clutch slip?

Ok, I don't know squat about clutches except that I need to push it in to shiftR)

Here is my situation on my 74JC5 (232,T14a,D20). I bought the jeep and the owner included a new clutch and throwout bearing since the clutch was slipping bad (which I experienced when taking it for a test drive). After gettting it home and doing a bunch of work to it, the time was near to replace the clutch - or so I thought. After tuning up the engine I again took it for a test drive and found that max speed was about 20mph and it took a long time getting there (feathering the gas and shifting at low rpms so the clutch wouldn't slip). So I got to reading my FSM and read that clutch slippage can occur from improper linkage adjustment, so I figured I'd see what that's all about. I adjusted the linkage to get better engagement and was able to get up to 35mph or more (still kinda slow gettting there). I adjusted the linkage again and now I can do 55mph or better. It's not a rocket, but it needs to be driven for a while since it hasn't been on the road in 30 years (little carbon, goo, icky gas, etc). Now I'm wondering if I even need to replace the clutch.

Finally, my question(s): how do I know when I have exceeded the amount of adjustment in my linkage and go to far the other way? Is it possible that the linkage could be that messed up just form normal use? How can I tell if it's still slipping (I've never driven the CJ with a good clutch to know the difference)? I don't really want to replace the clutch if I don't have too....

The trans shifts great and the clutch pedal has a good firm feel to it. It engages at about 3/4 up (which I like).

Thanks for the input.

 

When you start to push in the clutch, you should feel a slight resistance which is the spring hold back. Next you should feel a stronger resistance which will be the throw-out bearing pushing in the pressure plate to release the clutch disk. I like to have about 1" to 1-3/4" free play at the top before you reach the throw-out to pressure plate. If you set the free play as said above, your clutch should begin to engage (grabbing from the bottom) at about 2" above the floor. As your clutch wears out the distance from the floor increases until the clutch is completely used up.