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1St Breakdown :( And The Bad News Is ...


sj-bradley

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Hi,

 

I suppose luck ran out this time. The clutch suddenly went straight to the floor and could not disengage it.

 

I thought the cable had snapped at first, but no such luck after examining it at the road side. So my next thought is that the release arm had slipped off the pivot point. Bu99er :(

 

Luckily not far from home so could I limp the car back? The answer turns out to be - just about.

 

Stick it in first gear and then start the engine - IT WORKED so I could change gears by getting the revs "just right". Into 2nd, yep.

 

Er - T junction ahead ... Neutral, stop car (and engine again) and do it all again.

 

I managed to get it home but couldn't quite do the turn into the drive in one go so had to do the same trick in reverse and then 1st into the drive.

 

Relief at getting it back though. :)

 

Then started to strip it down to get to the adjustable pivot point to discover the real problem.

 

The m12 bolt that I used (from GBS instructions) had actually pushed out through the threaded hole so this means engine out time so that I can fit a more permanent nut on the inside to fix this from ever happening again.

 

And I don't have many free days to be able to do this in either. So this is going to be a right pain in the @rse to fix. Grr.

 

I "might" be able to get it done before Newark with any luck.

 

Simon.

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I think either way would still mean getting to the inside of the bellhousing so it still looks like engine out time.

 

I would probably not want to risk tapping it out to another larger hole when this method has already shown its weakness.

 

Thanks for the offer though,

 

Simon.

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I was always sceptical of this method so held out for GBS producing the correct longer pivot pin. I actually have the first prototype fitted to my car and, fingers crossed, it seems fine so far. Could you fit one of these Simon?

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Hi,

 

Not now I can't as the original hole was drilled out and tapped for an m12 bolt so the replacement part will be loose fitting.

 

I can repair what I have by putting a locknut on the inside of the bellhousing and locking the part in place. Then I can be certain it will not move again and will probably weld the inner nut in place on the bolt before putting it back in.

 

It's just so annoying that I can see two or three days of work ahead and I will have difficulty fitting them in before Newark as the rest of the time is booked solid. :(

 

Oh well, at least I can check that I did, in fact, install the spigot bearing in the flywheel. (I'm sure I did, I just can't remember doing so and didn't note it in my book at the time ! ) :)

 

Still, having put it together means I'm not afraid to take it apart again :crazy:

 

Simon.

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Hi,

 

I think you misunderstood what happened. The pivot point was PUSHED out from the inside as the force on the pivot point is equal to the force you apply with your foot but in the opposite direction. So there is quite a bit of pressure in that direction.

 

Hence me saying that I need to get inside the bellhousing so I can add a nut on the thread of the m12 bolt to prevent this happening again. It was the pressure on the threads on the aluminium casing that have failed and caused this to happen.

 

So at the moment the car is on stands again and I've done as much as I can and will have to do the rest when I get back.

 

I'll take some photos which will show what I meant and some to show my solution later.

 

So it's touch and go if I can make Newark at the moment. :(

 

Simon.

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Guest dinger

Simon,

I'm assuming that two locking nuts were not fitted to the bolt you had put in place?

 

 

I'm sure that when I wrote my "how to" guide I mentioned this? If not,, My bad,

 

But to Remind everyine that you DO need two locking nuts on the thread to stop it pushing through the hole. I alo thread locked mine, been good for 2k

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Guest mower man

Simon isthere room to put a spreader plate under the lock nut ? also is there room for a nut/washer on the outer part ?The other thought is to rethread 14x1.5 [12.5 drill ] which should be bullet proof ! HTH mick

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Simon,

I'm assuming that two locking nuts were not fitted to the bolt you had put in place?

 

 

I'm sure that when I wrote my "how to" guide I mentioned this? If not,, My bad,

 

But to Remind everyine that you DO need two locking nuts on the thread to stop it pushing through the hole. I alo thread locked mine, been good for 2k

 

I got the advice direct from GBS when I was doing the modification to the gearbox. I "thought" that the bolt would hold and the lock nut on the outside would do. It obviously doesn't so I'm paying the price and have to redo the pivot mount point.

 

This time I will put a nut on the inside of the bellhousing which I will then weld onto the bolt so it CANNOT possibly go through the (smaller) hole and then a lock nut on the outside to hold it firmly in position.

 

It "WILL NOT" beat me :)

 

Hope to see you all at Newark ...

 

Simon.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Update on the work done on the car.

 

I have now managed to complete this work having taken the engine out in the morning, fixed the problem pivot and had it all back

in again for about 4pm.

 

As I have been on holiday with my family in Spain I was getting withdrawal symptoms so I ended up doing this ...

 

post-4714-0-63917200-1339695543_thumb.jpg

 

Not half as much fun though and the acceleration was quite poor. :)

 

Simon.

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