Help - No more clutch and I'm on Vacation

[Bruno Lavion]

My luck,
I'm in Watch Hill RI on vacation with wife and son. Yesterday while driving I noticed the throw on the cluth pedal getting shorter and shorter, getting to gear harder and harder. Well the long and short of it is that it appears my cluth cable is gone. The pedal has 75% loose play on it, not actuating anything and 25% clutch play on it. So here's the deal, I have a small jack and some tools with me, am I better off trying to order one fedexed to me and replacing it myself or is it truly too difficult. I have the tech article wich is great but for an 82 sc. I have a 73 E and the connecting mechanism to the 915 tranny seems more simple on mine. Help me out guys, should i do this or just find a mechanic to do it for me. I feel ashamed!!! hehe .
PS I'm fairly competent in things mechanical.

Bruno

[marc weintraub]

Hi Bruno,

I have never changed out the cable, so someone else will probably be able to help you technically on this, but the wife and I will be in Connecticut on Saturday. If there is anything I can do to help, please don't hesitate to contact me. We will be in Trumball... about 45 minutes or so from Hartford.

I don't know if that will help, but I will do what I can.

Marc

[Early_S_Man]

Bruno,

Assuming that you can find at least one jack stand to go under the left rear torsion bar housing to make it safe to get under there, I don't see any reason why you can't do it yourself. I suggest ordering the clevis and pin, and a tube of Swepco 101 grease at the same time, just to be prepared.

Is the brake pedal still functioning normally? If there is something wrong with the pedal cluster ... that could make things difficult.

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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

[89911]

Are you planning to do this along a highway? Seriously, I think first you should try to see if it needs a minor adjustment to fix the problem, such as a broken cable, cable adjustment, etc. If it is indeed the clutch, I think it would be best to arrange to have the car brought back home if you plan to work on it, or look for a shop where you are at to do it and rent a car to go home and them return. You can rent car haulers (not dollies) from U-Haul for about $50 a day and tow it yourself if you have the right vehicle (or know someone that does).

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8 9 9 1 1, The last of the line.

[jlex]

Bruno:
Sorry to hear about your problem. Since you're on vacation, at least you'll have plenty of time to putter with it.
Mine's an '85 Carrera. I changed the clutch cable this spring just to be safe (I must say, however, the old one didn't appear to be worn at all). My total time was just a little over an hour... no problems whatsoever.
If you're doing it yourself, just make sure that after you thread the new one thru the tunnel, the larger sheathed part is pushed into the tunnel area as far as it will go. If it's not, the cable will give the illusion of being too short.
Just pay attention when you take the old one off... new one goes on the same way. Order a new clevis pin & end connector at the same time. Rudimentary tools can handle the job, although you may have to estimate the clutch adjustment since you probably aren't carrying a gapper. Get something decent to hold the car up with once you jack it up.
Give it a try. At the worst, you'll at least have the parts ready for a mechanic to install if you give up. (it's actually something just about any garage can handle)
Check this site for technical articles... I think there may be one there for clutch cable replacement.
One last thing: are you sure its the cable???? Make sure what the problem is before ordering parts. Good luck.
regards,
jlex.

[orbmedia]

Luckily the '73 has one of the simplest clutch mechanisms, you don't have the earlier pull-type and you don't have the later helper spring type. However before you assume anything you need to get under and take a look at what you have going on there. It may not be just the cable.

[john walker's workshop]

it may also be a broken roll-pin that holds the clutch pedal to it's horizontal shaft. see if the lever in the tunnel (where the cable attaches) is on the same plane as the clutch pedal. if the pin has sheared, the lever will be to the rear and the clutch pedal to the front.

[Bruno Lavion]

You guys are the best.

Marc Thanks for the offer but I think I will have this corrected in the next 24 hours.

I had a moment to take things appart:
The cluster and pedal assembly are both fine and in proper working order.

The connector at the clutch arm on tranny is fine too. I disconnected both and my guess is that the cable is either stretching or broken in the middle somwhere. The cable mechanism seems incredibly simple on the 73.
A pin/clip on the pedal side holds the connector to the cable. Two bolts where adjustment is hold everything in place on the clutch arm. My mechanic offered to fedex the part to me (no offense wayne and the guys at pelican, but my loyalty goes to him first).I am 80% sure its the cable -
Tomorrow I will get the part - I just need to get a jack stand. I will give it a shot. If this isnt it, im no worst off then when I started and I have a new cable (the old one seems really worn anyway). If it doesnt work I will leave the car here and come back to get it with a friends truck trailer.

[jlex]

Bruno: to verify the clutch cable is indeed your problem, why not spend an extra 10 minutes & pull the thing out. Disconnect your clevis pin connection at the pedal (probably unscrews from the head of the cable) Get under the car at the back (you may not even have to jack it up).. unhook it at the transaxle end (probabably just slips over the lever)... simply pull the cable out of the tunnel & there you have it. Try to count the number of turns when screwing off the clevis pin connector so when you hook up the new one, it'll be approx. the same length. Good luck.
jlex.

[Bruno Lavion]

Well here's the deal.

I changed the cable and it was a breeze!
Got the car running - took it for a spin and CLUNK! the pin holding the clutch pedal in broke. Ok fine, so I try to take the cluster appart to work on it. The bolts to the access panel under the car a rusted tight. After on day of soaking I've nothing to show but rusted stripped bolts now. Damn! So the car stays in Rhode Island until I can figure a way to get it back on trailer. Anyone in NY CT area have a truck/trailer they want to lend me or join me on a 3 hour ride to beautiful Watch Hill RI? ha!
good thing I brought my Jetta to lug the family around with. Good thing I have a boss who is generous enough to have me keep my car at his house.
Well Ill keep you all posted on the developements.
Bruno

[jlex]

John Walker must be clairvoyant... he guessed it may be a bad clutch pedal pin... So just what shape was the clutch cable in anyway??? Did it actually need replaced?
regards,
jlex.

[Bruno Lavion]

jlex

Actually it was both.
The Clutch cable was in sorry shape. Though
somewhat functional it needed replacement.

But I think the critter was ultimately
the pin. either way I am stuck!
The car must be trailered back, what a pain.

Thank you all for your support and comments.
Bruno