Are you missing the 1/2" or so round ball bearing pivot point for the
lever that sits just inside the bell housing? That ball is held in with
a small spring that goes from the nose cone to the arm.

If missing, the pedal will be hard and you cannot adjust it far enough
to have the clutch stay free wheeling when down. You will 'bottom out'
the linkage stressing the crap out of the bell crank and always have the
throw out bearing touching the pressure plate fingers in order to get it
to go far enough.

What did the fingers look like on the old plate? Any wear or scuff
marks?

Did the tranny nose cone have any dings on it?

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Michael White wrote:
>
> All,
>
> I'm getting quite a bit of noise when the clutch is depressed on my '82
> Scrambler with a 258, a T-5, and manual clutch. This is before and after I
> replaced the clutch throwout (release) bearing. While paging through the
> factory service manual, I noticed that my clutch fork looks like the clutch
> fork used with the four-cylinder, hydraulic clutches: flat on the tines of
> the forks, flat in the middle of the fork tines, and a deep dimple for the
> release rod. In the pictures of the manual clutch, the middle of the fork
> does not look flat, the dimple for the release rod doesn't look as deep,
> and the tines of the fork do not look flat.
>
> I'd take a photo, but it's installed already. I just know that, in addition
> to the noise, my clutch system is stressed. I've busted a new bellcrank, a
> portion of the bell housing, and snapped a grade 5 bolt head. And the old
> clutch I replaced had one if its return springs busted.
>
> One other oddity - when I adjust my clutch, I have to adjust the release rod
> nearly all the way out.
>
> Thanks in advance.
> --
> Michael White "To protect people from the effects of folly is to
> fill the world with fools." -Herbert Spencer, 1891