Forum

[DonMc]

After experiencing a dragging clutch on my 1959 Airflow 350 I looked at the clutch release arm end of the gearbox mainshaft and found that the clutch pushrod was in good condition but not protruding far from the mainshaft and appeared to not have enough length for the operating arm to lift the clutch plates fully. No problem, I thought, must have forgotten to put in the 1/4" ball bearing when reassembling the clutch earlier this year, so pop one in now. The clutch now operates well and I cannot make it drag even by slipping the clutch mercilessly to try to provoke it. So what is the problem? The adjusting screw on the operating arm now fouls the circular cover plate, which suggests that the pushrod is now too long after putting in the ball bearing. Does anyone know what the coreect exact length should be for the pusrod, either with or without the ball bearing?

[DonMc]

OK I have now answered my own question by trawling through the parts books. For the 350 Bullet it should be part no. H66/1002 which is 10 1/8" long. The 500 Bullet which has a cush drive in the clutch is H66/1010 which should be 10 5/8" long. The Super Meteor push rod clutch has part no. H66/1011 but could not find the length. No time to check it out now until July but at least I know what to look for.

[Chris Tindal]

Glad you solved it, I had a similar problem on my 59 500. The previous owner put a rod in that was too long and the clutch Wouldn't engage properly. I got into a pickle with it as the spare ones I had were a mix of lengths and it took a while to get it right. The current set up is our hosts pressure pad with revolving end, Indian outer plate, two balls and a rod from a 350. It works a treat with no slipping or dragging.