over center spring & shop manual

[3046moparcoupe]

The moral of this story is "remember to thoroughly read your SHOP MANUAL",...

 

Today I took a run at getting my cleaned up clutch over center spring installed back on the torque shaft of the P15..."someone once before had told me to just loosen the turnbuckle rod all the way and the over center spring should just slip in place, then tighten up the turnbuckle rod to take the slack out of the spring and to adjust to tension",.....well - WRONG !! with the turnbuckle rod back all the way off, I still liked about a good 1/2" distance in getting the spring hooked on both the L brkt and the anchor pin of the torque shaft., 

 

I had looked through my manual and found no diagram of the 46-48 over center spring setup, so I put the manual aside, and messaged Don C. here on the forum, question the fitment of the spring to the shaft, etc..trying to determine if I had something installed in-correctly, etc....I knew I had everything back together the way I had taken it apart, from a diagram I had drawn out when I disassembled, but I was really concerned that that lower "L" brkt might be on backwards "upside down if you will,..seeing that if it was reversed I would gain a lot of play, a good inch or better..

 

Don was good to reply back, and sent me a couple of pics,....one especially I had not seen before, showed the configuration for the L brkt, which matched the way I had it installed, this was a big help, thank you Don C.

 

Then I decided to put on my big boy pants and whip this  thing,......went and got my come along, rigged it up to spread that spring apart, installed a bunch of washers wrapped with a little electrical tape to try and preserve a little paint if possible, and got the spring to spread out a good 1/2 - 3/4 of an inch,......feeling a little proud of making this come my way,....I came in the house to grab a drink and catch my breath for a few,....

 

It was then in my frustration with the shop manual for not covering the over center spring for the 46-48, I opened the pages of the manual one more time, and found this:

 

pg:57, 1946-48, to install the spring, first fasten the hook end to the clevis pin on the torque tube, making certain that a washer is located between the hook and the lever. Then attach the other end of the spring to the bracket on the frame. With the lower bolt of the frame bracket in place, pivot the bracket into position and insert the top bolt. Check location of spring bracket with special gauge and tighten both bolts securely"

 

Talk about "feel like a moron", chalk it up to another great reminder in regards to "READ THE MANUAL",...

 

I've got two of these over center springs that I cleaned up and repainted, this one pictured here is still sitting out in the garage with the spacers in place, it was the original spring that came off the car and both hook ends are about half way worn into, for that reason I purchased another NOS listed one, which did appear to have never been installed, and matched this spring and hook assy perfectly,...I suppose I'll use the new one, and try installing it the way the shop manual says...

 

Just to learn, anyone out there know if spreading a spring, in this fashion, with steel washer inserted to hold the coils apart, would damage the thing in any way ?

 

I wouldn't think so, but what do I know ? very little I'm discovering sometimes, but I am learning

[knuckleharley]

" Check location of spring bracket with special gauge and tighten both bolts securely"

 

Do you have that special gauge?

[P15-D24]

22 minutes ago, knuckleharley said:

" Check location of spring bracket with special gauge and tighten both bolts securely"

 

Do you have that special gauge?

 

 

[3046moparcoupe]

Thank you both for your reply's back on this, I'm downloading the file now,...awesome, really appreciate this forum...

[DrDoctor]

   No. it won’t have any adverse affect on the spring.