I had this exact problem with my clutch a few days ago. The plunger stop nut "migrated" until it was tight against the housing and I couldn't get into gear at all. This of course happened while I was at a stop sign at the crest of one of the steepest hills in San Francisco. Thankfully I had just read this thread so I pulled over, backed them way off, and everything went back to normal. I see a lot of recommendations from folks to remove them entirely, which got me thinking: What purpose are they supposed to serve?

Hey again,

I did the test just now and the car didn't move an inch. The gears were stiff to shift into even with the car off but did go in, fired up the car and she just sat there, released the clutch slowly and she rolled forward like you'd expect.

//imgur.com/gallery/siwv2oO

That's the link to the pics of the clutch arm in and out. I did follow this guide https://www.7ent.com/pages/article-easy-pre-verto-clutch-adjustment.html to make sure it was set "correctly" before I took the pictures and before I ran the clutch test above.

Broken record at this point but thanks again for all the help, I appreciate it.

 

 

Thanks for the new info. I'll be sure to do the "test" tomorrow morning. I'll get some pictures uploaded as well to make things clear. I suffer from severe migraines and have been out of commission all damn day so no chance to get to it as I would have liked.

Thanks again for all the help. 

Edited!   Thanks

+1 to that test, but between have some room, and crank engine there should be push and hold down clutch pedal, I think.

Put Transmission / Shifter into gear = 1st or second gear  is fine.

Have some ' rolling or moving space.

Crank engine. With Clutch down and in gear.

Does the car lurch forward? , IF YES.

This WILL indicate the Clutch is not dis engaging.  Either its not enough throw from Worn out pins and joints or a broken ball.

  OR = lack of hydrolic pressure to actuate the rod enough.

(edited for  procedure! )

This is how far a Pre verto clutch lever should move in theory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54sVAJcHcoY


Deeper thought == IF the clutch IS dis engaging ... ( lever rod moving ALOT. 1-1.5 inches ). there COULD be a stuck clutch disk stuck to flywheels . But those usually only occur after a car has sat a LONG time.

Not sure if you have a verto or pre verto clutch set up. If pre verto the clutch arm is longer and should be in the 12 or actually closer to the 1 o'clock position to be working correctly. If you have wear on the pivot ball on the arm as posted by Rosebud you will be closer to the 12 0'c lock position.

Post a picture of your clutch linkage so we can see what you have.

Did you try a stock gear lever?

No thick carpet but I need to remove it anyway to do some changes for my giraffe like body so I'll see if it makes a difference. Thanks for the tip.

Rosebud, I'll check that link out, thanks. 

I had similar symptoms with my clutch. Problem solved. See link for details.

Do you have thick carpet in the car, along with soundproofing pad under that? Try taking all of it out, then try the clutch. You might find it will go into gear when you have full throw of the pedal.

Thanks very much yet again for the great info. Lots of new stuff to learn that's for sure. Time to keep looking at the other solutions. 

Some engine builders saw the threaded portion off the plunger. If you install the stop and jam nut be sure you have a proper wrench to hold the stop while setting the jam nut. I bought a wrench at a yard sale and ground the open end thin enough to do the job. If not properly jammed the stop can tighten up and keep the plunger from moving or both can fall off the plunger. The jam nuts are not your problem. Steve (CTR)

The nut and locknut on the throwout plunger would give you clutch release problems if they were present and in too far. Their purpose is to limit the extent of throwout. Not having them should not affect your clutch operation.

Hey again everyone,

Thought I'd do a quick update and ask another question or 2. I've taken your advice and gone over everything with a fine tooth comb. No leaks, re-torqued nuts/bolts, no clutch arm issues, clevis pins and their holes looking great, slave pushrod is good and no leaks with a fully bled system. Then I noticed something that seemed wrong, like I said I am new to this so the obvious goes unnoticed while I'm worried about the complex.

While looking at pictures online and in the manuals to adjust the clutch arm stop I kept seeing two nuts that I didn't have on my car. Apparently the previous owner forgot to reinstall the throw out plunger nut and the lock nut and I'm wondering if this might be the issue.

I ordered both parts last week from here and just received an email saying they're out of stock and will be shipped in 1-2 weeks. 

While waiting for the correct parts does anyone know if there is a way I can cobble together a nut or two from a hardware store in order to see if it fixes the issue? 

Thanks again for all the help! 

Thanks mur, I was thinking it was a rod change style but wasn't 100% sure. One of the reasons I picked this mini up was because the previous owner was 6'4" and had everything set back so it's perfect for me. I'm 6'7" so the shifter on top of the cross bar and the seats mounted behind it are exactly how I had my '67 set up.

Thanks too, minibitz. What you mention is some of the stuff I was looking into, I gave it a quick once over earlier today to see if there was anything major and didn't spot anything so I am going to dig into it thoroughly tomorrow because I'll have all day. 

Thanks again everyone, crazy helpful and I appreciate it. Can't wait to have her up and running so I can go bombing around

You say the gears shift when engine is not running so this tells us that the gear shift mechanism is working fine.

With the engine running what you describe are the classic symptoms of a "dragging" clutch. All this means is that you are not getting enough throw in the clutch for it to disengage and allow you to change gear. 

Possible causes for clutch drag are wear in the two clevis pins on the clutch arm, slave push rod hole where top clevis goes or wear on the ball end of the clutch arm. Also wise to pull the boot off the slave cylinder and look inside the bore for signs of leaking fluid or corrosion.

That appears to be a rod change shift fitted inside the car in a manner that might be called racer-style. 

I wouldn’t normally use those words but I could not describe it any other way. Good luck.

Thanks for all the info everyone. I have been looking into what everyone has been mentioning as well as looking over the tech articles on this site as well as popping around youtube. 

I've looked into a lot of the simple issues and everything is buttoned up so I'm concerned it's something more serious. 

One of the tech articles I came across was one that talked about how to determine what transmission you have. I assumed that would be good info to have but what I noticed is that the pictures don't match up to what I have in my car. 

Is that because of the short shifter kit? In my car the shifter is actually installed on top of the interior "cross-bar" and has an exposed rod that goes through the floor into a simple connector that then goes into the gear box.

I have uploaded a few pics to hopefully help explain. Couldn't get a great picture of underneath but if you need a better look I'll get it. 

https://imgur.com/gallery/yc1nO4p

Thanks again. Hopefully tomorrow I can really tear into things.

I had a similar problem with the 1275GT, and it turned out to be a loose engine mount.  

Anecdotal for sure, and your mileage may vary.

Scott

Agree strongly with malsal and CooperTune regarding the "short" shifters or sometimes very incorrectly called "quick" shifters.