Technical Issue du jour-Model A pedals/T-5

Alright, we attempted our maiden flight this afternoon and...(@#&$)! One step forward and 14 steps back.

I couldn’t get the clutch to disengage to put it in gear. I knew there might be some adjustment but I’m out of adjustment and still no-go.

Have a 8ba with a hogs head adapter along with a Dwight Bond adapter plate. The plate is designed to use stock Model A pedals and linkage. Everything went together great (a sure sign of imminent failure) and I adjusted the clevis until it felt like the fork was just touching. When I push the pedal in I’m only getting about a inch of lift on the clutch arm. I can hear the TO bearing make contact and spin but there’s not enough throw to push the arms in. I’ve maxed out my adjustment to no avail.

Does anyone else have this setup? I don’t know if Dwight Bond is around anymore. Any suggestions?




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back up top for the morning crowd.

 

Ok, I'll throw this back up and see what I get.

I haven't had a chance to get back to the clutch problem since posting. Had eye surgery and doc didn't think rolling around on the garage floor would be ideal for recovery. I did, however, do a little more research and I didn't like what I found. I'm wondering now if the input shaft is too long and making contact with the flywheel. I came across a thread that had the same situation as mine.

When we initially fit everything together ( I made a motor stand that allowed for installation of the tranny), we made sure we had enough travel on the clutch and I'm "pretty" sure we measured the bellhousing face to shaft end, etc. At least I know I SHOULD have. I know we had clutch engagement. Having the Model A pedals mounted to the bellhousing is nice as it keeps all the moving parts together and the clutch can be adjusted outside of the car. Nothing has changed since going into the car. After reading about the symptoms, I'm thinking the input is spinning off of the flywheel. I made sure there was no binding or hard draw-in when we mated the engine and trans.

How can I verify that this might be the problem while everything is still in the car. I'm coming to grips with the fact that it's probably going to have to come out but I'd like to get some feedback on anything else I might want to look at. The hogs head has the inspection cover on top but I wasn't smart enough to put a corresponding hatch in the toe board. I'm sure I can get in there well enough with a mirror and a light though.