When I acquired my E85 last year I found it difficult to get consistent smooth gear changes from 1st to 2nd and from 2nd to 3rd. The abomination known as the Clutch Delay Valve was speedily removed, and although it improved things the clutch still didn't feel right, but I just put it down to a quirk of the car.
My son finally had the chance to drive it yesterday, and he straight away commented on the clutch - so I decided I now had to get to the bottom of it!
The problem is that there is far too much travel on the pedal between the fully depressed position and the biting point. Depending on the seat position, I often found my left heel lifting off the floor during gear changes, which is what was causing the inconsistent clutch control.
The clutch pedal stop is a plastic disc with an M10 thread, which screws into a metal threaded hole in the floor. I figured the solution would be to lengthen it in order to reduce this excess travel, and this proved to be ridiculously simple.
I had some 30mm M10 hex sided connector nuts which I'm using for some mods to the seat runners (more on that when I've finished!). I used a chop saw to cut it down to 20mm, then screwed the pedal stop into it (after cutting off the tapered end which serves no useful purpose). I screwed a 30mm length of M10 threaded rod into the other end, followed by an M10 nut to lock against the connector nut. I then refitted this modified pedal stop into the threaded hole.
After testing that there was still a safe margin of travel between the fully depressed and the biting point, I set off for a test drive.
The difference was absolutely phenomenal - the clutch is now exactly as it should be! The reduced travel also means that I can move the seat back more, which will further help with my seat runner mods.
I aim to get some half height M10 nuts so that I can make the length of the pedal stop adjustable, and will post some photos when I've finished the job.
This has to be the cheapest and most rewarding mod I've ever made to a car!
