1979 spider grind

[vjensen]

Hi folks
I'm looking for advice on my wife's 79 spider 95k km. It grinds going from neutral into first and reverse; not all the time but increasingly; and it seems to happen after a bit of driving. The pedel pivot was recently rebuilt and that helped quite a bit. No leaks from the MC or slave. could it be in the clutch?
vjensen

[gadwhite]

I am not an expert, but have done my own pedal pivot, master cyl, slave cyl, and clutch replacement. I would recommend making sure that all the components are adjusted/installed correctly. In particular since you remarked that you had your pedal pivot rebuilt. My Previous owner had this done incorrectly instead of replacing it, and it took me a long time to realize that the pivot was incorrectly welded. 1st make sure you have 134mm from the pedal pivot to the Clutch master cyl. See picture (red Line)


Heres the diagram from the manual



I would also check the condition of the flex line to the slave cyl. you may have a weak rubber flex line and be losing pressure if the line is ballooning out when you press down on the pedal.

Good luck and let me know what you find
Gabriel

[Gubi]

This is normal behavior most likely. The transmission is not synchronized from neutral to either first or reverse so it will grind if you don't give the gears time to spin down.

Here's a test: with everything hot and the car sitting still, push in the clutch, count to ten, and then slot into first or reverse. If there is any grinding then your clutch is not fully releasing and you need to investigate it. If there is no grind then you have no issue and the behavior is normal.

To avoid the grind there are two options. First is to push in the clutch and wait a few seconds before selecting first or reverse. The second is to push in the clutch and then shift into another gear before shifting into first or reverse: the synchronizer on the other gear will stop the spinning tranny gears and prevent the grind.

[gadwhite]

Vjensen
Any feedback? Any luck fixing problem?