QuestionI have a 1980 Spit 1500, the engine was replaced with a new Ivor Searle 1500 engine in 2004, I brought it in 2006, since having the car the clutch has always been quite light, significantly compared to my brothers spit which I know has a new clutch.
Myself and another chap were in my car, got caught on a hill start at an angle of about 20-30 degrees, one of the highest i've been on in the car, I pulled away in first and the car barely moved, I dropped it into neutral and pulled the hand brake and was met with the smell of a burning clutch. I did it again and it pulled away fine with no issues. The car then did about 150 miles around town / country fine, until i drove it on the motorway home and the engine seems to rev fine in 1st and 3rd but in 2nd and 4th if you try pushing it above 3500rpm the car seems to stutter. The Spit in 2nd or 4th gear seems to make a very low pitched whine.. Is this likely to be the clutch? I wouldn't expect the engine to have issues with bearings etc as it has only done 46K and have all paper work to prove.
AnswerTom,
Sounds like two potential issues. The first issue sounds like a clutch slip. A typical way to test is to find a long even upgrade and put put the car into an upper gear at low revs then push hard while keeping an eye on the tach. If tach rises but the speed doesn't... clutch slip.
As to the 2nd/4th gear stutter... that's a bit of a puzzle. 2nd gear does have it's own bushing, but 4th is direct drive (input direct to mainshaft).
The only thing unique to both 2nd and 4th is the gear lever position. Is the gear lever hitting the trans cover?
It sounds like time to check the trans oil level and look for metallic swarf on the drain plug magnet.
Cheers,
Jim
