Professor Koval's article on the seized clutch brought back horrible memories of the experience I had with my 1973 Jensen-Healey (with Sunbeam transmission and clutch).

One April, of a forgotten year, I found the clutch disc was locked up after being in storage and the vehicle not being used since the previous November. Luckily the Professor's first method, the application of the brake, was sufficient to break up the marriage between the flywheel/pressure plate and the clutch disc

Not wanting to be the individual responsible for the break-up of a marriage, I began to look for a preventative solution. After some thought, I constructed what is called a "Clutch Anti-Lockup Tool". The cost is minimal; about $1.00 if new parts are used. The tool is simply a piece of wood (in my case a 3" furring strip) that is of sufficient length to place between the clutch pedal and the steering wheel so that it will keep the pedal fully depressed. A piece of thin wall electrical conduit could serve the same purpose. My particular "tool" has the end covered in a rubber sheet salvaged from an old inner tube.

After about twelve years of using the tool, the dreaded lock-up is almost a forgotten memory!

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