Why are the smallest parts the hardest to get to?

[gingerpaul]

I've had a couple of break downs thanks to losing the clutch recently, one of which at the Dax open day earlier in the month and another back in June when I was first introduced to this site. Each time I end up looking like this:



I needed to get to these bits to see what was going on:



Unfortunately getting to those bits means having to do this:



I'd forgotten just how much stuff has to come off to get the engine out!











It's like it's half built again!

The problem is what I expected which is good news I suppose. The clutch fork arm has been coming off the clutch release bearing. Looks like the fork has widened slightly and isn't a great fit in the bearing carrier. The bearing carrier also has evidence of wear where the clutch fork has been twisting off.

Looks like a few new bits will be on their way next week. Just a shame that the only problem I've had with the car the whole time it has been on the road is with something in the most difficult place to get to on the whole car.   

['The Gaffer']

Wow thats a lot of work

Is there anyway you could get a specialist to modiify or strenghen the fork to stop it from ever happening again?

Nice pics.

[gingerpaul]

I'm going to order a new fork, bearing, bearing carrier, pivot and sliders so hopefully everything will go together ok. If it's still a bit lose I might machine up my own sliders to make it a better fit. I'm also tempted to weld a bit of metal either side of the fork to give it some strength. I need to be careful though because if it's too tight it'll bind up when pressing the clutch pedal, which would give me almost exactly the same problem as I have now.   

['The Gaffer']

I'm also tempted to weld a bit of metal either side of the fork to give it some strength.

Thats exactly what I was thinking.. good luck with the work and good to catch up with you again

[Furore Phil]

Ouch ! Tha's a heck of a lot to remove !

Car designers never seem to take this in mind when designing cars.

Thats why I wne for a rear engined transverse engined car - I had heard horror stories like yours. I like cars where you can remove all the body panels from around the engine for 100% access !

[Richard]

eeeek !

To be fair you had squeezed a big engine in that engine bay though.

A few hours going to go into that repair, why do I think you'll end up doing a few others tings while you are doing it 

[gingerpaul]

To be honest there's bags of room in the engine bay if you have a bike engine fitted. You can change the clutch in about half an hour in one of them. Missing 4 cylinders though.   

You might be right about me doing a few other jobs though. I've got a bit of wiring to sort out. I've already cleaned the byproducts from the engine bay from the Rover anti-rusting oil mist system. Oh yes, I might install the freshly rebuilt 3.9 litre engine that a friend wants running in while I'm in there.   

['The Gaffer']

Oh yes, I might install the freshly rebuilt 3.9 litre engine that a friend wants running in while I'm in there.   

You are a sucker for punishment I'm sure it would be fun though.