Vintage Minor Register

Help, please, from the forum gurus! Got the gearbox in my minor at last, the clutch was relined and assembled by the engine rebuilders, it has the required 10thou toggle to pin clearance. I've put my bit of specially sourced 3/32" bar in the bell housing but it doesn't fit between the thrust bearing and the toggle I can get a tight fit of 62thou worth of feeler gauge in there. By my reckoning 1/32" is 31.25 thou, therefore I have about 1/16" clearance or 2/3 of the correct figure. (still with me?!) If I widen the toggle to pin gap I'll get my 3/32" thrust to toggle gap but surely this will ruin the 10thou toggle to pin gap? What to do, fiddle or will it be ok as is?
puzzled of Reading

Toby, the critical dimension is the 10 thou - the 3/32 doesn't really matter. What is more important is that the gap is the same for all three clutch fingers so the clutch is balanced. It may be that your clutch thrust bearing cover isn't tight on the bearing. This gap simply provides clearance when the clutch pedal is held back by its spring so the bearing cover isn't ground away by the whirling fingers.

The consequences of this were detailed in our very first Magazine M 101 where Eddie Wrigley's clutch notes were reproduced. He stated, "The clutch thrust carrier becomes worn until finally the fingers on the clutch operating shaft are able to slip out of their crannies. The clutch thrust carrier then whangs round carrying all before it, but it doesn’t whang very far before a large chunk of the bell-housing takes off, all the toggles disintegrate or assume futuristic shapes and the unhappy owner is faced with the problem of propelling his vehicle home either manually or on the end of a piece of string."

WOW That means that as the 10 thou is good and there is some gap at the thrust I'm on my way!!! Now all I need are the brake parts... But thats another story, if all else fails I could try to find a set of pulleys etc Thanks Ian.

A quick word of caution - you can't set the 10 thou toggle to pin on the bench. There are bendy metal straps over the toggles that stop the toggle moving away from the pin, these may have been banged and bent with the gearbox off the engine so setting 10 thou between a bent metal strap and the pin is rather poor in engineering terms.

With the box attached to the engine, get a 3/32 strip between the trust bearing and the toggles and adjust each toggle until you get the correct dimension. This ensures you have the clearance between the toggle and trust bearing and the pin and the toggle and that the toggles are all evenly spaced from the trust face.

Wear in the clutch lining will close this gap - too small a setting and it could go to nothing and the clutch slip, and you will quickly wear the toggles, the trust bearing and the trust bearing carrier - all bad!

Cheers
Jeremy

So... set toggle to thrust, 3/32 with toggle against pin. What about the 10thou? will I need to take out box to bend strips to get 10thou play, after getting the 3/32 or does that mean the 10thou doesnt matter as long as I've got an even 3/32? I'm getting confused!!!!

Toby & DF9053. I have not had to do one yet but how about some lateral thinking. Before fitting the gearbox to the engine slacken off the fixing screws to the bendy metal strips that retain the clutch fingers. Fit the gearbox to the engine and put the 1/32 spacer between the thrust bearing and the release lever and set the 10 thou clearance between the lever and the pin using the adjusters. Do this to all three levers in turn. Remove the gearbox from the engine and tighten the bendy metal strip screws, bending them if necessary, to ensure that there is at least 10 thou clearance between the pin and the lever. When OK refit the gearbox and check the operation of the clutch. Worth a try???

Toby & DF9053. I think I have got this WRONG. When you have got the 3/32 spacer between the thrust race and the end of the toggle levers adjust the levers until thereis ZERO clearance between the pins and the levers NOT 10 thou as previously stated and proceed as before.

Simon,

Yep thats what I did, the 10 thou is a bit of a red herring in my view. You need a gap between the toggles and the trust race - this is the most important thing.

You can/have to do all this through the square hole in the top of the bell housing, it is possible I have done it honest.

Cheers
Jeremy

I think the ten thou is there purely to make sure that the bendy wire clips aren't actually pushing on the pins and opening the clutch a squeak when everything heats up in there. The 3/32" gap is to take car of drivers who ride the clutch pedal!

Thanks guys, will see how it goes. This forum is an unbelievable wealth of help and experience. How could any minor owner survive without it? (feel free to use this on advertising stuff Ian!!!)

I think that the 10thou at the pin or 3/32 at the release bearing are the same thing but measured at different points, I have used both but find it easier to ensure that the clearance is correct at the release bearing.

If it aint broke don't fix it.

Broke was the problem, fixing it is now the problem! see "our cars"