Hi.. thanks for the info on the release bearing...
Good news.. i dont think i will need to remove the transmission and replace the clutch parts..
I did some poking around with the throw out bearing assembly. The main symptom that i noticed was that the clutch pedal suddenly had about 2" play at the top a few days ago. I inspected the TO bearing thru the fork opening in the bell housing and it seemed intact and the fingers on the pressure plate showed no damage...
BUT.. the pedal was still low... more fiddling revealed that the cable, a new one about 2 years old was hanging up in the cable housing. I lubed both ends of the cable and now the pedal works properly .. but it now is a LOT easier to depress.
I am still a bit puzzled about whether the release bearing is proper for the car.
The previous owner had replaced the clutch, pressure plate, release bearing and the cable about 500 miles before i got the car and i have driven it about 6000 miles.
When i had the transmission out last month all looked like new, but the release bearing was making a rattling ans squeeling noise and seemd to be pretty loose. When i had the transmission out, i packed the bearing with grease and replaced it (because the clutch kit i purchased was completely wrong) and it is now a lot less noisy.. almost none.. i also think that the sticky cable was keeping the bearing from completely clearing the pressure plate fingers, making the rattling sound.
Now, after lubing the cable everything works and there is almost no rattling from the bearing.
I am sure that at some point i will want to replace the bearing sooner rather than later, but have been having a problem finding the proper one. All of the parts stores seem to have only the same kit that didnt work..
But i do wonder if the release bearing is the proper one since i have seen pix of different ones that seem to be the "correct" one
I am including a photo of mine made thru the fork opening. It is constructed from stamped sheet metal parkerized yellow, Does this look like the correct one for my car, 73 2.0
I am pretty sure the clutch kit was a LUK kit. I have seen ones like it online and others supposedly for the same application that were machined castings.
Also.. all of the pix of kits for the 73 2.0 had pressure plates tithe the fingers bent at the tip to se4ve as mating surface for the TO bearing and mine showed no wear when i had it out. I know that the fingers can get bent from overheating but i think these were made this way from the factory.
Were there other brands of release bearings that worked but made differently.