Trans Swap Complete, Driven And Know I Got A Few Questions

[Road_Runna]

Completed the swap about a week ago, this is my first manual car that I've driven and can now drive the car pretty smoothly, but my brother did notice that the clutch pedal is stiff as heck, I got behind the wheel of his civic and mx3 and clutch pedals on those are a lot softer than mines. Is this common on our cars? if not what do I adjust? my brother thinks it's the pressure plate, but I've seen some post about the clutch cable (mine is a stock clutch cable from a donor car, new $52 dollar throw out bearing btw) the clutch disk and pressure plate are supposedly the cobra clutch set made by Valeo, it does say Valeo and the pressure plate has a number on it that I checked which checked out true, not sure about the plate though (ebayed)?
The only problem I have though (remember new b here except for the stealth R/T manual trans I've driven in a dealership) is getting it to engage into 1st gear without the stalling and dieng on me. I think I gave a lady a scare when she was walking across the street and I was trieng to keep the car alive.

Im going to add that: perhaps the reason I can't engage it into first gear softly as might/might not have that tps incorrectly adjusted or some other problem with vacuum. Even with my automatic transmission voltage on my battery would go up and down (slow movement) like it wanted to stall, end this reflected also on the engine idle going up and down as well.

 

[94GTCoupe]

About the clutch effort, all those cars use a hydraulic throw out bearing, right?
Ours from the factory use a cable, which feels heavier then a hydro set up.

I know every time I went to drive my pops toyota pick up, it'd feel like I was going to put my foot through the floor board, being so used to my clutch.

 

[Road_Runna]

Not really sure what type of bearing the mx3, civic, stealth use.

I can't get it to engage into 1st softly without jerkin of the car, no matter how lightly I step on the gas, or how much more I give it the next time. going into other gears is cake.

 

[94GTCoupe]

Yeah, they use a hydro set up.

Getting started from a stop with a manual can be difficult for a beginner.
You just need to get the throttle/clutch balance down.
That takes practice.

 

[Hef5.0weisen]

Hydraulic clutch operation vs. cable....hydraulic is a lot smoother. That said, you might consider the condition of your cable. I replaced mine a few years ago, and it felt significantly smoother than the original (that was off of a donor car for a t-5 swap). Also make sure your cable is routed smoothly....it'll be curved but make sure that its the biggest and smoothest arc you can make.

Under the pedal is a ratchet adjuster, it takes the slack out of the cable. If I remember right, pull the pedal up as high as you can get it, lets a few teeth engage. Might help the first gear issue a bit if the clutch isn't fully disengaging due to a slack cable.

 

[5.0 Ford Guy]

I test drove a 2000 Mustang V6 for my wife. It was a big POS. The clutch was so stiff in that car I could hardly push it to the floor. It was really hard to take off in first with the clutch being so stiff. And I have driven stick cars since '87. I am not sure what was wrong with that car, but it was nowhere near as soft and smooth as the clutch in my 5.0. I guess my point is yeah, you could have a problem causing your clutch to be really firm. It could be the clutch cable. I would check to make sure it operates smoothly disconnected from the clutch. If not, replace the cable.