I KNOW I SHOULD REPLACE IT BUT I CANT BUY ONE RIGHT THIS SECOND SO ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRICIATED
sorry all caps

I have not, but I would like to throw this out.

If your clutch is so stiff that you bent the pedal, you need to pull the transmission and clean/lubricate/replace the throwout bearing, throwout pivot fork, bushings for the pivot fork. The pedal feel on these cars is very light if everything is set up right, similar feel to any modern 4 or 6 cylinder manual shift vehicle. Since the throwout forks and their bushings are inside the bellhousing where lots of clutch dust and metal particles float around, over time they bind up. The sleeve the throwout bearing slides on gets gummy too. The forks themselves wear on the tips which adds to the problem. Eventually everything gets so stiff that the clutch does not fully disengage, and it starts to slip and eventually it will crap out too. I've had an '85GT with the 4 speed, and an '87GT with the 5 speed, and both cars had this problem when I got them. The '85 was my first Fiero, and I thought the super stiff clutch pedal was normal until the clutch finally failed and the transmission shop that changed it also got the throwout components refurbished! FYI, that car had 52K miles on it, not a lot, this was back in 1996 or so when the car was only 11 years old. My current GT has 112K on it and from my experience with the first car I knew when I bought it that it needed this work, interestingly the PO had put a clutch in but failed to address any of this when he did.

I don't know if this helps you or not, but I hope it might!

Another fix for the bent pedal is to build or buy an adjustable banjo. The Aluminum pedal will not hold its shape for long if you just bend it back.

I had an 85/Duke with a bent pedal. The part that was bent was the bracket that was rivited on to the pedal assembly. I took it out, put it in a vise and got it back to normal shape. It is not hard to remove, just a few bolts. You can get the pedal out without taking out the entire bracket that the pedal mounts to which is a lot of work to remove. The pedal was bent because the master cylinder was frozen...the car was sitting for 10 years before I got it. It all works now with a new master/slave. Check those out before you pull the trans.
Jim

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87 T-top 2.8 5sp Camaro Dash Bonneville door panels; 86 355 body & interior kits 3.1 Auto; 85 SE 2.5 5sp, 86 SE 2.8 auto parts car

quote Originally posted by Mike Gonzalez: The Aluminum pedal will not hold its shape for long if you just bend it back.

I know the older style is always referred to as the "aluminum" pedal. The weird thing is though, the part that bends on the older style pedal is STEEL. Yes indeed. It's not the aluminum arm of the older style pedal that bends, it's the steel bracket that the banjo attaches to.

Here's a picture of a bent aluminum pedal beside a newer style steel one. Notice it's NOT the aluminum arm that's bent (any more than it should be).




Following are two images of the same pedals pictured above, this time from the side. These images clearly show that the bracket also bends in a second direction away from the master cylinder.



I've considered bending it back, but I haven't had to yet as I have a couple of extra pedals to use.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 01-30-2010).]

Good News! I just saw (newly listed) on ebay both the Rodney Dickman banjo...........and ............a brand new clutch pedal. Both are starting cheap! Hope this helps.

From my understanding of what I've read, you can bend the bracket back, but it will get bent again in a relatively short time. I've not read if anyone has tried unbending and tempering-if you can effectively heat treat the bracket without damaging the aluminum arm, it may hold up.

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'84 Sport Coupe (third time's a charm?)

Or bent it back and use a mig welder to weld a small reinforcement were the yellow line is (inner side). I haven’t done it and I don’t know the available space, but this way it will last forever…

If you remove the source of the problem that caused the bend, I would not expect the pedal to bend again unless it has been work hardened from lots of bending cycles where the part gets weakened.
Jim

Ed Parks says the pedal part never seems to get bent - even on the aluminum ones. It was always the steel U part. You can bend it back. You need a strong vice and a large pipe wrench or similar large adjustable wrench or something. It will be slightly weaker but should last a long time. All depends on how much pressure it takes to push in the clutch. I have seen some clutch pressure plates that were very hard to depress. I have the Centerforce dual friction clutch and it is on the easy side to push in the clutch pedal. Excellent clutch in my opinion.

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Rodney Dickman

Fiero Parts And Acc's Web Page:
www.rodneydickman.com
Rodney Dickman's Fiero accessories
7604 Treeview Drive
Caledonia, WI 53108
Phone/Fax (262) 835-9575

quote Originally posted by Chris_86GT: Or bent it back and use a mig welder to weld a small reinforcement were the yellow line is (inner side). I haven’t done it and I don’t know the available space, but this way it will last forever…

I was wondering if anyone ever welded a gusset on that bracket. It wouldnt bend again. Factory should have done it in the first place.

I do know the pivot for the clutch arm does seize up, especially with original grease. Another dumb failure of the manufacturer to not put a grease fitting there.

[EDIT] I cut and pasted this post into my previous post.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 01-30-2010).]

Most likely... It got bent because Hydraulic system is overloaded. Hydraulic system or Clutch, or both, is messed up.

Probably:
Binding in clutch arm in tranny. Bushing need clean/lube or is bad.
Binding release bearing. Need lube or is bad.
Binding in Master and/or Slave.
Or all of the above.

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