The Ford Capri Laser Page

I had the flywheel skimmed last year due to harendous clutch judder, on the garages recomendation due to scoring & pitting (it had a new borge & beck clutch kit at the same time)

Since its been skimmed it doesn't change gear as smoothley as it used to, crunches in reverse & is reluctant to go into first (i have to force it)
also the pedal is 2 inches higher than should be, I've taken it back to the garage several times but it seems thats the best its going to get.

I got a second apinion, he tried another cable & set the pedal to where it should be but it was a lot worse he couldn't get any gears so hes had to put it back to how it was just to drive it!

He suggests i get a good used flywheel & scrap the skimmed one, is he right?

Could it be the flywheel causing these problems?

DOESNT SOUND VIABLE TO ME - DODGY RELEASE BEARING?

There are no noises...

I don't see the skim as the problem either. The clutch kit sounds more plausible. Was the release bearing changed at he same time. There are different depth bearings so perhaps you have the wrong one.

It was a 3 piece clutch kit inc. the release bearing, borge & beck

Skimming the flywheel will make no difference as to the driven plate and cover plate location. The release arm and bearing will have to travel, by a minute amount, slightly further to disengage the clutch but not enough as to cause problems.

I have had several flywheels skimmed over the years without problem so I would agree with Peter that the problem is probably your clutch kit, especially the cover plate not releasing the driven plate sufficiently. I didn't know various thickness bearings were available but did you get the correct clutch kit for your engine and gearbox.

A final problem could be that the clutch release arm is very worn or bent but that said you can usually adjust a clutch up or down until it works as it should.

capri28 wrote:There are no noises...

Irrelavant - you may have been given the wrong one with your kit. Even 2/3mm difference will make gear selection difficult.

Buckled the new clutch plate when installing the gearbox ? ( letting box hang off the input shaft while trying to find rear gearbox mount bolts )

Sounds to me like the clutch is incorrectly adjusted. I'd say the cable is a tiny bit slack.

You'd have upset its adjustment in order to get the box out for the flywheel to be skimmed.

I find it best to start with the simple things first, rather than assuming any things bent or totalled.


Olly W

You probably have one of these:



You probably need one of the other two!
All off various pinto kits.