MTFCA Forum

I have the Guinn wooden bands on my ‘26 T Coupe. If the T drives fine in low gear but will not pop into high gear when the car gets up to speed and the pedal is released, would you say the clutch band is too tight? Jim Patrick

jiminbartow wrote: ↑

Fri May 27, 2022 6:34 pm

I have the Guinn wooden bands on my ‘26 T Coupe. If the T drives fine in low gear but will not pop into high gear when the car gets up to speed and the pedal is released, would you say the clutch band is too tight? Jim Patrick

There is no clutch band. Its a disk pack under the drive plate.

Or - the handbrake lever isn't all the way forward ?

with an assumption that the hog's head came off for the installation, I am wondering if the clutch fork is somehow not properly engaged with the throw out and the spring is not able to press against the clutch plate. I'm not even sure it's possible, but I do know that the bronze bearing sometimes has a mind of it's own as to where it wants to go when lowering the cover back on. You do that job more than once and you discover that dentil floss is for more than just teeth.

Clutch fork in the wrong slot of the cultch shift ring.

This drawing pretty much describes how to adjust the neutral. Note, if the screw is down too tight or the hand brake cross shaft is slightly bent so the bolt doesn't leave the cam when the brake lever is all the way forward, you won't reach high gear.
Possible causes:
1.parking brake rods are adjusted too long. This prevents the lever from going all the way forward when you push it out of neutral. If these are too long, adjust so you can just get the clevis pins in with the lever all the way forward and the brake rods pushed all the way back.
2. Weak clutch spring at back of transmission.
3. Finger bolts out of adjustment around the back of the clutch. Note, they should be adjusted so the fingers are free from tension with the transmission in high.
4. Clutch disks sticking inside the transmission. This is unlikely in a 27 if you have the original transmission because they are lined with steel, unlike the earlier ones.
5. Clutch disks worn out. This is more likely if you have an after market clutch such as a Watts Clutch which does not use the steel disks.
I would suggest that you check everything outside the transmission first and if needing repair or adjustment get them right first. The others need to pull the engine and transmission to work on it.
If you have anyone in the club near you, you can ask who they would recommend to help you.
Norm

Early in this thread, John said “there is no clutch band”. Really? We all have three pedals: C,R,B. Each one has a band for a purpose. My question was based on my assumption that when the clutch pedal is pushed all the way down, it stops the clutch drum from turning, engaging the low gear. When the clutch pedal is released, it allows the drum to revolve. If the clutch band is too tight, the band would keep the clutch drum from turning, basically keeping it in low gear. That is all I was asking. Would loosening the clutch band nut relax the band enough to enable the drum to turn, allowing the the drum to go into high gear? The fork and linkage, and everything else is properly placed and adjusted. Thank you for your responses. Jim Patrick

jiminbartow wrote: ↑

Fri May 27, 2022 11:29 pm

Early in this thread, John said “there is no clutch band”. Really? We all have three pedals: C,R,B. Each one has a band for a purpose. My question was based on my assumption that when the clutch pedal is pushed all the way down, it stops the clutch drum from turning, engaging the low gear. When the clutch pedal is released, it allows the drum to revolve. If the clutch band is too tight, the band would keep the clutch drum from turning, basically keeping it in low gear. That is all I was asking. Would loosening the clutch band nut relax the band enough to enable the drum to turn, allowing the the drum to go into high gear? The fork and linkage, and everything else is properly placed and adjusted. Thank you for your responses. Jim Patrick

Its called a LOW BAND. REALLY. If you suspect the LOW BAND is too tight, back it off. In high gear, the hold feature of the low band is removed(basic planetary transmission function) The drum doesnt "go into high gear". Basically the clutch locks the flywheel & output plate together. A reading of the operation of the model T transmission is in order.

Is the 'clutch' pedal staying down when you remove your foot? If so, others have given the answer. If not, and the pedal stays down when you remove your foot, look for badly worn pedal cams that may be worn to the point of allowing low pedal to go over center. IIRC you did a bunch of pedal bending/straightening before putting the Coupe on the market. You also might have 'overdid' something or mis-assembled something along the way. Good luck, jb

Thank you James. No, the clutch pedal does not stay down, but does pop up, but not enough, I believe, to fully release the drum. The pedal I removed and bent up was the brake pedal, which was not positioned up even with the clutch and reverse pedals and instead was bent down about an inch and a half lower and was hitting the floor before the brake was engaging. After working on it, the brake pedal is now positioned evenly up with the others and works perfectly now. While I had the transmission access door off, I took the occasion to adjust the clutch band and the reverse band. The reverse works fine, but I think I may have tightened the clutch band nut a little too tight so that the clutch band may be dragging. I intend to go back in and loosen the clutch band nut back to the position it was before. Hopefully, that will solve the problem. Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. Jim Patrick

Jim


You don’t have to ‘go back in’ to adjust low speed band. Just loosen the large hex lock on the right side of the trans cover and back off the low speed threaded screw and that will loosen the band. Normally 1/2 turns are used.

Check again to be sure the hand lever clutch/ emergency brake lever is fully forward after releasing the foot pedal when gaining road speed with low pedal, that could be cause of the clutch not grabbing to put your T into high speed.

Thank you, Dan. While I may have noticed it once I got the floor out, your reminder may have saved me some work. Thanks again. Jim Patrick

DanTreace wrote: ↑

Sat May 28, 2022 6:22 pm

Jim


You don’t have to ‘go back in’ to adjust low speed band. Just loosen the large hex lock on the right side of the trans cover and back off the low speed threaded screw and that will loosen the band. Normally 1/2 turns are used.

Check again to be sure the hand lever clutch/ emergency brake lever is fully forward after releasing the foot pedal when gaining road speed with low pedal, that could be cause of the clutch not grabbing to put your T into high speed.

To readjust your LOW band, Yes thats the big shaft with a 15/16 lock nut on the outside right on the HH, with the parking brake set & the motor running, tighten untill you hear a change in the tranny grinding noises. Thats the tripple gears starting to engage. At that point of noise change, stop. Back off the adjustment 1/2 turn & lock the nut. There should be no extra tripple gear noise. Low is now perfectly/optimally set. I hope this helps. At least you can eliminate the low band as one of your trany problems.

Thank you, John. To adjust it with the engine running is a great idea. Since engaging the emergency brake puts the transmission in neutral, wouldn’t it be safer to jack up the rear wheels and put it on blocks… or will the change in noise be evident with the transmission in neutral? Thanks again. I will tackle that tomorrow. Jim Patrick

Not going into high when the low pedal is let up, or slipping? Could be the clutch fingers are miss adjusted. No matter the type of bands installed, the low pedal should be fully engaged when about 1 to 1-1/2 inch off the floorboard for standard T body.

jiminbartow wrote: ↑

Sat May 28, 2022 8:52 pm

Thank you, John. To adjust it with the engine running is a great idea. Since engaging the emergency brake puts the transmission in neutral, wouldn’t it be safer to jack up the rear wheels and put it on blocks… or will the change in noise be evident with the transmission in neutral? Thanks again. I will tackle that tomorrow. Jim Patrick

Pull the e brake back all the way. It should hold your T from moving.
If you want to add an extra layer of safety, go ahead & lift one wheel.