[T.Weber]

On my 62 Cat I couldn't get the clutch linkage to work properly. I bought all new toggles, bushings and pins from FabCraft and even with everything new my clutch pedal would stick & was clunky. I bought a 63-64 set up to replace it with but I didn't want to pull the trans to replace the clutch fork. I'm lazy! With my 62 set up on the floor I thought why not dump the over center spring and toggles and add a return spring like the 63-64 system used.

I drilled a 1/4" hole in the clutch bar. It's only 3/8" cold rolled & drills VERY easy. I should have drilled a 5/16" hole though. Learn from my mistakes. I made a 63-64 stand off but you could use a Shoulder bolt instead. Readily available from a hardware store, McMaster-Carr, Graingers, Zorro etc.

I have my steering box out of my car & I had to remove the starter & drop the exhaust a bit to get my drill up in there to drill my pilot hole in the frame for my standoff BUT you can get a longer bolt for the bottom bolt on your steering box, make a small tang out of 1/8" flat bar and hook your spring to that. Or double nit the end of the bolt leaving enough space to hook your spring between the box & nuts.

I bought a spring assortment from O'Reilly - Dorman # 29016 $7.03 out the door.

[T.Weber]

Just some more pics. If you have any better ideas or improvements please share your ideas & comments. There's always room for improvements. Sorry for the crummy pictures but by the time I got finished it was dark

[Pontiac62]

My 62 GP linkage has never worked properly. It would hang up at the top and take little nudge to get it all the way up. I tried an extra return spring on the pedal, but that just added to the pedal pressure required to push it down. That kinda defeated the purpose of the overcenter spring. I spent some time on the phone with Brad at Fabcraft discussing this. He said that he could not get his to work properly either. He also wanted to find a solution.
I talked to a lot of 62 owners, and never found anyone who was able to get theirs to work either.
You said "On my 62 Cat I couldn't get the clutch linkage to work properly. I bought all new toggles, bushings and pins from FabCraft and even with everything new my clutch pedal would stick & was clunky."
Did it act like mine, if so that sounds like an easy fix.
Thanks, Les

[T.Weber]

Les,
YES! My clutch linkage acted just like yours. When I let out the clutch my pedal wouldn't return all the way to the top but if I took my foot and lifted up on the back side of the pedal it would pop to the full up position. Also when letting out the clutch I could feel a pop like there was a bind at one point.

After performing my cheap fix the clutch pedal has a smooth movement all the way through the travel and the clutch pedal returns to its full up position.

If you like I can make you a little standoff like the one I made (free of course) I'll even throw in a 3/8-16 nutsert for free (I had to buy a package of 10) and my hex stock I had to buy 12" - all this was an experiment on my part and I would rather give the extras to someone that could use it than have hanging around for the rest of my life doing nothing but taking up space. The only catch is I have to wait until my supervisor is out of the plant. I can't do it on company time - well at least not get caught. Oh on my Catalina I didn't bother to install a nutsert -I just drilled & tapped the frame to 3/8-16 just to give it a try. I'll install a nutsert when I have the motor out though.

But wait - there's more. I have another experiment I'm working on. I was going to use a 63-64 Z bar and bought the stuff to do the conversion but I want to keep my 62 clutch fork & bellhousing AND my 62 clutch pedal rod. I machined a plug to fit in the 61-62 hole in the bellhousing - tapped the center to 1/2-13 for the 63-64 pivot ball & milled a 5/16" flat spot in it - I remove the grease zerk on the bell housing and used a 1/4-24 bolt to make sure my plug wouldn't rotate or come out of the bellhousing. I discovered that the Z bar tube in a 63-64 Pontiac is the EXACT same length as a 62-64 Chevy Impala 8 1/8" and that the grease zerk fitting and inner bushings are in the EXACT same location. I picked up a used Chevy Z bar & cut off the Chevy tabs on it and planed on making a Z bar for my Catalina by bending up some 1/4" X 1" flat bar and welding them to the Chevy Z bar tube. Unfortunately I got side tracked when I started taking a closer look at my 62 set up. I still plan on trying to build my crossbred set up but since my modified 62 setup works so well and I doubt most people would even notice the difference it's been put on the way back burner.

If you have ANY questions, or want any better pictures let me know I'll be happy to provide you with them.

[tom s]

Guys what kind of pressure plates are you using.Im told 61-62 linkage won't work well with diaphragm pressure plates.Tom

[T.Weber]

I'm using a Borg & Beck.

[Pontiac62]

Tom, I'm also using a Borg & Beck, just for that reason.

T.Weber, That looks pretty straight forward. I think I can handle that on my own, but thanks for the offer. One question, in your third pic, is the hole above the stand-off the steering box mounting hole?

I'm sure everyone is aware of the Craftsman News service item about adjusting the clutch. When I first saw that, I thought that would be the answer, but it still didn't work any better.
I had another 62 GP that I bought in 64. I don't remember there ever being an issue with that linkage as long as I had that car. What changed?

[T.Weber]

Les,
I'm pretty sure that hole above the stand off is one of the steering box mounts. I'll check for sure Saturday morning. I'll be back under the car then to put the steering box back in the car.

Les,
I also had a couple of 62's with 4 spds. A factory Tri-Power 4spd, 8 lugs & Ventura interior I rebuilt the motor and put it in along with a new clutch & pressure plate and NEVER had a problem with it. I also had a 62 Super Duty Catalina and replaced the clutch after twisting off the output shaft to the trans. Didn't have a problem with that one either. The Catalina I have now was originally a 2BBL auto that I converted to a 4SPD. I bought all the stuff used and drove to Phoenix to pick it all up. everything was wore out and it didn't work correctly. I bought new toggles, pins & bushings from Brad, I figured that would fix it but it didn't even though every moving part was operating smoothly. I also got my hands on the Craftsman Tech Bulletin and adjusted everything and that didn't help either.

[Pontiac62]

My present GP was a factory 4-speed car. When I first got it the linkage were very worn. I also bought new toggles and bushings from Fabcraft. I always questioned the size of the holes through the toggles. They were much larger than the the pins. But since the old one were so worn, I had no way to know what size they used to be.
Now I'm wondering if I should consider making new toggles from some flat bar with holes that match the size of the pins? It might be satisfying to figure out why the original ones worked and the repos didn't.

[T.Weber]

Les,
Sorry it took me so long to get back to you but yes that hole by the standoff is a mounting hole for the steering box.

[Pontiac62]

Originally Posted by T.Weber

Les,
Sorry it took me so long to get back to you but yes that hole by the standoff is a mounting hole for the steering box.

Thanks, since I've never seen a 63 linkage, I was looking for a reference point for distance.

[T.Weber]

Les,
Try this link for a decent picture of where the 63 Clutch Return Spring stud is located

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...6&d=1418752197