No clutch....

[tsherry]

I think I figured out why my free-to-me '67 F250 2wd was parked.

The engine, a 390, appears nearly new, as do most of the engine components. I got it running (parked for 10 years, runs like a dream) but had no clutch. It has an NP 435. Push the pedal in, linkage moves, but not enough to engage the pressure plate. It can be placed in gear if the engine is off, but obviously, I thought I had a burned out clutch, and was in for a not-fun time pulling the trans and replacing it all.

Tonight, I looked under the beast, into the guts of the bellhousing. First, the inspection cover is missing, affording a good view. The clutch disk looks OK, not great, but not toast either. What I did find is that the linkage is adjusted 'out' as far as the adjustment rod would go, and when the pedal is depressed, still would not operate the clutch. I removed the rod, and the release arm literally fell out of the bellhousing.

It appears that I have some missing hardware at the point where the release arm pivots inside the bellhousing--like a release lever 'seat'. There is a huge amount of slop in the thing both vertically and horzontally, explaining why I have no clutch.

Anyone have a diagram or parts sketch of this?

Thanks in advance....

[heep70]

There should be a ball the the clutch fork sits on. The fork should have two metal clips on the back. The fork ia also clipped into the throw out bearing. I wonder if the throw out bearing is missing?

[390Nut]

Sounds like what happened to me a couple years ago. The pivot point in the bellhousing shattered, leaving the clutch fork hanging loose.

Managed to snag the bracket out of another bellhousing that was cracked, and drilled out the rivets holding what was left of the bracket in place. A couple of countersunk allen-head screws with nuts on the backside made the clutch work again, but I have very LITTLE clutch available. An inch from the floor and it's grabbing the flywheel.

I havent gone back in to see why, but I am guessing that when the bracket gave way, and my foot went to the floor (hard) that the springs on the pressure plate got messed up. Those, or the arms on the pressure plate that the throw-out bearing rides on got bent, perhaps. Havent had the chance to fix it, but it wil be soon.

Hopefully I'll be putting a new engine in soon, so I can figure it out, but I would look closely at the throwout bearing, and the pressure plate for damage/slop, when you pull the bellhousing (no way around having to pull it).

If you can't find anything wrong there, check the rest of your linkage for bend rods, and then check the bushings on the equalizer bar (which mounts between the engine/frame) If those are worn, where the linkage rides, or the bushings inside the bar mounts are worn/broken, you'll lose a lot of adjustment.

[tsherry]

There should be a ball the the clutch fork sits on. The fork should have two metal clips on the back. The fork ia also clipped into the throw out bearing. I wonder if the throw out bearing is missing?

Gotcha. The 'L' shaped bracket, riveted to the bellhousing, is in place. There is no clip on the back side of the fork...just two holes on the 'top' and 'bottom', across from where the pivot point should be. The throwout bearing and clips are in place, and I can place the fork into the bearing, it just doesn't have anything to pivot on.

Thanks for all your help!

[Jake11]

The "L" shaped bracket breaks off and the fork falls off. Gotta take the
bell off to fix it. The rivets break and have to be drilled or cut out and
be replaced with bolts and nuts.