Any chance a different throw out would be needed? I believe they make a short/tall one. It certainly sounds like a "ratio" problem though. I've had similar in past on different hot rods where we needed to extend the lower arm on the z-bar to get more "throw" to the clutch fork. If you need to have the lower rod all the way adjusted to the fingers in order to get enough throw to change gears, it may be something in the ratio.

 

I've had similar in past on different hot rods where we needed to extend the lower arm on the z-bar to get more "throw" to the clutch fork.

That would be needed if the clutch fork is too long. Do you have a stock 56 clutch fork? A common source of a "too long" clutch fork is if you use the "heavy duty" fork that Lakewood/Mr. Gasket sells. Its length is for a Camaro or Chevelle and it is too long for a 55-57. If you can't find a 56 clutch fork, use a 57 clutch fork and a 57 lower rod.

 

Lol, I think that's the exact fork I bought for the 55. It's anodized looking, correct Rick?

 

Yes it's gold zinc plated.

 

I have a stock 56 clutch fork

 

The problem I am having is that I am having to adjust the clutch until the throw-out bearing is completely up against the clutch before it will shift correctly. Until I get it against the flywheel it will not shift smoothly

Thanks
Burt

Burt, can you expand on this?

Are you saying the throw out bearing is compressing the fingers on the pressure plate until they touch the clutch disc?

Exactly how much travel are you seeing from the point the T.O.Bearing makes contact with the pressure plate? how much slack is there at the T.O. Bearing with the return spring pulling the pedal up?

 

Burt, can you expand on this?

Are you saying the throw out bearing is compressing the fingers on the pressure plate until they touch the clutch disc?

Exactly how much travel are you seeing from the point the T.O.Bearing makes contact with the pressure plate? how much slack is there at the T.O. Bearing with the return spring pulling the pedal up?

The bearing is touching the clutch fingers firmly, not all the way to the clutch. No slack when pedal is up, touching firmly all the time. If I adjust it to just not touching like it should I can't shift gears without grinding. I'm going to try Farm Boy's idea using a 57 upper clutch rod. So far that fix seems to make the most sense to me. Crossing my fingers on this one as it's been super frustrating.

 

One more thing on the Lakewood/Camaro fork is that if you increase the throw on the lower lever of the z bar, the fork may end up hitting the firewall before the clutch releases.

 

The upper rod (between the pedal and the Z-bar) is about 15-3/4 inches long on a '56 and 16-9/16 inches long on a '57. I'm not sure why they used a longer upper rod in '57 but to compensate for the longer rod they changed the angles of the levers on the 1957 Z-bar. In other words a 1956 Z-bar is not the same as a 1957 Z-bar.

The Z-bar sold by Southwest Speed is listed for both 1956 and 1957. No way is the same Z-bar used in both years.

I suspect you have a 1957 Z-bar with a short 1956 upper rod. If this is the case your lower adjusting rod would appear too short.

 

So if I use a 16-9/16" upper rod from a 57 it might do the trick? I can get one of those tomorrow at the Portland Swap Meet. The lower rod seems to have plenty of thread left for adjustment either way so I think that one will be OK.

 

Do you still have the original Z-Bar or was it trashed? If it's still good, try using it.

 

Another common problem is the spline connection of the clutch pedal lever will strip out causing the clutch to not release properly. It can be difficult to see but you should inspect it carefully. There should me zero movement between these two parts.

 

Well I thought I would give an update. I bought a upper 57 clutch rod and when I removed the old one it was the same size. So then I welded a extension on the lower part of the Z bar to give me more throw when the clutch was depressed. That did not work as I had the same problem not being able to adjust the clutch enough. So back to square one and then I remembered this response and picture. So when we looked at this part we found it was actually broken and that explained why it would not adjust and felt like a "*****" clutch with little resistance. So we tig welded it and put it on. Now my clutch works perfectly and adjusted perfectly. I'm a very happy camper. Thanks for all the input on this as I was getting pretty frustrated. The weather report looks good for tomorrow so if it's not wet I'll be cruising again all the way to the paint shop for my new paint job.

 

I don't have the original Z bar it is long gone. Ill check the spline, wasn't even aware if that problem, My question is how did we all do these conversions as kids and everything worked?

 

I think there was alot of blind luck involved when we were kids.

 

Well I got the 57 top clutch rod from Cliff's Classics. Has anyone replaced one of these and are there any tricks to it so I'm not re inventing the wheel?