My son't 87 with a five speed manual has developed an annoying rattle when the clutch is depressed. He said it also is sometimes difficult to shift into first or second gears. Of course, Murphy took a test drive with us and it did neither for me (probably afraid of the large hammer I was carrying at the time). My gut feeling is that it is a clutch problem since the tranny is disengaged from the engine when the noise appears. Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

Possibility that the throwout AKA clutch release bearing is breaking down. Requires removing transmission to fix.

 

Pete - thanks very much. I was sort afraid of that. I suppose that maintaing an 87 Camaro and a 79 Vette should have made me numb to repairs by now!