Im going to kill myself with the clutch spring

[Paul-FcWag]

Hi all

I had some squeeking in my clutch pedal so i took it off to give it a good grease up. and now i cant for the life of me work out how to get the spring back on.
Firstly doest the part on the clutch pedal that the spring attaches to face the engine bay when it is properly mounted? secondly are the hooks of the spring supposed to be at right angles to each other- ie when the sping is lying flat is one hook supposed to be horizontal and the other vertical? Thirdly where exactly does the other end of the spring attach to? do i have to take the front of the dash out to do this? my be bleedingly obvious to most of you but i have no idea so any help will be appreciated and as soon as possible would be great because im about to slit my wrists with this spring  

Cheers Paul

[mcl1959]

This is one of those times you need a manual to show you how it goes back together, because I don't think I can describe very well just how it works.
The spring does indeed have one end at 90 degrees to the other end, The short end hooks into the back of the dash near the pedal box and the long end attaches to the clutch pedal.
Here's the problem, you need a small block of wood to adjust the pedal position.  The block is wedged between the firewall and the top of the clutch pedal.  This adjustment gives the pedal "feel".  If it is in the wrong position, it is too heavy or too light.

Ken

[SpeciFEcation]

Firstly does the part on the clutch pedal that the spring attaches to face the engine bay when it is properly mounted?

Yes. It does.

secondly are the hooks of the spring supposed to be at right angles to each other- ie when the sping is lying flat is one hook supposed to be horizontal and the other vertical?

Yes, that is correct. The longer straight part attaches to the clutch pedal.

Thirdly where exactly does the other end of the spring attach to? do i have to take the front of the dash out to do this?

The short straight part of the spring attaches to the steering column. There is a little welded 'bump' (that's the best I can do describing it..!) next to the supporting bracket that attaches the column to the firewall.

Send me you e-mail addy and I'll scan the manual pages in.

Spec

[SpeciFEcation]

Ken

Too fast - as usual....

[Paul-FcWag]

Thanks guys

i have tried to wegde a peice of wood in but i still cant get the top of the pedal back far enough to hook the long part of the spring on. it comes up about an inch short. there are the two bolts that go in the piece that the spring hooks onto and i have taken the bottom one out to give it more leverage to hook the spring on but this does not work either. which end should be hooked on first- the pedal or dash end?

[Paul-FcWag]

is the spring supposed to be relaxed or flexed when the clutch pedal is engaged? it would make sense that it is flexed and if this is the case then i cant get the spring anywhere near the leaver on the clutch when it is not engaged. the only time i can get it close is when the pedal is in the engaged position which means the spring would be relaxed in the engaged position- if that makes any sense to anyone  

[Rusty_T]

  Paul,

This worked for me;
. Take the front of the dash off,
. Push the pedal to the floor,
. Hook the short end of the spring over the raised bit near the steering colum
. Put a "X"tip screwdriver through the free end of the spring and into the recess of the ajustable end and push the spring up the scewdriver as far as you can and lever the spring end into place.
It took me a couple of goes and in the end victory was mine. Be careful ,I barked my knuckles.
Good luck Rusty

[mcl1959]

This is how it's done.  
remove pedal from pedal box.
leave clutch spring adjuster bolts loose.
hold pedal up near where it is to be installed with the rubber pedal near the dash.
put spring in place.
slide pedal onto shaft
when pedal is half on, start to push pedal down so that the pedal goes behind the bump stop.
use a screwdriver to pry the spring over the 2 adjuster bolts as the pedal is pushed further down.
once the pedal is fully installed, install the washer and clip
then adjust the clutch pedal with the block of wood and tighten bolts
There are 2 excellent pics in the workshop manual

Ken

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

Just moving this one to the tech section guys.

[SpeciFEcation]

Try these links.... (geez, they fit the page nicely)

[fe hotrod]

 ;)mmmm as ken stated if you use the workshop manual ,not a problem!! these are a must if you own a old holden and insist on doing repairs yourself,every week there are some on ebay at very resonable prices!!the workshop manual is the bible for holden restorers,any way i hope you get it on,cause i know how frustrating it can be,1 bloody spring how hard can it be?? ;)jamie

[Paul-FcWag]

Thank you all so very much for helping me out with this. Pretty easy when u can see it all in pictures in front of you. what originally took me 2 1/2 hours has just taken me 15minutes.
just shows how important this forum is when such a novice is given so much information on a seemingly simple thing. All very much appreciated guys.

Cheers Paul