Please Help! Clutch Issues!
 

I have a 1989 3.2L engine with a 1986 transmission mated to it. This is in a 1973 chassis with a 1984 pedal cluster and power brake booster assembly.
I have taken the engine out 2 times now (probably looking at a third) to try to fix my clutch issue. The car has not run before, so I did not start with a known good clutch.
I had the flywheel machined (They did not machine a step into it from the pressure plate mating surface to the clutch surface, and I am not sure if it started with a step or not. If you have any specs on whether a step should be machined or not, please let me know). I installed a stock clutch disk and an aluminum pressure plate. I also installed a new clutch cable.
My problem is that the clutch pedal does not feel like it is doing much of anything. It has the same push feeling throughout its travel (not counting the 1" of freeplay), but feels very removed from the clutch. The first time I dropped the motor I checked to see if the clutch fork was engaged and it definitely is engaged. I have followed the process for adjusting the clutch cable and it just feels bad.
I cannot put the car into gear with the engine running and I cannot get the car to disengage the clutch if I start it in gear (it wants to turn the wheels on jack stands).
What could be my problem? Please, please, any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
Chris

Well, to start with you need a 77 to 86 clutch cable and you need to seat it tight to the firewall. When you run it into the clevis at the pedal you need about 20 turns of thread into the clevis.
When you cut a flywheel you remove clutch life with the stack height change.
Bruce

Is the clutch helper (omega shaped) spring in the right position? it should be touching the heat exchanger. I doubt the flywheel is the problem.

Th helper spring is in the right position (had to smash my heat exchanger to make it work). The clutch cable is brand new and adjusted according to the tech article on the forum. It has to be a clamping pressure issue with the clutch never disengaging. I think I have to pull the engine out again and measure everything up....

Also, Bruce, I am not sure I follow about surfacing a flywheel. If you surface the clutch surface and the pressure plate mounting surface to be the same relation as before there is no change to stack height at all other than where the throwout bearing absolutely sits, but it would only be off by a few thousandths..... Am I missing something?

Any other thoughts?

Thanks,
Chris

How much is the clutch arm moving when the pedal is pressed? I just changed my clutch, but no omega spring here. I had to adjust the cable at the clevis about 10 more turns in then before I had the engine tranny out before it would work right. Try the easy/simple things first, might get lucky.