Clutch adjustment, cable replacement, hydraulic clutches, etc.

Hold the swedged portion of the cable with a small wrench or vise grip. You should be able to turn the wing nut with a reasonable amount of thumb and finger force, if not you may be bottomed out on the adjustment . ~Alan ..
Oops just saw this was directed to Mr Lane.

Thanks, Alan.
I'm bleeding but still no luck. The problem is that the back of the wing nut has little bumps that sort of fit the hole in the lever. This keeps the nut from turning when there is tension. Carey e-mailed me to use a ratchet strap to pull on the lever, but I don't have one. I can reach over the tranny and use a lever on the lever, but I need a third hand to hold the cable when I turn the nut.
There is zero cable poking through the nut, which tells me the nut is right at the end of the cable. I think I managed to get a net gain in turns, but I still fear it coming off, away from home. The clutch seemed to be fully disengaging before I started this exercise, just right off the floor which suggested to me I tighten a little.
Anyone?

Hmmm... A set of Vice-Grips on the unthreaded part of the end of the cable should make it reasonably easy to turn "the big wingnut" unless your cable is too short. Given that I've never heard of a cable shortening spontaneously, I kinda doubt that. The knobs on "the big wingnut" keep it from loosening spontaneously (that word again), and they are our friends. Try some WD-40 or something to see if...

Wait... Is "the big wingnut" at the outer or inner limit of its travel? If it's the inner, your cable has stretched and you need a new one from Carey. If it's the outer - call Ghost Hunters, cuz there's somethin' weird goin' on. The nut should come right off the end.

EDIT: Ok, I re-read your post and your at the outer end. You want to screw it in, but there's too much tension on it? I gotta think about that one. If your clutch pedal has too much play and it's hard to shift, you shouldn't have tension on "the big wingnut".

There's two springs in the system. There is a return sring on the clutch throw-out arm and of course there is the really big spring in the clutch itself, running the pressure plate. If the cable is so tight, must be the herky clutch spring you are fighting, which tells me that the clutch is in the process of being disengaged which says the cable is too short. This was my situation, as shown above. And Lane can stop scratching his head because I think cables do not go spontaneously short. On the other hand, if all was swell w/ your clutch for a time and then this just developed, then I guess we're all stumped. [Could the cable get hung up somehow at the peal end, and act like it was short? Not sure about that one either.] My idea of a properly adjusted clutch is one where full disengagement happens just in the last little bit of push before the pedal hits the stops. This way, you have flexed the spring in the clutch the least. The arrangent of levers and pedal in the VW set-up will allow you to adjust all such that the pressure point is very high on the pedal vs. low like I like it. This means you keep flexing the clutch spring as (or if) you keep pushing the pedal. If the spring in your clutch is a daphragm vs coil springs, you can over-flex it this way, and there is nothing good about that -- to be avoided. If you push a diaphragm spring beyond the center, I think you are screwed. If you set it so the realese point is low on the pedal, then this will leave a fair amount of play in the pedal, where all you are doing when first pushing is flex the other spring, which is much weaker than the clutch spring. Any of this make any sense? Sounds to me that you need a longer cable, and maybe one custom built.

My guess is that somehow the wing nut has stripped the threaded section of the clutch cable, which is why is is too far back and won't turn, but that is just a guess. Rich, you are on the right track, and (without seeing it) turning the wing nut in more would be what I tried first.

Lane said "A set of Vice-Grips on the unthreaded part of the end of the cable should make it reasonably easy to turn "the big wingnut" unless your cable is too short"
The area where Lane is speaking of has a hex shape to it, and you can get a small wrench on it there (13/64"). I would avoid pliers or vice-grips. They can crush it there and cause a crack, making the cable pull out of the end.

Yeeesh!! Glad you told me. Should we add that to the next revision of the manual? Oh yeah, (thread drift warning), I saw a couple of markups in Aaron's manual this weekend. Are those things that need to be corrected? It won't take a couple of minutes to change them.

Not a bad idea. Yeah. let me know about the other revisions. I will need to do another un of manuals soon, so I'll have to FTP the new version to my printer.

Update. I was able to turn the cable a little with a wrench, allowing the wingnut to turn with it, then turn the wingnut and cable together to undo the twist. I wouldn't have gotten much more than half a turn before I gave up. The clutch feels very different now. Seems stiffer and disengages sooner. I'm thinking that the wingnut didn't re-seat in the lever hole, resulting in an effectively shortened cable. May be just a tad of twist also. I don't know if this will work itself out before I crawl back under or not.
Prior to all this the clutch seemed to disengage completely but with the pedal nearly on the floor. Shifting was fine, but when downshifting it engaged soon enough to throw off my timing.
My big concern is that I can neither see nor feel any of the threaded cable end on the back of the nut. Either this cable was just barely long enough to begin with or it has broken off. I don't know what force could have been applied to it to break it above the nut. Seems like it would have broken below the nut and the nut and cable end would have gone.
I'm a bit leery of straying too far from home until someone assures me that there is little likelihood that the nut could wok itself off.

Rich,

I assure you that if you go on a long drive it might break. :-) Practice your double clutching!

A couple of questions and comments on your methods.
1. Do you have the Speedy up on ramps? Or safety jacks? Take the drivers side wheel off and you will be able to see much better.

2. The cable and clutch arm are not that stiff you should be able to grab on the cable and pull towards the engine to release the tension on the adjusting nut. I was able to just use my hands with no wrench and I almost got it too tight.

3. If items #1 and #2 don't make it easier to adjust just replace the cable. Its a fun adventure much easier to do at home.

Clutch cables are $15 to $25 tops. Stop screwing around with this one if it does not turn and get a new one! I screwed around with mine adjusting and it broke shortly after the adjustment. Its so easy to replace the cable.

Good luck
Dave

PS: I have an old IM and I sent away to VS for one of their shortend clutch cables $25+ shipping. I put it on and it was too short. Had to get a standard bug cable for $15 and cut it back by the adjustment nut and overlap the cables and join them with 1/8" U-clamps. Works like a charm and easy. You can get a Beck cable but if your in a hurry the standard cable u-clamped will work fine.

Dave - Ya think we ought to start another thread to show these young pups exactly how many cable clamps to use, their axial spacing and their radial orientation?

Naw - I didn't think so.

You mean "Don't Saddle a dead horse" Dave.

U clamps work great if you get them on right.

http://oldsnowplowequipment.wetpaint.com/page/Don%27t+Saddle+a+Dead+Horse-+The+Wire+Rope+Clamp+Saga?t=anon

Rich - Carey has his cables made to a specific length. The easiest thing to do is to get one from him.

Yes, do get a new cable (or two!!), and before doing so, get the old one out and by doing so you will be sure to understand how long the new one should be, such that when the friction point is properly adjusted, you still have some threads in either direction for adjustments. Still seems to me that you might be best served with a cable of made-to-order length. As the old hands have said: R&R of the cable ios not all that hard. Depending on how the pedal assy is attached (tube frame parts there or the original pan-based tunnel) you may or may not have to remove the pedals themselves. Still, it is not a really hard thing -- basic wrenching. All of this assumes that nothing has gone bonkers inside the clutch itself to cause the T/O arm position to now be in a different place, which I guess is always a possibility. -?-

I will be getting a replacement cable from Carey. That will eliminate any length issues. His recommended procedure is to access thru a glassed-in access cover in the floor. Much less complicated than pedal assy removal.

I just found my clutch cable is hanging on by a thread -literally! So it appears that I will be replacing my clutch cable as well - is this a one person job? According to John Muir's book, it takes two. Also, when I bought the car from Trent Eubanks, he included a replacement cable. It is from Fania in Brazil. I'm assuming this will be the correct size for my car???

Mark! Long time, no hear! Quite flyin' that damn airplane and join us at Carlisle this year. You can hook up with me when I pass through Charlotte heading north.

Mark,

The Fania in Brazil cable will be a stock VW length.
You can do the clutch cable replacement yourself in an hour ..email me and I'll reply with my cell to walk you through it.... easy peasy ~Alan

Hey Lane! Good to be back on here. Between work and a new house, time just flew by. But now I am looking to reconnect with my Speedster and this madness! When is Carlisle?
Hi Alan, thanks for the vote of confidence that I can do this on my own! I will be in touch soon.

Mark

Check the Carlisle threads in the "Events" forum for details. It's May 14-17. I'm driving up starting on the 13th, and getting there on the 14th. The return trip is the 17th and 18th. We're gonn have a good sized caravan from the southeast. It's worth the week's vacation.

I wish that I could, but I will be in Atlantic City or Lake Tahoe that weekend - working. And I will just be coming back off of vacation too. The wife and I are going to London!

Follow-up on my clutch issue. It seems that I had a broken cross shaft.I don't know exactly how it failed in increments, but when it finally went it was all done. Only about 3600 miles on the car and zero hard,clutch-stressing driving. My mechanic tells me that the shaft was stock and not reinforced as per usual Rancho specs. Some damage to the pressure plate resulted so we're replacing that as a relatively inexpensive alternative to getting the old one back into the car and then finding it won't work right.

If it's a Kennedy pressure plate, I seriously doubt that it's damaged beyond a few scratches. Get the old pressure plate from your mechanic and send it to Kennedy in Palmdale, CA. They totally re-condition their pressure plates for only $50.00 I've been recycling their clutches for years with absolutely no problems.

For those who want to cut and splice a standard VW cable, an alternative to multiple U-Clamps might be the Strong Grip End Fittings shown here if you scroll down:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#wire-rope-accessories/=2xfmqp

You could run a 1/4-20 tap through the wing nut and back it up with a nylock nut as mentioned above.

The clutch cable seems to be 3.5mm, a little larger than 1/8", so I am not sure it would work with the 1/8" fitting.

If this will work, it may be less trouble prone than multiple U-Clamps.

If you have to replace the cable later you could probably re-use the fitting. In the long run it would be cheaper than VS cables or having a fitting swaged onto a cut VW cable.

Michael - That's good to know! Thanks for the tech tip.

I ordered one and I will report on how it works.

Here is an update on the cable end.

First of all don't order it from McMaster Carr.

As you can see in the disassembled picture, there is a little plug in the middle. There are many different plugs for different kinds of cable. The one supplied by Master Carr is the wrong one for our clutch cable.

Our cable is what is called 1x19. There are 7 wires in the center twisted one way and 12 wires surrounding them twisted the other way.

The proper plug for this is an ME-312 or MZ-312.

Since our 3.5mm cable is slightly larger than 1/8" I opened up the center of the plug slightly with a little round file. The plug goes around the center 7 wires and the 12 wrap around the plug.

Order direct from the manufacturer: Esmet, Inc. 800 321-0870, www.esmet.com.

The fitting is called an Electroline fitting. The fitting for 1/8" cable comes with either 1/4-20 or 1/4-28 threads on the stud. I used 1/4-20 because the stud is longer.

You don't need to order their installation tools. You can push the plug in place with a piece of tubing.

I used a generic 1/4-20 Heli-coil in the wing nut so that I could use the wing nut in original manner.

My local hardware wanted $26 for the Heli-coil kit. When I Googled it the cheapest I found was from Tractor Supply. It was about $10 from them. They offer free shipping to your local store and I happen to have a store near me. The kit comes with 10 coils, a drill bit, a tap and a tool to install the coils.

I have 8 coils left if anyone wants to send me their wing nuts for modification.

This certainly looks much neater than multiple cable clamps, although I know not many people will be seeing it.

I haven't used the clutch yet so I can't give a long term test report.

In the installed picture you can also get a glimpse of my locking CV joint bolts.