96]

Part 30 is still on the car, that is supposed to be rivoted to the assembly?
On my Avanti it had two small bolts ....

Chatting to an engineer friend of mine, welding looks like a poor solution
and a short term fix at that. It will be weaker after, regardless, and the
part was too weak to begin with. I need a replacement as a work on a new
designed to replace the old stamped cap. I have a prototype, but getting
it made will take time.

Anyone have the support bracket assembly for a Lark/Avanti?

Tom

[WCP]

On checking the bracket (#30), I discovered that I had cut off a piece of the 1/4" thick bracket for something, but what is left indicates it was a 206-19B type as illustrated in the '59-64 parts book and may have been a #535330 part which I think is still available. I also checked my used parts box and was able to compare an Avanti one with curved side and another one less the bracket that has the square sides. The square one is 1/4" longer. I don't remember if the one we used on that other Avanti was also 1/4" longer, but I doubt that would matter much as there should be enough adjustment to compensate. The ball stud and boot seem common to all the various styles of brackets or mounts.
Just read your post. The Avanti unit is mounted with 2 bolts, the others are riveted to a bracket that is not part of the frame.

[Bob Langer]

If you have issue 124 of the Avanti Magazine there is an article by Jim Zimmerman.

Replacing your Avanti's clutch system - the better way.

[sbca96]

Thanks all. I'll see if I have that issue of Avanti magazine. No sense in reinventing
the wheel if someone already fixed the flaws.

Tom

[WCP]

Yours did last 47 years. I wouldn't call that design "flawed". I suspect that the flexing of the ball stud that contributed to the shell failure was probably due to improper ball stud adjustment and lubrication or an extremely "heavy" clutch pressure plate or both.