Clutch - stop bracket
- by Ian Moorcraft
- Download this article here
This must be the rarest Austin 7 spare part to find, in fact I have never believed they even existed. But they ‘do’ because this one has turned up at the spares shed and was spotted by our eagle eyed spares secretary Tim.
I don't see any reason why Longbridge thought it was needed on the three speed box given that the pedal is held down by the spring not up against it as shown in this 1929 retouched works photo.
When the pedal is pulled backwards against spring pressure as far as it will go, the clutch withdrawal levers rest against their own stop inside the bell housing on the gear-box front cover, at this stage the pedal would be more or less against this additional stop bracket making it superfluous.
This gear box selected at random from the spares shed with the stop bracket placed on it shows a witness mark on the pedal exactly where it would have contacted the clutch stop bracket.
If you have any ideas as to ‘why’ these were fitted or if your car still has one in place let us know.
