I had finished setting timing and installing the wide-band O2 last night and
wanted to take the Pantera for a drive to get some baseline air-fuel mixture
readings. I'd made it to the interstate when the clutch got very stiff at
the top of it's travel (engaged, foot off the pedal). I gave it a strong push
and suddenly I had no pedal. I was maybe 20 miles from home with a
bunch of lights and stop signs along the way. 30 years ago when I was
learning to drive, my dad had the foresight to not only teach me how to
drive a manual transmission but also how to shift without using clutch.
That came in handy last night. I managed to make it home only once having
to start the car in gear at a light. They've started to install walk/no walk
lights with timers that count down to when the lights change which was nice
for timing the lights.
When I got it home, I crawled under the dash and found out what went wrong.
The previous owner had installed a CNC clutch master. It had a fair bit of
free play before any resistance was felt and I found out why. It appears
the shackle was only threaded one or two turns (threading it all the way
down would have taken up the free play) and it stripped out.
Several questions:
1. Is the CNC clutch master metric or SAE? It appears the fitting on
the hydraulic line was replaced so I wonder if that was to convert
from metric to SAE and a second 90 degree fitting added. If the fitting
on the CNC is SAE, then is the stud also SAE? Perhaps a thread
mis-match was why the shackle was only retained by a thread? If I
re-flare the line to install an original clutch master, what
fitting do I need
and what is the flare angle?
2. What is the thread size of the shackle (would be the same as the
stud on the back of the original clutch master)? I can thread a
7x100 metric bolt several turns but the threads in the shackle
appear more coarse. Perhaps the previous owner ran an SAE tap
through the shackle?
Getting the clevis back in looks like it's going to be treat.
Does anything keep the stud from rotating on the clutch master
(maybe just friction from the piston)?
Dan Jones
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