OK, now the only thing stopping me from driving my car is the clutch. It's driving me nuts.

I have a 5sp Getrag and a Centerforce clutch mated to my SBC. I cannot for the life of me get the clutch to disengage. New clutch pedal, new master cylinder and rebuilt slave cylinder. I bought a new slave but the cast peice of crap broke when I was bleeding it so I put the innards in my old slave and it does not leak. Anyway, I feel confident that it is bled well, done according to Archie-ism, although I am not certain since it don't work.

It kind of looks like my slave shaft or pin (whatever it's called) fully extends before disengaging the clutch fully. This troubles me, big time.

Could I have hosed something when I installed the clutch on the flywheel? Other than putting the clutch plate in backward (don't think I did), what could I have done wrong?

There was another thread about this and If I remember correctly it had something to do with the actual clutch disk being backwards.
Are you sure the fork isn't bent that pushes on the pressure plate?

I'm not sure of anything at this point. I do know that my clutch worked fine when I had the V6. I don't really think I put the clutch disk in backwards but I can't swear to it. I hate to think about pulling the engine to check only to find it installed correctly.

Can anyone tell from this picture if the clutch disk is backwards?

Thanks.

It looks right in that picture, as far as I can tell.
Some people have had to make a new push rod that was longer. I believe they used a SBC pushrod and shortened it.
Try making one a little longer (1/4 inch or so) and see if that helps it to fully disengage.

Good idea. That will be my next attempt. Thanks for the tip. +'s.

I'm almost positive that the rod needs to be lenthened by the thickness of the adapter plate about 1 inch or so. let us know how this works,,
Hooter

it needs to be 3/4 to 1" longet than stock

Man, I love a consensus! I'm headed to get a longer rod now. Thanks for help guys.

I was just guessing as I never had to change my pushrod, it worked the way it is.

I've installed 5 of Archie's kits on a manual swap, never had to lengthen a slave actuator rod. There's no actual need to lengthen the rod, that's the reason the flywheel is as thick as it is, to place the clutch in the proper position inside the bell housing.

No offense, but like I've said before, making a longer / shorter rod than stock is a bandaid to fix the problem, but if that's working for ya, run with it.

Yep, I tried everything too. As long as you are getting 3/4" stroke on the slave, there is nothing else external that you can look at. I also took some pictures, and I can say it is very hard to tell from a shot like that. You have to close in on the spline. The wrong side is kinda flat, while the correct side (looking at it like you have it) has a chamfer in it. I pulled the engine out because there was nothing else to look at.

It's fixed. I used an inch longer rod that I made and still did not have full travel in the slave cylinder. Ultimately, I took the clutch pedal off and bent the bracket with the pin that connects to the banjo back to give the clutch pedal more travel before it hits the floor. It made my pedal sit slightly higher than the brake pedal and now the clutch engages at about halfway.

Thanks for the tips, guys.

also check your clutch arm that the slave cyl pushes on, just had to weld mine this weekend, to get my clutch to disengage, and with a new clutch that may be harder to press, you may have bent/cracked the arm without knowing it. I also went to a longer pushrod, but my sc bracket is a 4cyl modded to fit a v6, so that dosent really apply to this situation. Good luck.

quote Originally posted by 87GTSleeper: Ultimately, I took the clutch pedal off and bent the bracket with the pin that connects to the banjo back to give the clutch pedal more travel before it hits the floor. It made my pedal sit slightly higher than the brake pedal and now the clutch engages at about halfway.

That's how the clutch pedal should sit, higher than the brake pedal. In fact it should sit a good 3/4" higher then the brake pedal.

Cool bean's that ya got it figured out!