I went through several attempts to get the clutch to work right. The problem was that it would go down halfway before even beginning to disengage, and then it would stick to the floor. The linkage has an "overcentering" spring that reduces the amount of effort needed to hold it down, and if there is are in the system, or it isn't adjusted correctly, the spring will cause the pedal to stick to the floor.

So I bled it from the top, from the slave cylinder, and with Senior Management working the pedal. Just when I thought I had it right, the slave cylinder started leaking. So I ordered the repair kits for both cylinders, along with a new hose and strainer for the reservoir. Everything came from Germany, so that took a week. Then I spent two weeks in CA in training for my new job.

Back home, it took about four hours to install the new seals etc. in the cylinders, and the bleeding was easy. With the car up, and the pressure bleeder out, I did a flush on the brake system for good measure.

Last Sunday was in the low 60's, perfect for a top-down maiden voyage. So Senior Management and I went off on a five-mile drive. To my amazement, the car drove very well. Clutch and trans fine, shifting was excellent with the new linkage parts, suspension reasonably tight, no rear-end noise, steering a bit loose but OK, brakes OK. The engine was a delight once warmed up and wanted to go past my 4000 rpm break-in limit. Exhaust sounded good.

The only issues noted were backfiring under load when not warmed up, and a hot idle at 1000 rpm.

About all that's left is to put the hood on, and work on the cosmetics. Then I need to start looking for another project.

__________________
Chuck Taylor
Falls Church VA
'66 200, '66 230SL, '96 SL500. Sold: '81 380SL, '86 300E, '72 250C, '95 C220, 3 '84 280SL's '90 420SEL, '72 280SE, '73 280C, '78 280SE, '70 280SL, '77 450SL, '85 380SL, '87 560SL, '85 380SL, '72 350SL, '96 S500 Coupe