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MG TD TF 1500 - Clutch arm placement

Hello all. After years of being in pieces, my TD is now going back together. And it was years ago that I be-bushed the clutch actuating round bar and all the levers. The engine and gearbox got lowered into the chassis yesterday, but I seem to have a problem with the lever. It is pointing to about 5 oclock and the arm to the pivot lever on the side of the engine is now short by about 1 1/2 inches. Obviously something got assembled wrong. Can the lever on the bell housing be reversed? It appears to me that it can go on either way. The keyway is right in the middle of the arm. Reversing seems irrelevant. So did I goof up something inside the housing then? With those tapered pins, I did not think that was a possibility. I am ready to pull the gearbox again, but not sure if I need to. Has anybody seen this before?
Thank you, Sandy
smb brainsky

Google the following which will provide some helpful fixes.

mike o’connor MG clutch fix
gl rombough

I can't remember if the key way for the release arm is in line with the actuating arm key way. if not the cross shaft could be in the wrong way round.
Ray
Ray Lee

So if the cross shaft is installed reversed, that would mean that the arm was originally on the other side that protrudes out of the bell housing now. I will look for witness marks on it first thing in the morning. If that is the case, it means that everything including those taper pins have to come out again. Why is it that if there are two ways to do things, I always seem to pick the wrong one? I also assembled the engine with the windage tray upside down in the oil pan. I also just found that problem when the dip stick wouldn't go in. Geez Louise!
smb brainsky

Just remembered that the release arm taper pin is off-set so I don't think the shaft can be reversed.
Ray TF 2884
Ray Lee

Just checked NTG site and the keyway in the lever IS offset. This would give you back the distance
Ray TF 2884

Ray Lee

I have had a LHD TD for 50 years, at some point it before me it had a replacement gearbox from a RHD car. I had never been able to get the clutch adjusted correctly. When I obtained a new shaft to replace the worn one, I notice extra hole by the realest bearing. What they had done, instead of removing the operation lever arm and putting it on the other side, they had removed the shaft with arm and inserted it from the other side, then drilled another hole to pin the release bearing. Once I put every thing back as it should, the clutch could be adjusted perfectly.
B W Wood

All of the information give above is valid, depending on an unknown, did you use the old cross shaft or was it replaced? If it was replaced then it could be reversed, in that case the hole for the release fork needs to be re-drilled. If you used the original, it cannot be reversed, because the hole for the release fork would not line up, in this case the drop arm is reversed. The drop arm should be at about 7 o-clock for a LHD and 5 o-clock for a RHD.

John
J Scragg

Update. The shaft was indeed reversed. It took the whole morning here, but the gearbox is now back in place and the clutch will work just fine now. The kicker is that it wasn't me who reversed it. I never removed the lever from the shaft when I re-bushed the bell housing. And from the effort it took to drive out that taper pin, I doubt it has ever been off before. It is like it came from a right hand drive car. I am pretty sure this early engine came from the factory with a 7 1/4" clutch but was converted to an 8". That may offer some explanation, since the bell housing needs to be changed also. I just don't know. I do know that it is "buyer beware" when purchasing someone else's started projects.
This is just another in a long list of gifts I received from the DPO. I could write a long book, a tragic tale of all the things these 2 guys did to this poor car in their feeble attempt to restore it before I bought it off their incapable ham fisted claws. I am grateful I am finding these things before I get further along. The body is still off, so the gearbox removal now wasn't so bad.
I want to thank everyone who gave me assistance. You will be hearing from me more in the future as I move along here. This is a big puzzle without any instructions. You are all great. Thank you very, very much. Sandy B.
smb brainsky

This thread was discussed between 06/07/2019 and 07/07/2019

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