Am I right in thinking that the long clutch push rod that runs through the gearbox should be one piece? Mine is in three sections with 2 longer bits and a short section (1/4 inch or so) in the centre. All the ends look square and machined with ball bearing cups at the outer ends of both longer sections - is this normal!?

email (option): lee@twowheelstested.co.uk

Hi Lee..The clutch pushrod should be one piece of 1/4" diameter Silver Steel, flame hardened and tempered at each end.
If you have pronounced 'cups' at each end they have been caused by the fact the rod was tempered back too far and is thus too soft, allowing the ball in the operating arm and in the clutch pressure plate to indent the ends...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Ian Wright

Hi Lee..The clutch pushrod should be one piece of 1/4" diameter Silver Steel, flame hardened and tempered at each end.
If you have pronounced 'cups' at each end they have been caused by the fact the rod was tempered back too far and is thus too soft, allowing the ball in the operating arm and in the clutch pressure plate to indent the ends...Ian

email (option): lee@twowheelstested.co.uk

My mates TRW was like this. Someone had cut the rod and put a ball in the middle. I guess it was to allow the rod to spin easier with the clutch. Only thing is, if the person had looked, there's a ball at the other end of the rod anyway. It caused major problems because the ends weren't hardened and he had to keep adjusting the clutch. He didn't know this had been done as he pulled the one end of the rod out from the gearbox end, thought it was odd it was short so put it in the clutch end to try and drift the rest out. The ends of the rod had belled and all jammed up inside the shaft. We welded a rod to the the ends of the clutch rod and used a slide hammer, but it still wouldn't move. It was completely wedged. I gave the shaft to a mate who works at a big aircraft company and he put it on a large press. He couldn't get it out either. He had to get another mainshaft He's going to section the old shaft so we can see what's happened.

email (option): horror@blueyonder.co.uk

I think a gunsmith once told me they used to unjamb rifle barrels using oil with a low geared pump to put full & even pressure on the obstruction.
Being a gunsmith they probably didn't look down the end while doing it either

It is a frequently used 'dodge' to make up the length of a worn pushrod to cut it in half and insert a ball bearing up the mainshaft between the two pieces.
Whilst this seems like an easy solution if the inner ends of the two pieces of pushrod aren't hard enough there is no space for the material to deform inside the shaft...so it's potentially another way of jamming the pushrod ...Standard lengths of 1/4"dia. silver steel (13") are readily available from most industrial factors for a couple of quid so it is not really an economy worth making...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com