Pre-war (up to 1942) 1941 Clutch and Brake Pedal Support Bushings

[Art Cutler]

I pulled the brake master cylinder out of my 1941 Series 62 Coupe for rebuilding and mission creep has set in.  The shaft/bushings about which the brake and clutch pedals rotate have always had more play in them than I'd like.  Does anyone have experience rebuilding the pedal support mechanism to minimize the freeplay?  Suggestions?
Art Cutler

[Tom Boehm]

Hello Art, I had the same situation on my 1940 Lasalle. There is a part the book calls a "clutch relay lever". It connects to the bell housing on one end with a ball stud. On the other end it connects to the left frame rail with a shaft and a rubber bushing. The lever pivots between these two points.

The rubber bushing at the left frame rail was almost gone and allowed a lot of play in the pedal to clutch mechanism. The original was rubber with a brass sleeve in it. I tried making new ones out of rubber but the rubber was too soft and still allowed a lot of play. I made a new bushing out of a hard plastic called Delrin and it worked well. I drilled a hole in the center of the piece of delrin so I could mount it on a drill press with a bolt the same size as the shaft on the frame rail. I shaved the outside diameter down with wood lathe tools on the drill press. Hokey but it worked.

The 2 halves of the metal bushing on the ball stud I doubt are reproduced. I found better ones on a parts car and greased it well. If the ball stud is worn maybe you can find a better original also. Maybe a machinist could make a new one.

[Jay Friedman]

Art, I also had the same problem on my '49 which has the same clutch and brake pedal set up. In my case the problem was the bronze bushings in the bottom of the clutch and brake pedals which are "wear points" (my terminology).  They had become worn thin by lack of greasing or merely by many years of use, causing freeplay and making the pedals flop side to side.  I removed the pedals and the shaft assemblies and took them to a machine shop who made new bronze bushings to conform to the outer diameter of the shaft and the inner diameter of the holes in the bottom of the pedals.  The machinist told me they found the king pin bushings on a make of car I forget were similar and used these as cores.   This solved the problem.

While I had everything apart I noticed there was other wear in the clutch linkage: specifically, the clevis pins in the relay lever and at the bottom of the clutch pedal had grooves in them.  Also, the holes in the long flat rod which connects the clutch pedal to the relay lever had become oval shaped.  I made new clevis pins on my lathe. The clevis pins must be press fitted into .375 inch holes.  So that they get a grip and stay in they must be .376 or .377 inches in diameter.  For this reason I learned you can't use 3/8 inch hardware store clevis pins since they are usually too small at .370 or .371 inch in diameter.  I then got a better flat rod from a parts car, but as it's pretty simple, if necessary I probably could have made a new flat rod from hardware store metal stock. 

Everything now works well.  Moral of the story is to regularly grease the fittings for the pedals and squirt lube on the other parts.

PS Tom, I like the way you made that new Delrin bushing on a drill press.

[Art Cutler]

Jay and Tom,
Thanks for the great advice!  The first job will be the bronze bushings Jay was referring to.  I'll check the pins and linkage for wear.  The second will be the clutch relay - Delrin and a drill press is something I can probably do.
Art

[Caddy Wizard]

I made a repair kit for this for 49 models -- new shaft and replacement bushings.  I wonder if the 41 could use my kit???

[Art Cutler]

Art,
That would be useful if it did!  I took my parts into the machine shop this morning.
Art

[Jay Friedman]

According to my 1935-55 parts manual, the shaft around which the bottom of the pedals rotates and the bottom half of the brake pedal are different in 41 and 49.  It doesn't say what the differences are.  The  bushing in the brake pedal and the upper half of the brake pedal are the same in 41 and 49.  (Both halves of the clutch pedal are the same in 41 and 49.)

Caddy Wizard, if you remember and if I remember correctly, the machinist who did the shafts in your '49 kit turned the end where the brake pedal fits of the 1" diameter shaft down to 3/4 inch.  He then installed a that much thicker bronze bushing in the bottom of the brake pedal.  I have one on my 49 and it works perfectly, but because of the shaft differences between 41 and 49 don't know how it would work on a 41.

So, therefore,....?

[39LaSalleDriver]

Hello Art, I had the same situation on my 1940 Lasalle. There is a part the book calls a "clutch relay lever". It connects to the bell housing on one end with a ball stud. On the other end it connects to the left frame rail with a shaft and a rubber bushing. The lever pivots between these two points...

...I made a new bushing out of a hard plastic called Delrin and it worked well.

I did the same and it works great now.