Clutch pedal noises

Voeltagear

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I finally removed the flywheel dust cover and inspected the clutch. It looks like a new lever style pressure plate and clutch disk. Everything is relatively clean. With the clutch pedal depressed the disk rotates freely. No evidence of pilot bearing binding and good clearance for the disk to release. I didn't see anything that would tell me why the clutch pedal vibrates at higher rpm.

I took the time with my son there to help to adjust the clutch. It returns fully now over center and feels good when depressing the pedal. There are however a lot of noises when pushing the pedal. One popping sound is coming from under the dash. If I push on the side closer to the brake pedal it happens less frequently. Also there is a creaking noise from the z bar. I'm guessing that is the 2 piece bearings on either end. Also the clips are almost gone and there doesn't appear to be any bushings on the rod ends. Is there supposed to be a Spring on the clutch lever to pull it back from the throwout bearing?

Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
 
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AJ/FormS

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Wow, almost a week and no one replied? hmmmmmmm Here are some pointers;
As to the noise in the pedal;
>At the pivot up under the dash, there is a massive clip that holds the pivot pin in the bushing. My guess is that the bushing is dry, and or the clip is AWOL. If the pedal moves over too far, the downrod will rub on the firewall. The overcenter-spring has a tendency to rub on things as the alignment goes away. If you have a HD pedal-box, it comes with a stiffener bracket bolted on, that usually is far enough to the side, to not get rubbed.
> yes there are nylon bushings in the ends of Z-bar. They are installed dry. on the outboard end, there is a wire locating clip that enters the side of the tube and anchors the nylon bushing-halves via a groove in the bushing. There should be small rubber dust seals on each end. The Z-bar should NOT move laterally. The bar should be parallel to the ground, and at about 90* to the car's centerline in plan-view. If it is not; something is wrong. In this wrong position, it will push the release-rod at an odd angle, with the odd motion of causing it to rotate as it goes. And it will twist the down-rod on the other end. This may sometimes cause the various clips to pop off .
>yes there should be an anti-rattle spring strung between the TO fork, and the very front edge of the Bellhouse. You can see the small cut-out on the fork and the hole nearby. The anchor at the front is a wee bit harder to spot. The slot is about level with the TO fork, and is right on the joint line between the engine and the BH. This spring does not need a lot of tension; it is just there to pull the TOBearing off the fingers, and to keep the adjusting rod in the end of the fork. Do not let it rub on anything as it will eventually rub thru and fly away, lol.
> the outboard anchor for the Z-bar should be welded to the inner fender.
> if you have headers;
the factory freeplay adjusting method is a bit of a PITA. What I do is install a spacer between the two locknuts, which pushes the rearmost locknut out to the backside of the TO fork, where I can get to it with a deep socket. I drill a hole thru the adjuster rod and put a clip in there so that if/when the nut works loose, it cannot fall off.

> as to this; you said;
"Also the clips are almost gone and there doesn't appear to be any bushings on the rod ends."
Not sure what you are referring to; maybe the shiftrods?
If yes, then; not all shift-rods are made with bushings. But in any case , they have to be a tight fit in the levers on both ends, to maintain the neutral-gate. If the gate moves or wanders you will have shifting problems. The clips are cool-looking and all but any old pin will keep the parts from falling off. The factory parts are mostly an attempt at anti-rattle. With headers, I doubt you can hear much else....... lol.
> if the nuts holding the levers onto the studs coming out of the trans, work loose, this is a major PITA. If the levers get sloppy on the studs, as they are prone to do, this also is a PITA.
There is only One good solution and the cover has got to come off.
Those levers are extremely hard, and you cannot do anything with them. So what I do is take careful note of their orientation, and remove them. Then with the cover laying on the bench, I apply a wicking oil onto the studs so it creeps into the cover alongside the studs. This will keep the loc-tite in the next step, from getting in there. After a couple of minutes, stand the cover up in it's normal position, and wipe everything down with whatever degreaser. Do not blow-dry.
Lay the cover back down. Clean your levers and re-install them, making dead-sure that they are on correctly. Apply a generous amount of loc-tite around the cavities, then install the retaining nuts with a drop each. Immediately after tightening them, wipe it off and invert the cover, fork-side up. Let it dry. While it is drying, come back every couple of minutes and shift the levers to make sure the loc-tite did not enter the cover around the studs.
After you have done this, I bet you a wooden nickle, these stinking levers will never come loose again; mine have not moved in 15 years or more.
Ok put the cover back on, making sure not to tear the gasket, and to get the forks properly engaged.
Can you do this with the cover still installed?
Maybe, but my mitts are too big, lol.
As to the loc-tite; I used red because I was tired of mucking about. You might consider blue.
The loc-tite hardens like a crystalline concrete-type cement. As long as the nuts don't come loose, that stuff cannot move. Say goodbye to ever resetting the neutral-gate again. And between that and some other things I did, the last shift I missed was in 2004.
Happy HotRodding
 
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Voeltagear

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"Also the clips are almost gone and there doesn't appear to be any bushings on the rod ends."

On each end of the clutch linkage there is a spring clip looks like a brake hose retaining clip. There are no bushings and the holes look oblong? Maybe worn out.
 
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