Clutch Woes...

[mr.utility at highstream.net (David Utley)]

Well,
   I need to draw upon the collective experience of the group, and NO, it
has nothing to do with balancing
.  :-)

   While driving a friends 82 VW pickup (gas), I was accelerating on the
highway when all of the sudden, I heard a grinding coming from the tranny

I pushed down the clutch, and it stayed there, and it popped out of gear at
the same time
  Now that I am rolling, and with no pedal, I cannot engage a
gear at all
  I coast to a stop, and get out and look under the hood,
thinking the clutch cable is kaput
  Nope, it is still there, no problems

Well, I can get it in gear with the truck off, start it, and limp it home

If I start in 2nd, I can eventually get any other gear while rolling if I
get the rpm right
  Once home, I notice there is a lot of slack in the
cable, so I adjust that out
  No change, I still can not engage a gear,
unless the truck is not running
  SO, I took it apart this evening, thinking
the cast steel finger that actuates the T/O bearing behind the green cap is
bad
  Nope, just fine
  What in the hell is wrong with this thing?

Just for the record, I was farting-around when this broke, and the truck has
been through more tough driving than Nina Hartley
  The tranny is an FF
code, the engine is a 1.8 9.5 to 1 motor with stock CIS, if it matters
(which it shouldn?t)


Any and all ideas are MOST welcome
  I would like to fix this before my
friend returns
  It is one thing to break it, and have it broken when he
comes back, and another thing altogether to have broken it AND fixed it