UPR CLUTCH QUADRANT, FIREWALL ADJUSTER

The stock Ford clutch quadrant is self adjusting and made of plastic. The teeth tend to wear out and the plastic is prone to breaking. I purchased the UPR triple pick-up aluminum quadrant and firewall adjuster along with a new Ford OE clutch cable to replace the stock system. The UPR pieces are not self adjusting, but will allow manual adjustment of both the clutch pedal and clutch cable. This way you can decide where you want the pedal to grab, up high or down low.

Ford OE Clutch Cable
Ford Part #XR3Z-7535-CA

The quadrant is located under the dash on the pedal assembly block. The firewall adjuster is located on the opposite side in the engine compartment where the clutch cable enters the engine compartment. The smaller bushing fits inside the adjuster for a tight fit if the plastic clutch cable end is not big enough and is loose inside the adjuster. I installed the cable on the middle pick-up of the quadrant when installing with a new OE Ford clutch cable. This is not self adjusting, You must manually adjust it as needed. When I installed the UPR quadrant I placed four washers on each shaft before installing the quadrant, to take up side to side slack on the shaft. Yours may vary slightly from mine.

UPR was suppose to supply a screw and didn't. Here you can see the stock screw prevents the jam nut from seating all the way for a secure lock. I had heard about this issue from others before so I made it a point to check. There is also only one mounting ear which didn't provide much support when mounted with the stock screw, which has very fine thread and doesn't provide a good bite. When depressing the pedal you could see the adjuster shift.

I removed the stock screw and found my own flatter bolt. I drilled out the stock threads in the firewall for the larger bolt diameter and installed a lock washer and nut under the dash to secure it very firmly. The jam nut also clears the bolt head and seats correctly, maintaining the adjustment in place. Again, the UPR piece is solid but really should have had two mounting ears like the stock holder instead of one, but with my bolt it is not budging one bit.

UPR's instructions were sort of vague and confusing. As I'm sure mine will be!!
It's hard to describe this simple installation.

This is the stock Ford plastic clutch quadrant. The teeth wear and prevent proper adjustment. The stock quadrant is also known to break when used with a heavy duty clutch setup.

Here is the finished product. Turn the adjuster CCW to tighten for a higher pedal, CW to loosen for a lower pedal. No need to crawl under the car anymore to adjust the clutch if you had an adjustable cable.

MY OWN LITTLE THROW OUT BEARING MOD!!

Not sure how it was with the stock quadrant and adjuster since I already had TOB issues, but after installing the UPR quadrant and adjuster I found the throw out bearing did not completely disengage all the time, regardless of how I adjusted the clutch, loose or tight. I think more a Ford drive train design flaw rather than a UPR related issue. Ford TOB's seem to wear out prematurely. The TOB should not rotate when there is no pressure on the clutch pedal, only when depressing the pedal and applying pressure to the pressure plate should the TOB engage and turn. If the bearing rotates all the time it will wear out prematurely. I found that if I applied a little backwards pressure on the clutch release lever the TOB would disengage and not turn. I'm talking only about a 1/8" tops. Just enough backwards pressure to pull the TOB off the pressure plate fingers.

Instead of living with this, I decided to make a mod to cure this problem.

Here you can see a piece of steel bar stock I measured, cut and bolted to some existing holes in the transmission mount area. (I added the second hole behind the existing hole). On the other end of the steel bar stock I drilled a small hole and attached a heavy duty spring that I found at the hardware store. I modified the other end of the spring like a big clip and stuck it through the clutch release lever and hooked it around the outside of the lever next to the cable (similar to a brake shoe spring) This spring is strong enough to apply enough backwards pressure to pull the TOB away from the pressure plate and prevent it from turning when the pedal is not engaged.

SPRING
Century Spring Corp #C-227
11/16" diameter, 4 3/4" long with .091 wire
I don't know the rate of the spring but it's pretty hefty. Run a search on Google for the part number and you'll find where to buy it.

Here you can see a close-up of the spring and where it attaches to the clutch release lever and the steel bar stock. The clutch cable end is to the left of the spring.

Here you can see the other side where the spring end clips around the clutch release lever and pulls it backwards.

Here you can see how I modified the dust cover and greased the spring.

This worked out very well. I watched underneath while someone depressed the clutch pedal and everything clears and functions perfectly. The pedal and lever are pulled back by the spring and the TOB does not turn at all when not engaged. It also gives the pedal a very firm and confident feel when depressing, no slop at all. If and when you adjust your clutch and find your TOB will not completely disengage, try this. A piece of steel and the spring costs less than $7.00 and a little work on your part may fix the problem. I also love how the clutch grabs a little lower now and feels real good with the UPR pieces.

Although the UPR pieces are made very well, I think there is still some room for improvement on UPR's part, mostly attention to detail. UPR contacted me after seeing my write-up and made notes of the small issues I found and will follow up with them in the future. Thanks guys.

These are modified UPR instructions below.
It can be kind of confusing, but it is really a very simple install once you understand how it installs.

1. Locate stock quadrant & ratchet adjuster mechanism under dash, above gas pedal.
Some people remove the seat for easier access, I didn't have to.

2. Remove the two retaining clips from both shafts (I used dykes to take pull them off).
This will allow removal of the stock plastic quadrants.

3. Use screwdriver to slide off both the stock quadrant and ratchet adjuster mechanism.

CAUTION:
Quadrant and ratchet adjuster mechanism may still have pressure on them.

4. Discard factory springs, quadrant and adjuster mechanism.

5. Install UPR Triple pickup quadrant on shaft and re-install both retaining clips.
I installed washers to take up extra side to side slack on shaft.

6. Remove the two 5mm screws from the firewall holder, and the 8mm bolt securing the clutch cable to the fender.

7. Remove big rubber grommet from the firewall side of the cable.

8. You may need to trim the factory plastic shaft end that the adjuster sits on for smoother operation (I didn't have too). You will also need to cut off the grommet mount (plastic holder with two clips, just cut it off. Don't cut the cable). Install the supplied spacer on the clutch cable shaft end. I used some electrical tape to wrap around the inside smaller diameter of shaft end to make the same diameter as the end tip, for a good tight fit. I also wrapped electrical tape around the outside of the bushing once, for a tighter fit into the adjuster. Now place cable through adjuster and push the cable shaft with bushing into the adjuster. It should fit tightly. Go under the dash and hook the cable on whichever pick-up you desire for your application.

9. Turn the adjuster to the right to loosen (Clutch grabs lower).

10. Turn the adjuster to the left to tighten (Clutch grabs higher).

11. For best adjustment there should be 1 to 1.5" of free play in the clutch pedal.