I do apologise for disapearing on this! Been a very crazy few months so I didn't get back to where the car is stored to continue working on it for a while... It seems that there were two problems...
The first: As Sharmy suggested, the clutch slave cylinder was broken, with the fluid not returning to the line or something like this, I tested by releasing the pressure from the bleed nipple, the clutch then seemed to work again once or twice before not disengaging again. I replaced the slave cylinder and it was working again!
The second issue, and quite possibly the root cause of the first is that I had, very stupidly, installed the wrong clutch unit, I installed the Holden red 202 clutch but when I went back and checked the old one it was clearly a Series clutch (with the boss in the middle). So when I re-attached the gearbox the clutch was still not 100% disengaging, i believe because of the different throw distance required...
I ordered a 9.5" clutch from paddocks that SEEMED like it would match from the pictures etc, but that doesnt line up with the holes when comparing it to the old one. I am at a bit of a loss here, from what i can see from the photos online, the 9.5" clutch (and the diesal which i think is also 9.5") is the type with the boss in the middle for the clutch release bearing, which is similar in appearance to what I pulled out of the car at the beggining of the restoration. The 9" petrol version appears to have 3 'arms' rather than the conventional many arms that point to the centre (pressure plate). Because this is bit of a mismatch car (series 2a, Holden engine, Series 3 gearbox) I am completely lost on what is the right clutch to buy...
Clutch_Units.jpg
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