Rebuilding a 70 Challenger and after everything seems to have been reconnected and installed the clutch pedal wants to slam to to the floor with no resistance. Why would that be? I removed the dust cover for the clutch fork and it is moving the thrust bearing correctly. I installed new pressure plate, clutch disc and release bearing. All new parts in z-bar assembly. Clutch pedal assembly completely rebuilt. Any assistance would be great.

Thanks, Joe

You are probably using a diaphragm type clutch & the overcenter spring needs to be removed.....

what brand of clutch? A centerforce may not need the over center spring....

Not sure what brand it is. 2 new pressure plates came with the car. 1 was diaphram for sure and is still on the shelf. I thought the one I ended up using was 3 finger but can't remember for sure. Looked as if it may have been an after market HP type clutch but don't believe it is a centerforce.

Joe

Anyway start jamming washers in the coils of the overcenter spring & pop it out...

OK, shoved washer's in as best I could and removed the spring. The pedal comes back up when you push it down but the pedal is pretty easy to push. Been a while since I have driven one of these old cars with a stick but I thought they were fairly good resistance from the factory (even w/o aftermarket pressure plate). Overall, pushing down and returning it's fairly "soft" like a new model car. Thoughts?

Ever drive an old GM product? Diaphragm clutches feel allot softer than Borg & Beck or Long style clutches... I can't say for sure theres nothing wrong but Mopar used a Borg & Beck style clutch originally & those are heavy feeling clutches...

That's how I recall it also. I wish I had paid closer attention to whether or not it was diaphram or not when I put it in. Since I haven't done this in a long time and I don't do it everyday, a lot of common since stuff goes out the window. I know that when I got the car. the pedal sat low compared to the brake pedal. Currently, they are sitting about the same. It comes back to the rest point slightly springy but not snapping back to it. Almost hydraulic like. I guess I will try it like this and see what happens.

Talking to my friend that I got the car from, he says the pressure plate that I ended up using was a NAPA factory replacement and I was thinking that it was 3 finger type so that troubles me. I thought I had adjusted the fork rod correctly but if it weren't would that have caused it? Thoughts?

Thanks, Joe

Is it releasing?
Could be it isn't adjusted out far enough, not compressing the fingers?

Pull the bell housing pan off and get in there with a mirror and take a look. Then you'll know for sure which one you have.

OK, Guess I worked on the car too much and too late yesterday and my mind wasn't functioning well when I got to this stuff. I put washers in the spring and pulled it out as 1 Wild suggested and the pedal as I mentioned felt too soft. With a clear head and after reading your comments this morning, I took the fork rod off and rechecked the travel of the fork/thrust bearing to see the point it was contacting the pressure plate. I realized, it was NOT engaging the pressure plate at all. Not sure what I did last night but it was obvious that it wasn't set correctly. I readjusted it, replaced the spring and it works as it should now. Thanks to everyone for the input. Very much appreciated.