15/07/2026
Hey all.
Hope youre all doing well & happy.
There's been a lot of banter around the mini-net lately where people have been asking about noises when they put their foot on the clutch.
& some others are saying there's a noise when they take their foot off the clutch.
Not all clutch related noises are the throw-out bearing tho,,, especially the ones that make a noise with the foot "off" the clutch.
However...(the reason for this post)
The "Over throw nuts"
Some people are suggesting theyre not needed & to take them off & throw them away ,,, & even cut off that bit of thread on the end of the carrier.
Well... I can tell you a pile of reasons why you """""will-want"""" the nuts to be fitted, adjusted correctly, & tightened together correctly.
So as much as you may """"think"""" you know theyre not needed, &/or theyre a relic from an early clutch/gearbox system, blah blah blah
Its not quite right to say that.
In a "Perfect-world" where your entire clutch system has been set-up correctly, all lovely & new... new hose, new cyls, new arm & carrier, new clutch plate etc etc etc... all fitted correctly & adjusted correctly & the hydraulic system is perfect & clean etc etc etc... well yes those over-throw nuts are not really needed.
"""But""" (as you all know well,,, ot should know) not everyone, & not every mini is living in a perfect world... sort-of out of sight, out of mind,,, & stuff wears, gets old, gets dirty etc... in other words-> sometimes s**t-happens.
Ok, so out of the pile of reasons you need those nuts fitted & adjusted correctly & tightened together correctly ill give you just 4x reasons right now.
(1) if you have an old swolen clutch-hose, it can act like a valve, you can push hydraulic pressure thru it, but it maybe slow to return, or not even return at all.
(2) let's pretend someone has fitted a brake master cylinder in there, instead of a proper clutch master cylinder,,, then you will have a slow return valve.
(3) let's say your hydraulic system is old & dirty & gritty etc & a piece of poop/dirt/gunge/hose/old seal,,, whatever, gets caught in the hose or pipe or tube-nut area,,, it will/can act like a one-way valve too.
In all 3x of those instances you have a damn good chance of breaking stuff when trying to pump-up a clutch after feeling an issue with the peddle pressure.
(4) Lets pretend you have a really old hard clutch-plate, & eventually a piece of material breaks off & then doubles-up onto the clutch plate in another section (yes it happens, ive seen it quite a few times)
So then you won't be able to "de-clutch" properly because the clutch plate is now double thick in one section & you'll try to pump the clutch to get it to work.
Well... at the very best you will break the old worn ball off the end of the clutch arm,(& thats the best case scenario, easy & cheap to fix, but youre stuck on the side of the road.
Or, you could break-off the alloy Lug(s) from the clutch arms pivot section of the clutch cover (wok) that's the 2nd best case scenario... again 3asy-enough to fix but again youre stuck on the side of the road.
No stress tho bcause its relatively easy & relatively cheap to fix.
But the worst case scenario is not good at all,,, disastrous actually... you can break the center main cap off the block, (fatiguing the bolts from pushing way too hard on the clutch attempting to get it to work)
Those "over-throw" nuts should be there for many reasons.
They actually should be called "anti-over-throw" nuts & theyre designed & fitted by the factory for many valid reasons.
Yes , ive seen all this & more on many occasions over my years.
So... if you know , you know,,,,,
--> if you dont know then you seriously dont know !!!!, you should probably ask someone who does know.
The worst thing about all this is asking someone who """"thinks""" they know,,,, but doesnt.
So... my advice is to Fit the nuts,,, adjust them correctly,,, & lock them together correctly.
You need to """manually""" lever out the clutch arm, with a crow-bar or a pry-bar ,,, to its limit where it physically stops (& no further, you'll feel it stop)
Don't rely on the hydraulic system by simply putting your foot on the clutch to do it... it may not travel far enough to effect """correct-adjustment"""
Then wind the tapered nut up to butt against the case...
then release the clutch arm,,, wind that tapered nut up towards the wok """one-off more flat"""
Then spin the lock nut up to that tapered-nut & lock them together.
You'll need a """thinned-down""" 15/16ths spanner to use on the tapered nut as the hex on that nut is very thin & you'll just trick yourself trying to use a std thickness spanner there.
Then use another 15/16th std thickness spanner on the lock-nut, then lock them together good & tight ->>using a sizzor action.
If you dont get them tightened together properly they will either undo themselves & fall off... or theyll slowing spin-on more & jam your clutch arm.
Take notice please!!!
I can tell you that you really dont want to find-out the hard way... ruining your entire engine, breaking off your crank center main-cap ,,, or even just bending the main cap bolts/studs will ruin the crank , ruin the block completely...
It will be a total throw-away.
Now... are you going to listen & take advise from someone who says "leave em off because theyre not needed"???
Really???
Carry-on then, nothing to see here.
😍🥰😍🥰😍🥰😍
