clutch pedal

Moderators: 330GT, abrent

Post Reply
Al Pezzella
Posts: 98
Joined: Sat May 16, 2009 5:31 pm

clutch pedal

Post by Al Pezzella »

Hi guys,
I remember driving a friends 330 before I finished mine and my first impression was how heavy the clutch was. Anyway when I put mine on the road, my clutch was very light.
A few weeks ago as I was driving, I heard a bang under the dash and my clutch got as heavy as my friends car. I know that the helper spring came off and I also remember that it was a bit difficult to install but at that time I had no dash or windscreen in place so it wasn't that bad. Now that it's off the clutch is much heavier, no big deal because the clutch feel is actually better but the problem is when you go over a bump it rattles and that drives me crazy.
Before I attack the problem I wanted to ask if it could be reinstalled from under the dash without removing.
BTW if anyone has a hard clutch, that is definitely the problem.
Al Pezzella
Posts: 98
Joined: Sat May 16, 2009 5:31 pm

Re: clutch pedal

Post by Al Pezzella »

Update,
it's not the helper spring, but the main spring. In the parts book it seems that it's part #660110, but it's for series 1. Not sure if it's the same spring for series 2
DWR46
Posts: 621
Joined: Tue Sep 22, 2009 8:23 pm

Re: clutch pedal

Post by DWR46 »

Al: If your car is a Series 1, then it has floor pivoted pedals and no assist spring. If the car is a Series 2, then it will have suspended pedals and has an assist spring that goes overcenter as the pedal is moved through its stroke. Breaking a main spring will actually make the pedal feel lighter. You can replace the assist spring in the car from under the dash, but it is a nasty job and will easily cause much bleeding from your body. My thirty-five year old memories are that I was able to use needle nose vice grips to pry the new spring over the anchor and get it in place.
Al Pezzella
Posts: 98
Joined: Sat May 16, 2009 5:31 pm

Re: clutch pedal

Post by Al Pezzella »

what you said makes sense, it's a series 2 and it's the spring that goes through the i bolt. I can't get on Kerrys parts book to see what the action of this spring is. Theoretically what you said makes sense being that the spring would make the pedal harder to push, but before it broke, the pedal was definitely softer specially in mid stroke, it almost had a neutral stroke at mid point. I'm not sure what's going on yet.
DWR46
Posts: 621
Joined: Tue Sep 22, 2009 8:23 pm

Re: clutch pedal

Post by DWR46 »

Al: Both springs are attached to "I" bolts at one end. The longer spring that is held at the other end by a "C" clip is the assist spring ("spring for clutch assist") (660346). The short spring that attaches to the top of the pedal shaft is the pedal return spring (660343). The assist spring "I" bolt is threaded with two lock nuts that let you adjust the amount of "assist". You can also reduce the spring pressure with the nuts to make installation easier and then reset the assist pressure.
Al Pezzella
Posts: 98
Joined: Sat May 16, 2009 5:31 pm

Re: clutch pedal

Post by Al Pezzella »

Thank you,
it's the longer spring that broke, the assist spring, thanks for the part #, I'll see if Jeof has any and I'll be ready to leave some blood under the dash.
Al Pezzella
Posts: 98
Joined: Sat May 16, 2009 5:31 pm

Re: clutch pedal

Post by Al Pezzella »

Merry Christmas everyone,
I received spring #660346 and it was 1.5" shorter that the one that broke but after I added "C" clip, it was the same length. I guess they changed this system at one time because to install the longer spring without the c clip would have been more difficult. I remember installing this spring 2 years ago and it was difficult because the I bolt does not reach the mounting frame therefore you have to stretch it to install nuts on bolt. I have the spring and clip attached to pedal and am ready to rig something up to stretch spring in order to install nuts. If something don't sound right can you guys let me know.
When I originally installed the spring, the nuts where at the beginning of the I bolt. If someone could look under the dash and see how far the I bolt is threaded down, it would be big help in case I had it in the wrong position because my pedal feel had a bit of a neutral feel in mid stroke.
Thanks again guys.
Al Pezzella
Posts: 98
Joined: Sat May 16, 2009 5:31 pm

Re: clutch pedal

Post by Al Pezzella »

forgot, not sure if thing are correct, the I bolt is about 2" short of mounting bracket, I don't know if I could stretch it enough to install nuts, I would also need measurement from mounting bracket to spring after it's installed in case the I bolt is too short.
User avatar
330GT
Posts: 1640
Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2002 9:30 am
Location: Seattle, WA
Contact:

Re: clutch pedal

Post by 330GT »

Some pictures on http://www.330gt.com/Encyclopedia/Clutch.htm#Hydraulic.

Al, of course, you are making this much too difficult. Lowell Brown's spring had evidently broken prior to his purchase. I was looking up under the dash one day and noticed some wire and a screen door turn buckle used to adjust the tension on the non-OEM replacement spring. I've got a picture, but can't find it now. Perhaps Lowell can post it.
Regards, Kerry
http://www.330gt.com 330 GT Registry
http://www.parrotbyte.com/kbc/ferrari 250 PF Coupe 1643GT, 330 GT 2+2 8755GT, 308 GTS 23605
Al Pezzella
Posts: 98
Joined: Sat May 16, 2009 5:31 pm

Re: clutch pedal

Post by Al Pezzella »

Thanks Kerry, I see the difference from the pictures, the spring in your pictures is longer then the one I have, I could tell by reference points in the picture, I will post pictures later, have to work this morning for a few hours.
Lowell
Posts: 189
Joined: Sun Oct 20, 2002 1:40 am
Location: Santa Fe, NM

Re: clutch pedal

Post by Lowell »

330GT wrote:Some pictures on http://www.330gt.com/Encyclopedia/Clutch.htm#Hydraulic.

Al, of course, you are making this much too difficult. Lowell Brown's spring had evidently broken prior to his purchase. I was looking up under the dash one day and noticed some wire and a screen door turn buckle used to adjust the tension on the non-OEM replacement spring. I've got a picture, but can't find it now. Perhaps Lowell can post it.
I'm at my son's house in Flagstaff right now using his computer so I cannot post photos. I have several pictures of the the setup on my computer at home and I will post them shortly after I return in a couple of days.
Lowell Brown
1966 Gold 330 2+2 Series II
Al Pezzella
Posts: 98
Joined: Sat May 16, 2009 5:31 pm

Re: clutch pedal

Post by Al Pezzella »

Merry Christmas,
sorry guys, I was over thinking this issue. But after I saw the picture that Kerry posted, I realized what happened. The OEM spring has a longer neck on both sides and it's actually 1.75" longer. The new replacement spring coil is exactly the same except the length. All I had to do was to add some links so that the I bolt reached the mounting bracket and then simply tighten with nuts to point of correct tension.
Attachments
DSC_0009 spring.jpg
DSC_0009 spring.jpg (37.72 KiB) Viewed 11995 times
Lowell
Posts: 189
Joined: Sun Oct 20, 2002 1:40 am
Location: Santa Fe, NM

Re: clutch pedal

Post by Lowell »

330GT wrote:Some pictures on http://www.330gt.com/Encyclopedia/Clutch.htm#Hydraulic.

Al, of course, you are making this much too difficult. Lowell Brown's spring had evidently broken prior to his purchase. I was looking up under the dash one day and noticed some wire and a screen door turn buckle used to adjust the tension on the non-OEM replacement spring. I've got a picture, but can't find it now. Perhaps Lowell can post it.
Here are three photos of the clutch spring inside the cabin.

The last shows the old hacked together arrangement laid out on a table. The spring is an original spring that apparently broke at it end, and so the broken end was used to make a hook to hook onto the shaft. Then some hooky turnbuckle was used to attach and adjust it.

I replaced this with new, correct parts.

The second photo shows the correct spring hooked onto the proper figure eight shaped piece that attaches to the shaft on the clutch pedal arm. The first photo shows the other end of the spring attached
to a threaded shaft with two locking nuts on the end to adjust the spring tension.
Attachments
DSCN2024.jpg
DSCN2024.jpg (47.38 KiB) Viewed 11874 times
DSCN2026.jpg
DSCN2026.jpg (44.56 KiB) Viewed 11874 times
DSCN2023.jpg
DSCN2023.jpg (33.31 KiB) Viewed 11874 times
Lowell Brown
1966 Gold 330 2+2 Series II
Post Reply