Okay gurus, I'm running into a little trouble with the '97 I'm working on. We narrowed down the clutch issue to not only the clutch, but a broken fork...I've been searching and searching for a new one to no avail) but in the meantime, we welded the current one and reinforced it best we could.

The problem we are running into now is getting the fork to stay on on the t bar bolt. We can usually get it to stick once, but once you try using the pedal, it pops off. Any idea on what we may be doing wrong? My dad thinks the spring may have lost it's tension when we heated and welded the fork together.

 

sure sounds like it or the shape was changed

 

Are you sure the t bar is going in between the fork and the spring tabs, and not over the tabs?

 

Well, we decided to pull the fork out again just to see if may be the tabs were messed up. They sure were. Completely snapped off. So, with some American inginuity, we modified the fork yet again, and installed it. I drove it up and and down the road, shifts much more smooth and zero rattling from any components. I'm gonna drive it up and down the road every day for a week and see if it breaks. I think as long as it's not abused, it'll last plenty of years. Need to search more for a new fork.

 

did you see this Chevrolet. #12523312: FORK. Engine Clutch Release

 

I did not. I'll have to see if they "actually" have it. I hope so. These are not easy to find.

Edit: Drove the car again today, I have a feeling the fork is beginning to fail, but I'm not 100 percent sure. I'm gonna follow up on the link you provided Craby but in the mean time, if any one knows where I can get one, I'd owe you a big one.