Motorsports' Clutch-Release System - No Pain, All Gain

Then we removed the existing aftermarket clutch quadrant. It's in an awkward spot: under the dashboard. While the author is small and limber enough to slither into position by just moving the seat back, people of larger proportions are advised to remove the front seat. It's just four nuts and an electrical connector. Your back will thank you!

This is what we saw behind the dashboard. Note the aftermarket clutch quadrant that was already installed. The Maximum Motorsports instructions highlight removal of an OEM quadrant, so we'll skip the details of those steps. To remove this aftermarket quadrant, all we had to do was remove two pins (arrows).

The Maximum Motorsports quadrant's cable hook angle is aligned with the radius of the quadrant so that the cable ferrule rests squarely on the quadrant. This minimizes the stress on the cable and makes it less prone to failure.

Two major contributors to flex are the rubber firewall bushing and the cable housing itself. Both must compress when the clutch pedal is pushed. This compression wastes pedal travel and makes the pedal feel mushy. The OEM Ford cable's housing is stiffer than that of the adjustable cable, and the Maximum Motorsports firewall adjuster eliminates the need for a firewall bushing. Maximum Motorsports preps the OEM Ford cable that it supplies (bottom) so that it's ready for installation into the firewall adjuster.

With both quadrants out of the car, we could compare them. Since the position of the pawl shaft relative to the clutch-lever pivot shaft varies from production tolerances, the Maximum Motorsports quadrant (silver) utilizes an elongated circle (or slot) that fits over the pawl shaft. Unlike an oversized round hole utilized in most quadrants, the slotted hole positions the quadrant more accurately and keeps the clutch pedal from rattling.

We transferred the framerail support bracket from the old cable to the new one.

Maximum Motorsports supplies a small rubber bushing to center the cable inside the firewall adjuster and to keep the adjustment knob from rotating inadvertently. We applied a dab of lube to make cable adjustments smoother.

After trial fitting the adjuster and cable together, we were ready to resume installation. We screwed the firewall adjuster's knob all the way into the housing, inserted the firewall adjuster into the firewall, and retained it with the OEM 5mm screw.

Next we routed the cable though the engine compartment the same as the original cable. The cable housing was inserted into the bellhousing and retained by the clip. We then pushed the cable through the keyhole in the clutch fork and seated it in the fork's pivot socket.

With everything installed, we turned the knob on the firewall adjuster counterclockwise to remove the slack in the cable. Thanks to the reduced flex offered by the Maximum Motorsports package, the clutch disengaged midway through the travel of the clutch pedal. Pedal effort was also noticeably reduced--the owner's left leg was very grateful!

After we installed the clutch cover, we were finished underneath the car.

Returning under the dashboard, we installed the Maximum Motorsports clutch quadrant over the pivot and pawl shafts using a series of supplied spacers and the two original pins. Since the adjuster was screwed all the way into the adjuster housing, there was enough slack to easily hook up the clutch cable.