a little dilemma here.

My 81 has 43k on her and the clutch has a pretty hard pedal.

The free play is good 1-1.75 at top,and the clutch engages smooth with no chatter or slippage.

I have all the linkage well oiled as well as the cross shaft.

I do on occassion hear a slight squeak near the clutch fork,and did lube the pivot point where the fork meets the linkage rod,still some squeak.
Anyway to me,the pedal effort as of late seems harder then i think it should be.

Some corvette owners say that this is normal for a late 70's early 80's v8 mechanical clutch setup.Others say no.

Any ideas what could be the problem if any?

I am new to this forum,and so far am impressed with the knowledge pertaining to our beloved c3's.

Hopefully someone can offer some opinions or suggestions.

Thanks in advance, Ken

 

Apart from the normal spring action of the pressure plate, you should find a spring attached to the clutch linkage. This may be able to be changed to a weeker response spring. Although it is just to keep the linkage tight. Just a thought.

 

Sometimes a grease fitting might go bad and you think you are lubing something but you are really not.
This happened to me and I wound up replacing some expensive stuff.
I also had a squeak comming from the clutch linkage.

 

You can also take the cover off the flywheel and spray some lube on the front bearing retainer where the throughout bearing rides on. Might help if the retainer is rusted or the old lube is dried up.

 

A firm clutch pedal (all the time) is a good healthy pressure plate. If the pedal gets harder over time, it could mean that the fingers on the pressure plate are wearing and the throwout bearing is binding-a squeak or squeal when you drop the clutch is usually the throwout bearing either dry or binding or both. The harder pedal could also be the fork not lining up on the throwout bearing. If it doesn't get TOO much harder and doesn't make unfriendly noises with no slippage or chattering, just see what you can tell from following the linkage into the bellhousing w/o pulling it all apart.You can pull the pin out of the push rod where it attaches to the clutch fork and jiggle and pull on the fork to see if the fork is tightly on the ball stud. If it's not flopping around, you're probably just starting to get some wear on the clutch assy.Then tach it up, drop the clutch and go about your business.