MG Car Repair: 65 MGB Clutch, clutch pedal, stop signs

Question
Howard, thanks for taking the time to answer a question. I have a 65 MGB that has sat for 20 years. I rebuilt the engine and put it all back together. Got the car running but clutch will not work at all. I'm not sure how much pressure I'm suppose to feel on the pedal but there isn't much. I've bleed it and no real change. I see the slave cylinder moves about 3/in. I'm getting ready to yank the entire thing back out to look at it but don't want to if I don't have to. Any ideas?

Answer
Hi Chris,
When you say the clutch does not work, I am guessing you mean it will not release. The pedal should have only about one inch free play then feel firm and feel about the same all the way to the floor. But knowing that it has been stored for 20 years I would guess that the disk is stuck to the flywheel. This is common when a clutch has not operated for that long.
While working in dealerships I was able to break about 50% of them loose with the following method.

I worked on a long straight road in Jax FL and I would start the engine and warm it up and set the idle below 1000 RPM. Then I shut the engine off and put it in 1st gear but first aimed the car down that long straight road (that had no stop signs or lights for long ways) When there was little to no traffic I started the engine in first gear and accelerated up to a speed that I would normally have shifted to 2nd and I leveled off so I was not accelerating nor decelerating and I would slide the shifter into neutral, then lower the RPM to what I believed was about right for that speed if I were in 2nd gear and then pull it quickly into 2nd. If I did it correctly there was no crunch of gears and no jerk forward nor aft. (not easy to do) I then did the same thing for 3rd gear and again for 4th gear. Once in 4th I speeded up so that I had 3500 RPM on the tach and was in 4th gear. I then held the clutch pedal to the floor and opened and closed the throttle very quickly back and forth keeping my 3500 RPM average.

The reason for 4th gear and the 3500 RPM is that the max load on a clutch is in 4th gear and the max engine torque of a MG is about 3500 RPM. The harsh throttle movement will break the clutch loose if it can be broke loose this way. I was able to break about half of them loose this way. If that didn't do it I resolved to pull the engine and replace the clutch. Many MGs have always been used and stored and brought out for use again and in many cases that is years and stuck clutches are common when this is the case.

It does take a little driving skill to do it and if not done carefully can cause damage. I had a customer try it and he broke a "U" joint but I'm sure the joint was about gone when he tried it. I don't know how many I did but it was a lot over the 40 years I worked on MGs and I never broke one.
Howard