I have 302, t-5, Centerforce dual friction set up. it worked fine for the first 300 miles but now acts like it needs more travel to release. I backed off on the clutch switch from the start. I am getting about 1" of travel from the slave cyl. now but it will not release. Any fresh ideas would be big help.

 

Try a really good bleed. Use a one man bleeder or get a friend to pump the clutch. Make sure the master remains full. Get all the air out of the system. If you did not do a good bench bleed, then its possible air has traveled down the line. Air does not compress, hence no travel on the slave. Do you have a brace on the slave to prevent it from moving? If it was working for 300 miles, you have to ask "What changed?"

 

Thanks for your thoughts on this Gunpilot, It is looking like I may well have gotten carried away with some lube on the clutch bearing sleeve. When it warms up I now think the clutch disc starts sticking to the flywheel or the pressure plate. I had this with a bad seal years ago. Ford said that I need .300" to .350" at the throwout bearing. my 1" at the cable location should do that. It was working good cold but when it warmed up it does not release.

 

Most clutch manufacturers can tell you what "air gap" or clearance is recommended with their unit, i.e., the amount of space between the clutch plate and flywheel when the clutch is fully disengaged. At the end of the day, this is the travel dimension that really matters.

You can have someone fully depress the clutch and just stick a feeler gauge in there to check.

I haven't done this in a long time, and I know not all recommendations are the same, but I'm thinking something like .060" was a typical minimum. I'd get the right number from the horses mouth; Centerforce should be able to tell you.

 

The FORD bell housing is 360deg. you cannot see the clutch disc when it is all together.
No worry now. I pulled the tranny out and the inner sleeve of the throwout bearing came out on the front of the tranny. I found 4 more pieces inside. It dumped it's grease all over the inside of the housing. This was a new bearing, about 300 - 350 miles on it. I will go thru my pile of receipts to find what brand of bearing this one is.

Dick

 

I think the Ford Racing/Motorcraft TO Bearing is hard to beat for reliability and if you shop a bit, reasonably priced.

Because I said that your failed bearing will probably be a stock Ford part, LOL.

 

are you using stock Miata slave and clutch master?

 

The master cylinder is from the Monster miata kit, do not know what it is from, and the slave cylinder is stock Miata. I played with the length on the slave cylinder push rod and would have to go thru my notes to find the final length.

Dick