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The clutch pedal on my 1982 Ford Econoline e150 (mechanical clutch) is very hard to press. I noticed today that the Z bar is not sitting correctly in the z mount bracket on the bell housing. It looks like the Z mount bracket is bent, either that or the Z-bar itself is bent, it’s hard to tell which. But the result is that The Z-bar is not in the middle of the receiving bracket hole, but rather pushed up against one side and causing a great deal of friction. In fact when I press the pedal there’s so much friction that the receiving bracket bends. I don’t know what to do about this problem. Please help
Having been here about 10 years now I can't remember too many--if any at all---members who actually have manual shift E-Series vans. I'm sure whatever issue you're having might be common to the mechanical linkage type clutch actuators so perhaps look in another FTE sub-forum where your year vehicle might be under discussion.
You probably have a three-prong (Long) style pressure plate. They have three pivot points on the three levers that move when pushing the pedal. If you remove the dust cover on the side of the bellhousing, you can rotate the flywheel and carefully spray or oil/lube those three points. If they are stiff, it's possible to bend parts, as it appears has happened to the z-bar attachment.
There are diaphragm type clutch/pressure plate assemblies available to replace the three prong types. Much, much easier to operate and with plenty of holding power.
Typically you can find a diaphragm-type clutch to fit the application, the three-fingered type being a Borg & Beck design which is usually found in race cars or other high-performance uses. Big heavy trucks are a good example of where they're most usually found.
I wonder what would be involved in converting to a hydraulic system. This is from my 85 manual and is for a van with a 460 but gives you an idea. The hydraulic parts are probably available. My ranger had a flexible tube running between the clutch control assemblies. The bracket for your Z bar that bolts tot he transmission bell housing,,, I believe for the hydraulic system, you would just change out that bracket to hold the cylinder. i think the hardest part might be connecting the clutch peddle to the clutch control assembly at the firewall.
I remember seeing a Econoline in the salvage yard that had a manual transmission. I would love to have a 5 speed in mine!
This is the same clutch release lever used on trucks so the bracket to hold they slave cylinder might be found on trucks and broncos also! The E4 in the part number means 1984 part. According to the site below, it fits trucks all the way up to 1997 https://parts.lakelandford.com/p/For...E4TZ7515C.html
