Clutch fork reinforcement

Could someone please offer info on clutch fork reinforcemnt ? I did the search thing and the best I came up with was a year old message with someone saying he cured the problem by installing a more "robust" fork but he did not identify the part. Do you buy a better part, weld up sister plates on the sides of the existing joints, weld up more material on the existing joints...any heat treating required, etc. ? Thanks.

David, on my fork, the welding reinforcement is along the gussets that are already there. They had spot welds on the fore and aft ends. Reinforcement consisted of full welds along the inside and outside of the gussets.

Thanks for that, Cory. I'm thinking there are a variety of styles of clutch forks. Mine is simply a hoizontal tube with the forks being each a piece of maybe 5/8" x slightly less than 3/16" flat stock each with the joining end hollowed out to accept the horizontal tube then each welded to the tube on both sides. Is yours like that ? I could easily reinforce my setup with a "strap" going partly down each arm, wrapped and welded up and over the horizontal tube and partly down the back side of other side of that arm. Any ideas appreciated. Google shows me some throw out forks are cast but mine is a welded up item. thanks.

David, in the first photo, you can see pretty clearly where the welds are, right at the base of the fingers pointing downward. The lever itself acts on the fingers, which in turn push on the clutch mechanism.

The harder the push, the more linear bend on the fingers. The welds reinforce the stock spot welds, which might have been good enough for a stock assembly, years ago, but which might have a tougher time with modern upgrades.

I'm no mechanic, by any stretch, but I'm pretty sure you could weld the bejesus out of the base of the fingers, as long as you don't distemper the steel by overheating it.

This is Linus Sartwell's race car, a Type I-powered used-to-be-a-Rabbit. I like this thing a lot:

Thanks for that again, Cory. I need to get this thing settled asap due to unforseen shortfall on time in the next two weeks. That first pic looks like what mine looks like. I can easily reinforce mine with wrap around straps but would like to hear what others have done. Anyone...anyone...Beuler...Dr. Clock... ?

Saw some for sale in "The Samba"

I take 1/2 by 1/2 keyway stock and just bend it around the shaft and make a weld on reinforcement. for both sides .

i cant remember exzactly all the details it's been 14 years sence I did one.

But it's realy not hard to do. a 30 minute fix by itself .


The bad part is pulling the engine and fork out to to do it.on a running car

Thats the bad part.

When Mine broke. I decided to go the hydraulic clutch route. I used the Saco hyd. system. The Saco system is kinda mickey mouse, but it's all in there now (after several tries) and it all works.But thats a whole other story.

My clutch bearing fork was bent beyond repair,when it broke, so I bought a Heavy Duty throwout brg.Fork w/ bushings from CB Performance. It's pretty substantial, but I had to alter the brass bushing lengths to get it to fit/work. (This is an IRS trans axle '70 vintage) I'm using a stage 1 kennedy pressure plate w/collar and '70 vw t.o brg.
The t.o. brg. clips are usually what cause the failure of both the T.O. brg. and the fork. The clips tend to pop off (even the quirley que ones)after awhile or when using a H.D. pressure plate.
I also bought a fork from Rancho Hi performance Transaxle in Calif. They're the ones that built the tranny in the first place.
They recommend the Later model stock VW fork and bushnings.
It's shorter, beefier, and you have to use the later model T.O. brg and remove the collar from the clutch disc. for everything to line up and work.

I opted for the HD CB Performance version. (I already had it in with a new t.o. brg. by the time the one from Rancho came.
Either one is Good. The late model one from Rancho is probably the better set up as it uses the later clip on type throw out brg.

Greg