Odd clutch issue

Tight pedal assembly? I drill 1/8" hole in the pedal arm and squirt PB Blaster or WD-40 in it.

...or instead of painting the assembly, you can 'BeDazzle' it!

I like Cory's idea. Barry, just have it primered. I will do the rest.

Sweet.

I will see to it..

I've been thinking of visiting Aubrey but Orangeburg is a full day trip up and back for me and I haven't been able to go that far recently. I've heard that (1.) he has a LOT of VW and Porsche stuff and (2.) he likes to dicker so that fits with my plans just right. Maybe I'll load the dogs in the truck and blast up that way in a week or so. Could use some stuff that you have to just wander around in the yard for a while and pick up stuff here and there as you find it.

Either way, it's always fun to just wander through a junk yard for a while!

I had his phone number, but didn't have the address so thanks, Barry! Makes it easier for my "Redneck GPS" to find him.

Gordon

I was to late on stopping Conway from painting the petals. But he got you a excellent set that look BRAND NEW. and YES they have Zurks..

I had to take them apart to make them go in the USPO Prority Box.

I just got that done 30 minutes ago. I will try to get them Prority shipped tommorow. at a automated PO drop.. Forgot to put in a envelope But cut a slot and put my busness card in instead..

Gracias, my amigo!

Lane always seems to have "odd" issues. Does that seem odd you anyone?

Oddly enough, I think it's odd that you would mention that oddity! 8-)

Oddly, I am not taking any offense of your odd assertion that I may harbor some odd propensity toward the odd. After all, "odd" is the opposite of "even", which is quite close to "evil", something that, oddly enough, I try to avoid - as well as the overuse of commas.

Odd as a cod. I heard that expression in a movie once. Oddly enough, this gave me pause to wonder, what is odd about a cod anyway? Are there odd fish and even or not odd fish. This is probably an odd topic but it's still early and I haven't had enough coffee yet. OK, time to NordicTrak.

Oddly interesting Grasshopper...........

They are on their way .

They just arrived. I told them it was the guy next door and off they went.

OK John... As I was saying Lane Anderson's petal set has shipped. You should have them Wednesday afternoon.

Conway wanted more than what I thought they were worth. $80 bucks I.m not holding you to that.

It's up to you

Sounds like a plan. Barry, I hope to meet you in NC next fall.

Lane, did you buy flowers too?

Right now, I have other problems to deal with . I don't have time fret over a set vw clutch and brake parts. Or fellow S.O. trying to be cute.

Barry - Let me know what shipping was too, please.

It was sent to your 1049 Dunes Mill court address in Mount Pleasent SC. It went out monday afternoon should arive today at the earlyest.

I got hurt this weekend Im now on sick leave for 7 days/

Sorry to hear about your injury. Will you be out of work for long? Do you get workman's compensation?

I asked about the shipping cost to add it to the cost of the pedal cluster.

I got poof of rust and eteel in my eyes,Saterday evening The goggles didnt keep it out.

Im still dialated and cant tolerate outdoor light, The worst is over. But I will have wait this out. I should be released from doctors care Tuesday... and return to work Wednesday.

Hey Im enjoying my down time. The shipping was $9 dollars dont worry about it Sir.

But Conway is on his own with the rust spoted Bug.. I'll teach, But I do not intend to touch it any more. I still feel he over did the price on the parts.

I'll let you be the judge of thst. I also have a auto stick petel set that can be converted into the manual type the casting on it is also perfect.. I'll try to trade it out..

Got the pedals and they are waaaaaay better made than the cheap reproductions that I got from cip!. Thanks!

That's good! Don't forget to put a pump of grease in them. Once you have them installed.

The blue bearing grease, Or (my favorite) Atvantia green grease are good products to use .

One lever pump of it every year or so depending how often the car is used will makeum last. You may want to spring for new clutch and brake rubber petal covers, the gas petal cover was pretty good.

I'm glad your pleased with them Lane.

You may want to post a pic of them to show the guys where the zurks are added..

UPDATE: Why cruising this weekend I had a possible epiphany about the SACO clutch unit. Since I can rotate the clutch release shaft in the pedal cluster 180 degrees before I put the pin in the pedal, I may be able to install the SACO MC upside down and toward the rear. I am in no hurry at the moment, but will investigate the next time I feel like getting under the car. News at 11:00...

I had an epiphany once.....

I think it was a result of a couple of pints of Guinness I had at lunch.

Just verified that the backwards installation of the MC will fit just fine, with the only modification being that I need to add some spacers between the access panel and the underside of the car. The MC sits about 0.5" below the underside, so I need to move the panel down to clear it.

Before I do anything utterly stupid (famous last words), does anyone know why rotating the clutch pedal arm 180 degrees to push on the pushrod instead of pull on the cable would be a bad idea?

The sounds ODD, so I suspect you'll proceed and do it.

"Before I do anything utterly stupid (famous last words), does anyone know why rotating the clutch pedal arm 180 degrees to push on the pushrod instead of pull on the cable would be a bad idea?"

Nope, sounds crazy enough that it just might work!

The only thing I would worry about is having enough stroke in the lever attached to the pedal shaft to give the clutch master cylinder enough stroke to provide adequate actuation at the slave cylinder at the throw-out arm end - Follow?

Beyond that, it's exactly the same as a lot of other juice clutch actuators out there, so go for it. A couple of brackets and an adjustable(?) link at the pedal end is all that is keeping you from success!

gn

The stroke should be the same regardless of the way the MC and clutch pedal release arm are oriented, so it should be ok. I plan to call SACO on Monday and talk to them. I have to change the angle of the two fittings for the remote reservoir and the line to the slave, and I want to make sure they don't leak.

Glad to see that you may proceed with the Saco after all.

"Before I do anything utterly stupid (famous last words), does anyone know why rotating the clutch pedal arm 180 degrees to push on the push rod instead of pull on the cable would be a bad idea?" Since there is no front or back or up or down insofar as the m/c is concerned, you can mount it at any attitude you choose. The Saco system depends on the clutch pedal hook pushing on the m/c actuator rod. It matters not whether the open hook point (and the force resulting from pushing on the clutch pedal) is facing the headlight end of your car or the tail light end. In my case with the Metalcraft chassis, rotating the hook 180 degrees exerting force toward the rear of the car was not a real choice...or even a necessity; however other mods were, such as making a new "cranked" push rod from 5/16" grade 8 bolts as well as making a new mounting m/c mounting plate. Depending on your tunnel, you might conceivably luck out and be able to simply rotate the supplied mounting plate 180 keeping in mind that the plate is actually held in place with the pedal cluster mounting bolts. If you have the space whereby there is no interference between the floor and the clutch pedal arm rotated down toward the floor, then you may well be in fat city with the reversed installation (which I find quite clever)...or you could "scoop" the floor if necessary.

"The only thing I would worry about is having enough stroke in the lever attached to the pedal shaft to give the clutch master cylinder enough stroke to provide adequate actuation at the slave cylinder at the throw-out arm end - Follow?" Since the Saco is designed for a VW, it will in fact provide enough stroke at the slave cylinder to actuate the pressure plate. I really wished that the clutch pedal arm on mine had been about a 1/2" longer, but I did finally end up with 1/2"-5/8" stroke on the slave as measured at the top of the throw-out bearing arm. That was enough to work my 1700# Kennedy pressure plate. Bleeding my system was a bitch. You can determine the theoretical max stroke by first measuring the movement of the T/O bearing arm before you pull your cable. That number will be your target. Since I actually got more movement with the cable than I achieved with the hydraulics, obviously there is still some air hiding in my system...but I'll be damned if I know where. It was bled literally dozenS of times...both with a vacuum bleeder and lastly with a home-made pressure bleeder. I believe that you will probably have to remove 6"-8" of the clutch cable tube inside of the tunnel with the reverse installation you plan, but I don't see that as being a problem in any way. Although you have an adjustable clevis on the m/c actuator rod supplied by Saco that fits into the cable hook, you may find the need for a longer actuator rod which is easily fabbed as I mentioned earlier. I made 3 before I got it right.

Good luck. You will like and appreciate the hydraulics after they are finished. In the interim, you may be cussing a lot, wondering whatever possessed you to start the project.

All I know is that on a factory VW petal you need the hook eye to pull the cable forward. Open side of hook is forward and UP..

ALSO the clutch spring that lifts the clutch petal up off the floor has a hook that catches a pin on the clutch petal and the other end of said spring ussally lays on top of the forward petal mounting bolt after install Hook spring on the clutch pin last. It will clear the zurk.( Barely )

I'd sugest just install the set I sent you. and return the other kit for a refund. And be done with it.

If its not busted dont fix it..

Actually Barry, the set you sent me is what inspired this. I have verified that rotating the shaft 180 degrees will not be a problem, and the pedals will look and operate normally with the shaft orientation changed. From inside the car you won't be able to tell. You're correct about how it works when using the normal cable, but I have had problems with cables and am tired of dealing with them, hence the move to hydraulic. Doing as I describe should (famous last words again) eliminate the problem for good.

Just checked with the SACO folks to see if they thought there would be any problems mounting the MC upside down, and they said it should be ok. I may start this little project this weekend.

Why would you need to mount the clutch M/C upside down?

Yes, the pedal actuator arm is rotated 180 to a down position, but the M/C should still be sitting straight up, unless I'm missing something here. Of course, applying the reservoir line might be a challenge, but I'm sure you're up for that. Just use a hose to mount the tiny tank remotely, like in your trunk.

So......I suspect that you meant that the M/C will be in a down position, below the C/L of the clutch pedal shaft and under the car slightly but sitting right side up, rather than up above the pedal C/L, ahead of the pedals and sitting straight up, right?

Sounds easier to mount/service in a lower position, anyway....

Imagine that the MC was welded to the release arm on the pedal cluster. Then rotate the release arm 180 degrees. Rather than pointing toward the front of the car, the MC now is behind the release arm pointing to the rear, and what was the top is now the bottom, and vice versa.

When I start the installation I will take pictures of the process. They might be useful to someone else.

No, Gordon, it has to be mounted "upside down", but that's only relative to the way Saco originally intended on a VW. There really is no top or bottom. The reservoir and pressure fittings must now be on the bottom (at the floor). Look at my 10/10 post here and you can better visualize the m/c. The mounting plate is cut out to go under the clutch pedal actuator arm and actually bolt up to the pedal assy...using the same bolts which now tightened into the m/c mounting plate instead of nuts. I think he may luck out and be able to use the same mounting plate with the cutout now on top over the pedal cluster shaft and still use the original pedal cluster bolts tightened into the mounting plate by merely rotating the whole assy 180 degrees over the clutch pedal shaft so the m/c actuator rod points toward the headlight end of the car instead of the tail light end as it would in a normal VW chassis tunnel.

Exactly.

It's nice that the hose connections are on the side of the MC and can be pointed in any direction.

I wish it didn't require cutting a hole in the tunnel side on a Beetle pan.