i think the clutch has to be engaged when making the adjustment – so that is the clutch lever towards the left – in towards the clutch mechanism

i think ………………

try it

Z

It looks to me as though someone has deliberately screwed the adjuster rod up tight so that the clutch is solid, for whatever reason. Maybe they dismantled it and re-assembled it incorrectly – there are small parts inside the handle end which could be easy to lose. There should not be as much screw visible outside the drive plate.

I too have warned against dismantling and letting the spring escape, it is powerful, having said that I have dismantled one at home having taken precautions to catch the spring. It can be re-assembled using home made jigs.

Follow the advice from Dennis and see how you get on.

Phil

If you have not undone the screw yet the powerful spring is still to come and is most likely loading the clutch making the screw hard to move, be careful!

The spring may be coil bound which is why the assembly is tight now.

Mike

Edited By Michael Poole on 31/12/2013 12:06:48

Hello Jack,

This is what a correctly set clutch should look like. Your cap screws are missing which might explain it's position and stuck condition. The screws are 3/16" BSF [32 tpi] which 3/8" thread under the head, you can see how short they are from the one I have stuck on with blue tack

Regards Brian

Have you examined the cross sectional drawing in the myford manual? Copies are posted in various places on the internet. The drive plate is keyed to the end of the shaft, try to avoid damage to this, they are nearly £100. The two nuts trick is a common way to remove studs without damaging them. Simply get two nuts and thread them both onto the push rod and using two spanners turn them to lock against each other, they will then be tight on the stud and the stud can be turned to screw into the drive plate, leave clearance for the rod to screw into the drive plate.

Mike

Jack,

I missed the point that you are missing the cap screws as Brian says (Sorry) but the drive plate is still keyed to the cone clutch and held there very firmly by the spring. I doubt it has ever worked right in your hands and the screws are missing because the previous owner had a go. You may have a situation whereby the drive plate and clutch have been driven in hard under power and the drive plate has hit the end of the thread on the pushrod – it is not threaded very far as there was no need for it, in which case you need to shift not only the end of thread but beat the spring as well! If you are still stuck then use the locknuting principle as above and put the drive plate in something very solid like a vice, stilson or mole grip and turn the outer nut as Phil says above. Marks on the nut are better than destroying it and don't bend the pushrod.

No more WD40 please. You don't want that in your bearings! The spring should not be coil bound as proper Myford used to compress it further in normal assembly without any binding.

Dennis

Hello again Jack,

My apologies, the sizes are very close and hard to sort on short lengths. The cap screws are 2BA x3/8", NOT 3/16" BSF in my earlier post.

Dennis I think has explained why it is so hard to unscrew, but rather than hold the drive plate with Stillsons, which will chew it up, a better alternative might be to make a pin spanner with two buttons to engage in the holes for the heads of the BA capscrews.

It could be held in contact by the end nut [1/4" BSF] using at least two spring washers to allow for thread space in unscrewing the drive plate. Clamp the clutch and motor belt to prevent turning and smack the end of your pin spanner anti clockwise with a hammer to shock the thread into release. Thereafter you can take things more gently and work the drive place back into position with the locked nuts approach that Michael Poole suggests.

I hope that and Dennis's information from the manual bring you some joy

Happy New Year

Brian.

The drive plate, clutch cone and main shaft are keyed together so are effectivly one part. The only part that can move is the push rod which as Dennis suggests has most likely screwed into the drive plate to the end of the thread and jammed. If enough torque cannot be applied to turn the push rod and it breaks then I think drilling the pushrod out will be the best solution, with care no other parts will be damaged and only a new pushrod required. Take precautions to control the sudden release of the rod and spring and make sure nobody is in the firing line.

Mike

I have the exact same problem although I have now compounded it by breaking the split end of the push rod after applying some "torque"!! I will put a die on and rethread it and do the double nut method. It would be helpful for me to understand exactly what the thread is supposed to bear on in a correctly functioning clutch – is it ONLY the little hexagonal nut or does it mate with a female thread in the drive plate or the cone itself. Presumably the latter otherwise the instructions for adjustment would state clearly that the nut should be held in a spanner while turning the split end with a screw driver (ie "adjustment cannot be made with the nut removed&quot. Thanks Adam

Hi Jack, thanks for your quick response. The talk in the forum about flying springs if a nut is removed causes the confusion I thunk. Do they actually mean the drive plate (plate with 2 screws) has the engaging female thread??

I do not know why my pc is putting this quirky smiley face into the text instead of brackets. Apologies!