sticking clutch disc

[crawfw]

Just wondering if anyone has experienced this from having the car sitting for a few months. after reassembling my trans with a replacement bellhousing. New ball stud. I cant seem to get the clutch disengaged. Everything appears to be correct as far as the T.O. bearing goes. Ive emailed clyde and and discussed this with him. the only 2 things I can come up with is the clutch disc sticking to the flywheel and pressure plate. Maybe from surface rust from sitting or my input shaft is in a bind in the pilot bearing that was replaced a few months back.
I replaced the clutch disc,pilot bearing,throw out bearing and put in a rebuilt trans several months ago. The pressure plate was in good order is why it wasnt replaced. The clutch disc had very little wear but a spring broke out of it. Thats why the work was done. After it was reassembled, I had no clutch disengaging issues. I had a bearing noise in the trans so i decided to put the old one back in along with a replacement bellhousing and ballstud. The old bell had a crack so I bought one that was bead blasted and thoroughly checked. It had the extra ear but I heard they are fine to use as long as you can get it bolted in without the extra mounting tab being in the way. Now I cant seem to get the clutch to disengage. I can see the TO bearing and its in the correct way, Ive went through the ball stud adjustment steps a few times to no avail. Ive also just tried random adjustments to try to disengage the clutch but it appears to stay the same no matter where its adjusted to. Upon replacing the bellhousing and putting the old sag back in, I didnt touch the pressure plate bolts. i only rechecked the edge of the disc with my fingers to make sure it was centered. Any suggestions would be great. this is for my 79 sunbird with mild 355 and sag 4 spd tranny.

[vegastre]

Hmmm,
Pretty good diagnosis there. Reading that about the only choice you have is to take it all back apart and closely inspect everything once again and reinstall.

[Monza Harry]

I have had this problem, but with a motorcycle, and a wet clutch. I would just hold the clutch in and ride until it let go, easier on a 200# motorcycle than in a 3000# car! As pointed out though, something else could be wrong, on the bike nothing changed just stored. Harry

[crawfw]

Dropped the back tires on the ground and it let loose after a few seconds. Now everything shifts fine with motor running. Seems all good as far as I can tell in the garage. Now have to wait for the roads to clear for a real test. May have to start a few times a week to keep this from happening again since it's a new clutch disc. Thanks again for the replies.

[76wagon]

I had that happen on my old Chevette when I put a 5-speed in it. I would have to start it in gear or else I couldn't shift. After a few days the problem went away, I figured the pilot bushing was a bit tight. I put close to 100k on that clutch with no problems at all after that.


IPhill