Triumph Repair: clutch, clutch disk, small bore

Question
Hi
I have just recently bought and restored a 1967 spitfire mark 3, I have noticed that the pedal on the clutch must be pressed firmly to the bottom before I can change gears, is there a way to set the pedal to cut higher, I have installed new fluid and bled the clutch properly
Any help

Joe

Answer
Hi Joseph,
There may or may not be anything wrong with the car because the Spitfire and the TR-6 are noted for needing the pedal depressed all the way to the floor to release the clutch. I had many customers who had installed extra carpet and they had trouble getting the clutch to release.

If you have very little free play in the pedal and the pedal is firm as soon as the free play is taken up and you have bled the system there is not much else you can do.

In my opinion BLM cut it too close on both the Spitfire and the TR-6. I was able to use the wrong (larger bore) master cylinder on the TR-6s that had the small bore master cylinders and this corrected the problem but I never tried it on the Spitfire.

This is often a problem when a new clutch disk is installed. Some new disks are soft (spring plate between the linings too wide) and this makes it difficult for the pressure plate to retract far enough to let the disk spin free. This type of problem will sometimes correct itself as the car is used.
Howard