I have a 79 F100, bone stock. I finished a ground up restoration on the truck and noticed that the clutch pedal felt like it was binding most of the time.

When the clutch is pushed in, the equalizer bar (z-bar) would push to toward the frame. The clutch rod (crayon) is also not in-line with the clutch fork, it is angled back toward the bell housing where it seats in the clutch fork.

I adjusted the pivot bushing plate that mounts on the top of the frame rail toward the engine to see if that would solve the z-bar from moving....it did not.

I just put new bushings and felt washers on the pivot points, did not work.

Did Ford use different length clutch forks? The clutch fork I used was original to the truck. But it seems that it is too short and if it was longer, might solve the rod alignment and z-bar movement issue.

Thanks

 

Is the motor and transmission mounts all relaxed and centered into their respective spots? How far off is it?

 

As stated above check your engine mounting. A slight tilt in the engine will cause issues with your clutch linkage.

 

Yes, the engine and transmission both went in without adjusting, shoving or cussing! I rechecked the engine mount positions and each side is equally positioned in the mounts.

Also, I forgot to mention, it is a 302 with a 3-speed column shift. I did find that Ford had different clutch forks depending on the engine size...but so far I can only find one clutch fork part number for the 302??

Thanks

 

Best I can do is check Friday morning on my truck and have my brother check clutch fork measurement on his truck. I have a 4 speed and he has a three on the tree both 8.2 windsors to see if there is a difference.
Is your clutch fork not the original, prior to restoration?

 

D0TZ-7515-A .. Clutch Fork-Use with 3 & 4 M/T / Obsolete

Applications: 1970/77 Bronco 302 / 1970/79 F100 302 / 1975/79 F150 302 // 1970/76 F100/350 360/390 / 1970/79 F100/350 240/300 I-6 // 1977/78 F100/350 & 1978 Bronco 351M/400.

1979 F100/350 & Bronco 351M/400 before serial number DG0,001.

 

Been a while since I worked on mine so I'm not 100% on this but aren't the two arms of the z-bar different lengths? Is it even possible to install reversed? Maybe post a picture of your linkage.

 

Found some pictures of mine. The 460 sits differently from whatever motor was original so mine wasn't level at all. Had to modify things to make it sit level and operate correctly.

BEFORE


AFTER

 

I used the original clutch fork and z-bar. I have a z-bar from a 6 cyl and they are the same, same part number too. I am going to triple check the engine position in the mounts. When I compare the pivot points, the engine side pivot looks slightly lower than the frame pivot.

Also, it looks like the z-bar in the picture has the arm with the clutch rod bent slightly...or are my eyes just tired from looking at my truck??!!

 

Sorry, I missed the other question, it looks like you can only install the z-bar one way, the clutch rod slides through a riveted pivot mount and the actual clutch pedal rod mounts in a hole on the other z-bar arm. I will take some pics.

 

Here are some photos

 

D7TZ-7528-A .. Clutch Equalizer (Z) Bar-5 1/2" long / Obsolete

1977 F100/350 300/302/351M/400; ditto 1978 before serial number BA0,001.
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D8TZ-7528-A .. Clutch Equalizer (Z) Bar / Obsolete

1978 F100/350 300/302/351M/400 from serial number BA0,001; ditto 1979.

No 460's with M/T or 4WD until 1983.

 

I had the same problem. Engine side was low. Mine was for a 460. New L&L motor mounts. Think I made a thread about relocating the engine side stud by 3/4" or so. Although this may not be an option for you, some motors, not sure which, had a stud threaded directly into the block/bell housing.

 

Yup, this has me scratching my head. The engine pivot is on a bracket that mounts to the bell housing and there is no adjustment possible. I found a NOS frame pivot bracket on ebay and bought it. So I am going to take the original frame bracket I have, put on my press and see if I can give it a little bend to angle the pivot down. Not sure what else to try....any other ideas?

 

Most ebay sellers haven't a single clue what parts fit, even if they're NOS

Why? Because very few have a parts catalog.

What is the part number of the NOS frame pivot bracket you bought on ebay?