Clutch Adjustment

[John N. Packard]

I'm working on the clutch for my 1940 Packard 110. The shop manual states: "The distance from the front face of the plate hub to the rear face of the levers where they contact the throwout bearing should be 1.125 inches. This dimension is set at the factory but should be checked on all clutch rebuilding jobs." My problem is that this dimension is much less than the amount specified; so I am not able to adjust the pedal to disengage the clutch. The manual specifies no way to correct the problem. I am measuring the distance from the top surface of the levers where they contact the throwout bearing to the top surface of the hub (not the clutch plate surface) with the plate compressed to be flush with the mounting flange of the housing. I've checked the springs, which should yield 158 to 168 lbs pressure at 1&9/16 inch. They measure somewhat less than that; but all within a few pounds of each other. Anyone with clutch rebuilding experience that can help?

jnp

<img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

[DizzyDale]

Dear John,If i am understanding you correctly,the levers or fingers are not adjusted correctly.Did you take these measurements with the pressure plate and clutch disk torqued to the flywheel? Arent there 3 bolts on top of the pressure plate with 3 nuts,spin the nuts to adjust these fingers up or down to get the clearances you need, then tighten the bolts to lock the adjustment. Please let us know.diz <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

[John N. Packard]

Diz,

Thanks for your reply. After struggling with the unit for about a day I decided to pull the clutch off a spare motor that I have. I discovered that the unit I have been working on is rebuilt. The spare motor had the original clutch. The driven plate is different on the rebuilt unit. It has a higher hub. I cleaned up the spare and checked it out and got the correct measurement of 1.125" inches from the finger contact surfaces to the driven plate hub. I think the rebuilt unit that I was struggling with is for a later model application that uses a different pedal linkage. The fingers do adjust; but there was insufficient length to achieve the recommended setting. I think I'm good to go with the spare unit. I'll now have the clutch facings replaced and reinstall the unit.

jnp