Hello all. I have a 1965 C15 to rebuild. I have dismantled the engine with a view to getting it vapour blasted but I cannot remove the clutch actuator arm from the timing cover. I have removed the gear and plunger and assumed the arm would just slide out from then. It rotates freely but that's all. Is there a trick or have I missed something? There is nothing about this in Rupert that I can find. TIA
Best way I've found is to fit the rack in the hole and rotate the lever and spindle to force the rack to bottom in its hole (that's clockwise rotation of the lever seen from above it). Turning the lever further in a clockwise direction should unscrew the pinion from the end of it - it has a left hand thread.
But, expect it to be tight, really tight. I usually turn the casing upside down, trap the lever between the jaws of a vice and turn the casing to unscrew it.
Really tight means that there is a good chance the lever will break off before the pinion lets go. Therefore best not to disturb it unless there is a good reason to do so.
I may have misread your post - if the gear is already removed but the spindle but still won't come out of the casing the cause is likely to be the bottom end having a burr where the gear pressed up against the shoulder on the spindle.
If that is the case there should be just enough of the spindle showing inside the case for a small file to be used around the edge of the shoulder on the spindle to remove the burr.
I've removed many of these clutch actuating mechanisms and normally the only problem is being able to unscrew the pinion - I can't remember ever having a problem in withdrawing the clutch lever afterwards!
Looking at a lever I have lying around, there is about 1 mm of the lever shaft projecting below the casting. The shaft is 0.400" in diameter and, if you have a digital vernier calliper, it would be worth measuring the diameter of the projecting part of the shaft. If burred as suggested then this measurement should confirm this. As said, there is plenty of room to use a small file to remove any burring.
Just thinking this through a little further:
I don't have a pinion lying around to confirm this but I would have thought that it would not be possible to remove the pinion without unscrewing the clutch lever shaft into the casting out of the way first. If that is the case then burring on the end of the shaft is unlikely to be the cause of the problem and a bent shaft or threaded section might be what's stopping the clutch lever from being withdrawn out of the timing cover?
Thanks for the replies. I had indeed removed the pinion but as you can hopefully see from the photo there doesn't appear to be a shoulder. I have attacked what there is with a file and have managed to remove the arm. Took a little bit of persuasion and a touch of heat to the cover.
The fun bit is replacing the bit the slides in and out of the tube.
Getting it engaged just right to ensure correct actuation
Quote from: Bulkmeister on 18 May, 2023, 15:24
Thanks for the replies. I had indeed removed the pinion but as you can hopefully see from the photo there doesn't appear to be a shoulder. I have attacked what there is with a file and have managed to remove the arm. Took a little bit of persuasion and a touch of heat to the cover.
Sounds as though the shaft may be slightly bent - there's quite a bit of lateral force on the end of shaft when the clutch lever is pulled and this could result in it bending slightly over time. Worth checking and straightening if necessary. The shaft is 0.4" in diameter or just over 10 mm and it might be worth inserting a 10 mm drill into the clutch lever hole to make sure it is still true!