I have an 86 Firebird with T-5 tranny. It seems that the clutch wont disengage all the way when the pedal is all the way to the floor. Not even close if its off the floor at all. Also, seems to want to clunk or grind going in to reverse. What do I need to start checking first???

 

I'd check the master and slave clutch cylinders. My T/A started doing that a few years ago and it turns out that the slave cylinder had gone out on it.

 

check the clutch fork in the bellhousing....my brothers 86 did the same thing, we changed the master and slave cylinders, the lines, the clutch etc. After all that we finally discovered there was a hairline crack in the clutch fork, and it was bending under load from the slave cylinder.....a little quick welding and it was back in business.

the problem also got worse as the car got hotter because the fork softened up and bent even worse. id check that if you cant seem to find the problem

 

This is probably the most undesirable possibility. My clutch failed but not due to friction. The clutch would disengage sometimes and not others. Turns out one of the springs broke free and wedged itself in the pressure plate diaphragm and prevented the clutch from disengaging. No way to check that unless you drop the tranny.

Once I dropped the tranny I could inspect the clutch and pressure plate diaphragm. Noticed scarring on the diaphragm and then located the wedged spring. Lots of friction surface left but no way to fix the freed spring.

As always, check the simple stuff first.

Good luck.

 

Thanks for the input!