I'm enraged cause my clutch won't engage

Here is a pretty good step by step. I would revisit everything you did, and maybe something was missed.
Ive never heard of the “install two bolts”. Step by step and proper torque, and no reason you shouldn’t be good. Good luck!

Mikestang88 said:

I'm installing a new clutch on my 88 mustang. I've installed a new clutch fork, pivot ball and flywheel. A friend advised that I should put in 2 bolts on bell housing and 2 bolts in transmission to hold it in order to check if it's correctly working before I put it all back together. Then he said put the car in gear, then take a pair of channel locks and try and spin the transmission, if it doesn't move it's correct. Then he said have someone go inside and push the clutch to the floor and it should move. But however mine is not spinning at all or binding. I'm lost at what else to look at or what could be the problem. Somebody please help before I take a sledgehammer to this thing.

Click to expand...

Hi,
Interesting thread title, I like it!
Don’t blame the Pony, not it’s fault. Buy a Haynes Shop Manual or ask someone questions before you do the job. Ok...
You installed a new clutch assembly and pivot ball, clutch form and flywheel.... .......and a new clutch disc, a new pressure plate, a new Throwout bearing, and possibly a new pilot bearing- correct?
You installed the flywheel & tightened its bolts to specifications, put the clutch disc and pressure plate up to the flywheel and used the alignment tool the clutch came with and inserted and tightened down the pressure plate bolts with new fasteners that came with the clutch kit to torque specifications before removing the tool, correct?
You then installed the new Throwout bearing onto the transmission, and installed the new clutch fork onto the newly installed & greased pivot ball, checked that the new fork actuated the new Throwout bearing smoothly, jacked the transmission up level and square to the block, slid the transmission in until the Bellhousing contacted the rear of the engine block, no binding during this.. and you didn’t pull the transmission into the motor by tightening the...2.... Bellhousing bolts you installed-correct?
The crossmember in place, you bolted it to both to the car and the transmission mount.
You then connected the clutch cable to the end of your new clutch fork- yes?
If the above is true, and you’d continued inserting ALL the bolts into the back of the Bellhousing, torqued to spec’s, then went into the vehicle and checked your pedal for clutch resistance, the biggest obstacle you’d need to overcome would be nothing but adjusting the clutch cable properly.
That...and the remaining 20-30 minutes to complete the 2 hours of work you’d already completed and finish the job.
Never cycle the clutch with anything but all the bolts tight in the Bellhousing. It’s a tremendous amount of force being exerted against..2 bolts.
Install the remaining bolts in the Bellhousing unless something I’d listed above didn’t go as it should have and/or you have any questions(?)
BTW: Do you have a firewall mount clutch cable adjuster, below, or does the cable rise up and seat against the firewall with no adjuster?(If so, that’s stock and that’s OK).
The STOCK clutch cable adjuster is a plastic pawl right next to the clutch pedal. Sometimes it’s not enough, usually because it’s 30yrs old.
So, not giving you a hard time..don’t do it again until you install all the Bellhousing bolts, did the clutch pedal go to the floor... or was there resistance felt when the pedal was pressed?
Best!
-John