Morris Minor Owners Club

Hello everyone.

Is it possible to adjust the clutch? We went on a drive today from Sunderland to South Shields and back and noticed that there was very little travel on the clutch. You have to press your foot right down to the floor and the gears engage when you let your foot up just a tiny bit.

This makes my moggy more difficult to drive as it takes a lot of pressure on the pedal to change gear. The clutch pedal itself is very low, much lower than the brake pedal.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Kate

yes it is

Get under the car and there is a threaded bar with a nut on, do it up a bit and it will raise the clutch. I think there should be about 1" travel before you start to feel resistance

Yep, it's adjusable. If you are limber you can do it with the car on the ground. up on ramps gives you more elbow room and a lift is a luxury
The worse part is getting the return spring off and especially on again.
From memory the spanners you need are half inch AF and five eighths AF.

Looking up from under the drivers side of the car inboard of the torsion bar and the chassis quite near where the clutch pedal is you should see a rod about 9 inches long with a spring going from it to the back plate of the engine.
This has the adjusting nuts on it.
(If you get someone to operate the clutch it will be vary obvious)
Life will be easier if you leave the spring on but you can get it adjusted better with it off.
beware! it takes some strength to get the spring off and it can bite.
The two nuts will be locked together so you need to hold the large one still and undo the smaller one a bit.
Once you've done that tightening the large nut (clockwise) will take the slack out of the clutch.
Don't take all the slack out or the clutch will slip! Leave about half an inch of free play at the pedal.
When you are happy with the adjustment hold the large nut steady and tighten the small nut to it again.
Job done

Note that there should be a locknut on the adjuster bar too.

If you find that the clutch is already at the limit of its adjustment, the two most likely causes are worn out clutch linkage (especially the bush on the relay shaft), or worn out clutch. The former is cheaper and easier to fix than the latter (which is an engine-out job).

Thanks very much! I'll have a try tomorrow. I've got some ramps so that should help.

1/2" inch of play at the pedal is not enough - go for the 1" suggested earlier.

Ok then I'll try to get 1" of free play. Would a new clutch be expensive to install?

Parts ~£100 plus labour to fit - or DIY of course.

How long does it take to fit a clutch?

Depends how fast you work! Easiest way is to lift the engine out - either need strong arms, or a simple hoist.

Doubt the clutch will be worn out. If there is not enough adjustment have a good look at the bush on the chassis leg!

I did a gearbox and clutch change (an almost identical job) with my brother about a month ago by pulling out the whole engine and gearbox in about 3 1/2 hours. That was a leisurly pace with an engine crane. We also did something else while they were split, but I can't remember what

I hope the clutch doesn't need replacing!

Matt wrote:We also did something else while they were split, but I can't remember what

Had Lunch!

That might be it!

Well I just tightened it up but I noticed that the return spring is missing. It goes into gear a bit better now and doesn't seem to slip.

The problem is that there is a whirring sound in neutral. Would this be because the return spring is missing? I think I'll order a new return spring then to see if that impoves it.

Any ideas?

Its probably just the layshaft - does the noise go when you put your foot on the clutch? I've just realised that your car is Phoebe? Was Lee the previous owner?

Yes I bought her off Lee. He said he had too many moggies and was losing some storage space so she had to go.

I think the noise goes when the clutch is pressed. Does it need work do you think?

If there was no return spring the pedal wouldn't come back up to the top.

Don't worry about the noise - It won't give you any problems.
I knew I'd seen your reg number before somewhere

Ah, OK. This sentence makes more sense now:

The clutch pedal itself is very low, much lower than the brake pedal.

Without the spring you won't be able to measure the free travel either because there won't be any, and the release bearing will be resting against the clutch the whole time, wearing it out much quicker.