Ha! YOU guys are doing all the talkin' (and much appreciated, btw). I started wrenching 3 days ago. I admit I'm not a fast worker. It's slow going when you have to keep reminding yourself "righty tighty-lefty lucy."

with all this talking, you could have removed the clutch cover by now and seen inside to diagnose what's happening. Get to it brother.

I think 1963SV2 and CooperTune are on the right track.
As suggested remove the nuts reassemble the components adjust the clutch arm and see if you can get the clutch to work, if so pull the cover and look for damaged parts.

My wrench for the bottom Clutch Wok bolts.   reaches around the Subframe.  for the bottom 2=  Priceless,when the engine is lifted a little bit off the Motor mount.


i would at least pull the cover and see whats happening before an engine pull.

By "pivot bolt" I think you mean the clutch arm adjusting screw - the bolt that holds the clutch lever out from the clutch cover. The purpose of this bolt is to take up any slack in the components between the lever and the clutch plate. Normally, the gap between the bolt head and the bump on the lever should be very small - check your manual for the spec. As the clutch plate wears over time, the slack in the system grows. To compensate, you should periodically adjust this bolt. Note it must not be tight to the clutch lever. There needs to be a small bit of slack so the throw-out bearing is unloaded when the pedal is released. It also compensates for any possible heat expansion.

A 1/4" gap suggests yours wasn't adjusted properly or your clutch plate has worn. Can't really tell until you take the clutch apart or you get signs of it beginning to fail.

So not clutch disc wear, but any of the above problems like bent clutch arm etc. would open the gap on the pivot bolt?

Just to hook a red-herring before it gets away - wear on the clutch disk itself results in a higher release point on the pedal. Almost no pedal movement is required. My second Mini had that when I got it - to the point the clutch would slip in 4th gear. Bummer when it came to hills.

I guess another thing to check is the pivot bolt adjustment. I lost my clutch disengagement all at once and assumed it was air and bled it a couple of time before going through a complete clutch set up, and found the pivot bolt had a 1/4 inch gap, adjusted it and all was fine again. I wonder if I also have wear other than just the clutch disk.

Knowing very little about what's inside your clutch housing, I'm going to share something.
A few years ago, it all runs together now I did a clutch job for a local customer. We replaced
his pre verto disc and clutch cover diaphragm. Being a mech fuel pump some time later the
base filed with gas and we pulled the power unit. I was surprised when we pulled the wok and
I  saw where the new style throw out bearing had worn deeply into the diaphragm thrust plate.
As I never throw anything away I went to my storage unit and removed all diaphragm thrust plates
from my old covers. I don't know how long ago you assembly was made and installed. If I recall it took 
less than a year for the damage I saw. If using an orange spring I suspect quicker wear. Steve (CTR)

I agree... if the release bearing and the diaphragm are intact you should not be able to push the nuts against the wok..

However, in the interests of diagnosis.. remove the nuts and then see how far you can push the bearing carrier inwards..

Cheers, Ian

No.1 THROW AWAY THE BIG NUTS ...they are not needed I haven't run them for a looong time , pull the arm out and check the ball .

Right. So what’s your best guess as to what failed, keeping in mind that the nuts on the outboard side of the plunger have not moved.

You should not be able to push the plunger in like you are showing. The release bearing is on the end of the plunger and only has a tiny smidge of freeplay when step correctly before it contacts the clutch diaphragm spring. You should need the full force of the clutch slave and lever to move the plunger.

Ditto on what Dan said.  I seem to recall that the distance between the stop nut and the wok should be about .125".  From looking at the video, you're not even close to that measurement.

From your fiddle video, the nuts appear to be in contact with the wok when you push it in. Under normal circumstances, with no slack, they should be where they are when you pull the spindle all the way back. That's about the movement in the spindle, release bearing and clutch diaphragm needed to disengage, in other words the required throw.

The nuts are tight and haven’t moved. I understand what you’re saying about the lack of force required to move the plunger, but what about the throw of the plunger? Would that little bit of movement be enough to disengage a working clutch?

I’ve had the wok off once before, when I replaced the throwout bearing the last time. I don’t remember the allen head bolts being a problem.

You should not be able to bottom out those nuts without lots and lots of leverage / force. I would say you should back those nuts off at least 2 full turns and then try that freeplay test again. I have had it where these nuts work loose and then spin down and don't let the plunger depress the clutch diaphram spring (And thereby won't release or disengage the clutch.

If those nuts are still locked down tight and there's no chance they spun tighter, then you likely have an issue with the throwout bearing and/or the washer that the bearing pushes against.

Those allen key bolts that it looks like you have are going to make your life pretty miserable when it comes to trying to remove the wok cover while the engine is in the car. BTDT. I now only use traditional headed bolts for that, which allows me to use a flexible headed ratcheting wrench

With the clutch arm removed, when I fiddle with the plunger it seems like there's hardly any travel. I can't recall how much in & out movement is normal, but this doesn't seem like enough travel to disengage the clutch. [link]  Is this amount of travel normal, or is this consistent with a collapsed bearing and/or seat?

If only it were that simple. The last time I had a clutch arm ball fail, I replaced it with heavy duty billet version. It's still good. [link]

The clutch pedal goes to the floor with very little pressure, only the resistance provided by the clutch arm spring. With the pedal depressed and the car in gear it lurches and/or stalls. Clearly the clutch is not disengaging. The clutch hydraulics seem fine, and I bled the line to make sure there was no air in the system.