Who left out the clutch master cylinder spacer?

[owwdee]

So I am in the middle of replacing the accelerator pedal on #1900 (plastic mount/pivot broke) and figured while I?m in there I should figure out the clutch safety switch and why the previous owners had it bypassed.

So now comparing with crispy #0031. My clutch pedal rests way higher than the brake pedal vs. almost even with the brake. Pulled the clutch safety switch (what a PITA), bench tests fine. More comparing led me to find that I am missing the spacer on the master cylinder.

Question for the forum is, was this intentional to get the pedal to be up higher for a short legged person? What effect has this had on the clutch disc, pressure plate etc.? I?ve put about 5,000 miles on the car and always felt that the clutch engaged and disengaged ok as far as I knew, but could hear a tiny bit of rattle or chatter when in neutral with the clutch disengaged. I don?t know if it even has stock clutch and flywheel. Car had 4.55 gears when I got it so the clutch could very well have been swapped previously.

My plan is to put the spacer back in. Being 6?6?, I?d like the pedal to be a little lower. Also, I?d like the clutch safety switch to work as it should, same with the cruise disengage switch. Any thoughts on what kind of rabbit hole I am heading down?

[richarde]

The spacer measures 0.670". The ratio between clutch pedal movement and clutch master cylinder pushrod movement is approx 5:1, therefore if you add the spacer the clutch pedal should drop approx 3.5". If this drops the pedal too much, I suggest that either the clutch master cylinder dimensions are non stock or the clutch pedal bracket has been bent sometime in its life. For example, if the car had suffered a seized clutch master cylinder and the someone had tried to 'unseize' it by applying excessive force to the clutch pedal, this could cause bracket distortion. When sussing all this out, obviously the cruise control switch setting should be considered.
Hope this may help.

[owwdee]

Your approximations seem accurate. I do believe the master and slave have been replaced on this car. With the spacer installed, the pedal rests lower and the safety switch functions as it should. New problem, my fat foot now hits the carpet at the dead pedal area. I think I?ll just have to get used to it. Any work under the dash is a total pain.
[ATTACH]

[Shrek]

Just recently repaired the same issue on a friends 93. The pedal was high compared to my wife's 91, so I started digging into it. A shop had recently replaced the slave and master and for some unknown reason they split the spacer and machined it's thickness.
I removed the two bolts and dropped out the two halves. Then I designed and cut new spacers in various thicknesses that could be slid into place without disconnecting the rod.
With the inner/lower bolt holding everything in place by a few threads, I could pull the master out far enough to slip the spacer in place and test the pedal height. Nailed it on the first try and reinstalled the second bolt.