I've been fretting over (what I consider) high pedal pressure and short clutch pedal throw after replacing my entire clutch and flywheel setup. All new from FAT with a Kennedy Stage 1 pressure plate and clutch disk. I currently have the clutch stop on the pedal board all the way towards the back of the car to keep me from damaging the cable or the tube as it is definitely bottoming out somewhere.

I had previously run an extra washer under the pivot ball for the clutch fork due to having a resurfaced flywheel. I did not remove the extra washer when I replaced all this stuff. Is there any chance at all that keeping that extra washer under the pivot ball is causing me grief?

Yep. It may not be 100% the cause but good chance it’s a factor.

Part of my Gamroth education. The arm should be right in the center of the hole when you push it by hand, before it goes onto the engine.
Shim or unshim.

Please explain where you are pushing. Directly on the pivot?

I think Cary means when you move the arm by hand, causing the throwout bearing to contact the pressure plate, the arm should be more or less centered in the opening.

,that's how mine lined up after packing with thin washer with resurfaced flywheel,if the OP has the correct forward spacing with his new pressure plate a washer will over extent the throwout,the flywheel is a constant and won't change anything if new.
I believe this type of pressure plate will increase pedal effort no getting around that .

The Porsche spec is you need at least 20mm before the lever contacts the trans housing.

OK, that's the way I've always done it. And after fitting the trans onto the engine and checking the arm travel and centering in the opening, having to pull the trans and adjust with shims if it was not right. I just thought there might have been some measurement or technique that I was not aware of all this time to avoid the test fitting.

I guess I was lucky with mine with the washer I choose ,thinking it was less than 1mm but was dead on first go,previous to that I had the release arm hitting the gearbox by a small amount.

Worth noting that the stock configuration is one x 8mm washer under the ball pin. It's a tight fit so easy to overlook. Adding a washer to make up for wear brings the total to two.

I’ll undo my cable to see where I’m at. Might try and get someone to operate a he pedal to see if anything stands out for why it needs the pedal stop so far advanced.

What Ian said

So, I'm no where near the middle with the clutch cable on and where I currently have it adjusted. I'm guessing that is a problem?

Click to view attachment

It's tough to tell from the photo, but is the fork contacting the case at the front? The concern with space is to the rear of the fork...as in having enough throw for the cable to pull the fork back and apply force to the pressure plate to release the clutch from the flywheel. If the fork isn't touching the front of the case and the throwout bearing can freely move without contacting the pressure plate fingers, you should be good.

It is not with the cable attached. I’ll check tomorrow with the adjustment slacked off.

As far as what I’m chasing, it just feels wrong. I don’t get that over center feel I’ve always had regardless of the stage of clutch. It just feels kind of bound up and weird. It releases fine and grabs like a champ, so it’s more about feel than anything.

probably the pressure plate then.

What engine do you have that will overpower a stock clutch package ?
If you're hyper-extending the cable you need to raise the pivot not reduce it.
Were both the mounting surface and the friction surface of the flywheel machined ?

It’s a high strung 2056cc on slicks running autocross. All new parts now, but it will nuke a stock clutch in a few events.

I think since my pivot is too far in the opposite direction (from the normal problem) that I’m bottoming out the pressure plate (my pedal stop is all the way out/back) and my geometry is all wrong.

I’m heading out to the car now to slack the cable and likely pull the trans to explore...

The extra washer was the problem!

Upon slacking the clutch cable it was apparent something wasn’t right as the clutch fork wouldn’t move and was shoved way forward. I yanked the trans and then it all made sense... The clutch fork had actually contacted the pressure plate! The shim behind the ball had made it so the fork was pushed to far forward and allowed it to contact the pressure plate.

After removing the washer we test fit the trans and made sure the clutch fork was free. When pressed the clutch fork (by hand) up against the pressure plate it was a bit forward of center, but way better. We then ran the clutch cable and did some testing. The effort was way down and it felt happy again.

Lesson learned... Don’t forget to remove the extra washer when switching from a resurfaced flywheel to a new one.

BTW, what do people use to tighten/loosen that damn pivot ball? None of my sockets fit in far enough to allow it to seat. I end up using all manner of inappropriate methods to tighten it.

I ground the edges down on a cheap deep socket till they were thin enough to fit.

Excellent ! happy to hear you solved your problem.
I suspect the KEP PP is a bit taller than a Sachs.
A Sachs typically has no problem with the additional washer.
I found that a 1/2" drive socket is the ideal choice, it easily passes over the ball.
Ground a bit as suggested.

Y'all just saved my butt with this thread. I was switching out my tranny with another (rebuilt) one and noticed the pivot ball was snapped off. Crazy! Ground-down a cheap socket and switched the part, no issues.

Be careful not to over tighten the pivot ball into the trans case, it's sort of like the oil sump bolt, if you wreck the threads the case is done.

Thanks! Good point. I don't think I over-did it. I guess I can put the tranny on its "nose" and see if it leaks. It's not yet attached to the motor.