Clutch Question

65Ragtop w/289 3 speed, My clutch is very very stiff and I have developed a bad knee problem making almost impossible to push the clutch, I remember seeing at one time a Hyd. clutch conversion for the 4 speeds. Anyone installed one of these or know if it may be adaptable to the 3 speed? If I remember correctly the 3 speed has a push style clutch and the 4 speed has a pull type clutch. Any help would be greatly appreciate. My only other option would be to convert. to an Automatic which is expensive I can't afford right now.
 
It's entirely possible that the pedal support is badly worn, and not only does this cause additional friction, the alteration in geometry can make the pedal effort excessive. Last summer I repaired a bad pedal support in a 69 428. Prior to the repair, just moving the car around very nearly required using both feet on the clutch. I pulled the pedal support, and threw it away. I put a Drake bearing kit on (which is a pain, I had to grind down the washers to get the clips on) a used pedal bracket, and a new shaft, which was trashed.

Carefully adjusted to spec, didn't even replace the equalizer bushings.

Anyway, after that repair, any 12-year-old girl could have pushed the clutch in. Not bad for a 428 Cobra Jet.

It looked bad, and worked bad. Amazing how much pressure resulted from the slight change in geometry due to the damage:

69support.webp
 
Thanks guys, I am going to be pulling the Tranny to have the flywheel surfaced (believe it may be warped) at this time I will install a new 10 finger pressure plate. Also after reading in the Shop Manual they show a clutch assist spring attached to the upper portion of the clutch pedal and goes to the clutch pedal support under the dash. This spring is missing.

Ron
 
Thanks guys, I am going to be pulling the Tranny to have the flywheel surfaced (believe it may be warped) at this time I will install a new 10 finger pressure plate. Also after reading in the Shop Manual they show a clutch assist spring attached to the upper portion of the clutch pedal and goes to the clutch pedal support under the dash. This spring is missing.

Ron

Holy cow, no wonder your leg is giving out. You'll need this:

Mustang Clutch Assist Spring and Pedal Removal and Installation

Oh, and just a trivia note- the 3-speed and 4-speed clutch setups were identical. Only the transmission itself was different.