Extended clutch release arm conversion.

contributed by Ian Simpson

If you are going to change your clutch then read this...

There exists a Volvo extended clutch release arm which makes the business of de-clutching much lighter and more progressive and fits straight into and onto the 5GTT gearbox.

A must in my opinion

Renault make a longer clutch lever too but I don't have their numbers. The Renault one is cast metal and thinner and a better fit through the rubber gaiter on top of the bell housing but apparently it doesn't fit the Volvo clutch thrust bearing as well as the Volvo arm does. The Volvo one is stamped U shaped steel.

Here are the Volvo main dealer part numbers for the longer clutch lever:

Fork V03455952
Bracket V03424195
Nylon Cap V03467278
Brass Bush V03455957
Flange lock Nut V00971098
Flange Bolt V00946329

Clutch pedal stop plastic block from Renault 6006 003 944 £1.28inc.

The nut and bolt could be bought elsewhere cheaper I guess but they fit exactly and it saves bother to just get them Volvo.

Parts cost is about £23.

The nylon bearing is fitted while the clutch is out. The arm is fitted to the gearbox when the new clutch goes in. The extension bracket is fitted to the bell housing mounting point where the large round clutch cable sheath end used to fit up to and through. The bush goes through this large hole to hold the bolt that clamps the bracket in place.

The extension of the release arm compared with the standard one is: Long lever; 62mm from tip of release bearing end to pivot and 225mm overall, Short lever; 60mm and 160mm overall. So the long lever is 65mm longer. The bracket is necessary to extend the sheath end to about the same distance so the cable can run straight into the sheath. (For those who want to calculate the total leverage ratios the clutch pedal is 230mm from just beyond the centre of the rubber foot to the centre metal pivot, then about 50 to 55mm from the pivot to the top where cable runs through.)

The Nylon cup is a replacement pivot bearing that the clutch release lever sits on inside the bell housing. The old one will probably have worn. The new one was quite a bit higher on mine. The old cap can (while the gearbox is out of the car) be easily removed by working the open end of an about 12 to 14mm spanner behind it and gently levering. The new one just pushes on.

The arm cannot be retro fitted from the outside afterwards as it's too big to go through the hole in the bell housing. So is the standard arm by the way.

Releasing the Quadrant so the self adjusting mechanism can re-set

Often the clutch pedal self adjusting mechanism jams it's teeth in the position it's been in preventing it from self adjusting and making fitting a clutch cable difficult and often making the pedal too low in it's clutch biting point.

If you are trying to fit a cable and it's tight or slack, release the quadrant / self adjusting mechanism first.

The job of the quadrant is to feed out and take up clutch cable to allow easy fitting and allow for different cable lengths and for cable stretching and clutch face wear.

The quadrant can to be pulled forward to release the self adjusting mechanism which will, upon releasing the quadrant, settle to the correct position, see photo for which part to take hold of and pull, circled, and the direction.

You have to leave the pedal alone to free the quadrant. If you push the pedal it pushes the teeth together and they won't separate. Simply take hold of of the plastic pivot and pull it firmly towards the floor and drivers seat at the same time. Once it frees then it'll move towards you a couple of inches or so. Let it go and let it self adjust.

Once done, the teeth in the black quadrant and the white part are normally slightly apart and only engage with the first few mm of clutch pedal travel and then release again when the pedal is released, every time.

It's very easy to do once you've worked out how.

In other words: Are the two cogs teeth actually apart when the pedal is at rest up against pedal the stop? Or jammed together? They should be apart, then engage when the pedal is pressed a few mm. That's how it self adjusts. As the clutch wears it adjusts so the bite point remains about the same. If they're not coming apart then it can't self adjust.

Refitting the clutch cable

You can just connect the cable to the pedal, if it was disconnected, then, in the engine bay, pull the cable end over and onto the clutch release lever. It's easy.

Free the self adjuster before you fit the cable. Then when you pull the cable in the engine bay the quadrant simply rotates around freely to give you slack. That what it's there for. If it doesn't, then the teeth are jamed again.

Pedal height adjustment

In the car you will need to take off the 'clutch pedal stop' and hacksaw some off the height so the pedal sits higher and therefore starts to de-clutch sooner. Otherwise you will find that the pedal has to be pushed through the carpet to get the gears in. The pedals stops vary in height so you will have to experiment. I took about 1mm off mine. Best done with the plastic stop held firmly in a vice. I tried a Dremel cutter but it just melted the plastic and made a mess. The hacksaw is quick and easy. Another way is to replace the plastic block with a bolt and nut with washers as shims. The bolt is inserted from the pedal side through the washers and pedal box. The nut is then fitted and tightened. This gives adjustable exact height positioning. A rubber bump stop is required to stop the tapping sound as the pedal hits the stop. Adjustment is by adding more washers. Thanks to Diluni for this method.

The pedal stop block is best removed by pushing the pedal away with one hand, and with pliers in the other, pinching and pushing of the pedal stop block clip part (that pokes through from the pedal side of the metal) until it drops out. To refit just push the pedal away again, locate the block clip into the hole and squeeze.

I like my conversion very much indeed

After all these years of a excessively heavy pedal it would have been about intolerable with the heavier Volvo clutch and standard release lever but instead, even compared to standard, there is less (seems like no!) effort. The only downside is that the pedal sits a little higher and it's travel is a bit further but this is no problem. Another benefit is that it should make the clutch cable last longer due to the reduced strain on it.

Note: this conversion is not compatible with some intercoolers.

As far as the author knows so far:
GTTuning double capacity = no.
Standard 5GTT = yes. Pace = yes.
K-Tec or Forge larger capacity = yes; clearance = 5mm.
Any intercooler that is deeper than the standard by more than a few mm, perhaps beyond 10mm max, will not fit as it fouls the longer bracket and possibly lever too.

An alternative using Renault parts

Richard Holt, rich-hgtt , posted his experience of doing the conversion:

I used the arm, cable extension bracket, nut, special bolt and release bearing from a CB1C Clio 172 on Mine and pedal stop from a Megane 2.0 coupé.

The lot didn't cost much from Renault and the arm is made from thick cast iron rather than thin pressed steel that I have seen crack/wear out round the pivot bush before now.

This thicker arm was the reason for needing the release bearing as well, but I think it was worth it as the bearing was bigger and more beefy than the standard one.

I used the pedal stop from a Megane 2.0 coupé as it has the same pedal box as the 5/Clio and has the long arm as standard. (The stop is just thinner and made of rubber)

I would say that with the stronger Volvo clutch fitted, the pedal feels lighter than a standard clutch and lever but the biting point is in the right place. The bigger release bearing should cope better as well in the long run.

Part numbers were:

77 00 112 818 Clutch fork (Clio II 172)
77 00 875 163 Pivot bush (Clio II 172)
77 00 868 962 Cable plate (Clio II 172)
77 03 002 491 Special (Fat headed) Bolt (Clio II 172)
77 01 422 013 Nut (Clio II 172)
77 00 102 781 Release bearing (Clio II 172)
77 00 840 640 Pedal stop (Megane coupé)

The arm won't fit the bearing

If the end of the new extended arm doesn't fit into the new clutch release bearing either fit the larger release bearing, as detailed above, or grind away a small amount of metal until it engages in the bearing.

The Volvo fork is pressed steel and does fit but the Renault one is a large cast item with triangular fingers on it and is too thick to fit into bearing.

Testimonials

M5 Club Member IG - Ilford 25/09/2002
The 'soft pedal' conversion does make the car nicer to drive.

GRIGGZY Club Member IG - Ilford 25/09/2002
To all that want to know about the Volvo clutch get in touch with " DILUNI " he's a club member and I have tried his clutch with a modified arm and its soooo sweet u wouldn't believe it 'till u tried it.

DILUNI Club Member IG - Ilford 26/09/2002
Here here.
The Volvo clutch arm mod is the best I've known on the 5.
You get a clutch that can manage more torque and with less pedal effort.
Simply a requisite. The clutch is the business. No one should not change the standard item for a non modded fork unless he is unsound of mind.

NightWolf Club Member 29/11/2002
The clutch conversion feels unbelievable!! so ssssssoft

Goobie Area Rep Brighton 17/5/2005
You will want the soft pedal (aka lady bird!) con-vo with that Valeo clutch as it VERY springy when it bite's! The soft pedal will make it a lot smoother and easier to use as a daily driver.

Other Parts Numbers

For the Renault 5/9/11/19, new 'white' clutch pedal & quadrant assembly 7701467632 about £17 or from GSF R71700, (per Sparkie - "I think the pedal/quadrant are Renault OE").

Renault 5 clutch cable for above 6006003790 about £16 + VAT

Renault 19 cable; no ABS: 7700832533, ABS: 7700811015.

Clip on chassis leg for the 5 pedal box 7703079259 is the little horseshoe clip that goes into the n/s chassis leg that the cables clips into to guide it.

These part numbers current at July 2009.

Due to the clutch cables often breaking, all the original clutch pedals and cables were modified by Renault. The revised pedals have a longer quadrant section, longer quadrant travel and longer cable. This was the answer to "ease" the cause of the breakage which was the sharp bend as the cable entered the car. If you try and order ANY original part number, the system ONLY supplies the new numbers for the modified parts.

The best clutch

Three main choices from GSF:

R71500, specify Renault OE one.

R18914A - Sachs Clutch - Volvo 440 - has a softer pedal than the Valeo one below, however, does not have such a high clamping pressure and may result in clutch slip with high torque engines.

R18914 - Valeo Clutch - Volvo 480 - stiffer, heavier pedal, higher pressure clamping plate, IMHO the better of the two if you have close to 200bhp and 200+ ft lbs. Make sure it's the Valeo make and nothing else by specifying "green box valeo one" as GSF use the same part numbers on different parts and sometimes insist they don't have a Valeo. None of the others, eg the Sachs, LUK, will take anywhere near the abuse of the Valeo which will take 200hp no problem.

So that's the Valeo Volvo 480 Turbo 200mm 3 piece kit in a green box. Valeo part no. 801015. GSF part no. R18914 CLUTCH KIT-UPRATED R5 NEW SHAPE TURBO-HEAVY DUTY £62.00 + VAT.

This is also popularly used as a cover plate for a Cerametalic paddle clutch, eg, the AP Racing CP4814-25, retail price £138.79 inc. AP won't supply direct so you have to go through an authorised dealer. Try http://www.techcraft.co.uk/. You just throw away the centre plate from the Valeo kit and use this instead. Also a Helix centre plate is sometimes used.


21st January 2002 to 2006

Ian S RTOC Profile

Top left is the standard arm pictured to illustrate the extra length of the Volvo arm. Also shown are the rest of the Volvo parts. Bottom right is the Nylon Cap which the arm pivots on.



A home made extended arm



Pull here in this direction to release the self adjusting mechanism



Home made part to lengthen arm without removing gearbox by Duncan Grier.