That is the trouble that i was having on my 84 GL hatchback, when i pushed on the clutch it felt like i was pushing on a cinder block, did the clutch cable swap tonight and now it feels like pushing into a pillow, maybe you should try it. The only thing that I didnt like is if you look at the current cable it has to bend and weeve to make the trip through the firewall to the clutch so when u get a new one dont expect it just to come off like the old one.