Hi guys,
I'm an RS2000 4 door owner. Had help from here a few times in the old forum and haven't been around for ages. The new forum looks good.
I have a dilemma at the moment. I'm thinking of leaving the Escort world and going to something more recent/boring. I had a cracked clutch release lever which was recently replaced with a part sourced by my mechanic. Unfortunately the replacement is cracking and I'm wondering whether I try to sell it as is (honestly of course) or get it repaired again (strengthened somehow?) and move on after. It's my daily driver which I've owned for over 10 years and is registered til early March 2013.
Wondering whether I should have posted this in For Sale - WHOLE CARS ONLY!
 
Thoughts welcome
G

Common problem with the clutch fork. 
Its up to you whether you sell it like that.. id just let the buyer know so they can fix it.
Otherwise if you choose to fix it some strengthening plates welded on usually do the trick as long as they arent too big/bulky as to restrict its movement in relation to the bell housing.

Hi Groosome,
 
This is indeed a common problem, so much so that I wont even install a clutch fork in my own cars these days without welding a 3mm plate to the back of the fork where they crack so as to make the fork a "box" - they never crack any more after that.
 
The only problem is the box does need to be removed to do this, so its a cost the buyer would need to factor in if they cant do the work themelves.
 
Ash

Hi guys,
Thanks for the suggestions. It will be a job for the mechanic as I don't have the equipment etc to get the gearbox out/away. I presume we're talking about the same thing but the word fork sounds a bit confusing as the part I'm looking at looks like this or at least the end I can see seems to look like that. It cracks right around where it changes from wider to narrower on the end where the cable fits and can be seen when you get under the drivers side of the car.
 
Hopefully assuming they can weld a plate to it then it doesn't just crack somewhere else along the length. When you guys do this how much of the part does the welded plate reinforce?
 
G

Thats the one. 
Ive previously used as above around 3mm steel plate and bent/cut it to the same shape/bend as the end of the fork. So effectively just doubling the thickness where the narrow section and also where the slight bend is.
Because its pressed metal i did it on the inner side and then welded in. If this makes sense.
Seemed to be fine after that, and thats with a pretty heavy pressure plate I was using at the time.