Clutch Conversion

[Mthird]

Hello, My name is Murrel, I'm New to this forum.

I have a 71 chevy C-10, and I have had some issues with the Clutch linkage, so to save myself the headach of always fixing the damn thing, I have decided to convert the manual linkage to Hydraulic....

the Throw-out bearing im going to purchase is kinda hefty on the price, but worth it in my oppinion, the link is:

http://www.mcleodind.com/application...OB_BoltOn.html

its number 1327 on that page.

Im having trouble deciding how to go about this, any idea, hints, tricks, anything would be helpful, thank you.

[gerfunken]

Check out this link....
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s....php?p=2819341

[BossHogg69]

I've got that same McLeod hydraulic t/o bearing in my '69, which has a Tremec 5spd in it. I used a Wilwood master cylinder to actuate it and it works great. I have a 12" Centerforce dual friction clutch and the pedal action is very light compared to the nature of the clutch. yes, the mcleod unit is pricey, but it'll give you room if you want to add headers later, and for me, it has been trouble free and very smooth. I'm sure with a stock clutch the pedal will be almost effortless.

[Mthird]

Originally Posted by BossHogg69

I've got that same McLeod hydraulic t/o bearing in my '69, which has a Tremec 5spd in it. I used a Wilwood master cylinder to actuate it and it works great. I have a 12" Centerforce dual friction clutch and the pedal action is very light compared to the nature of the clutch. yes, the mcleod unit is pricey, but it'll give you room if you want to add headers later, and for me, it has been trouble free and very smooth. I'm sure with a stock clutch the pedal will be almost effortless.

I actually have headers on my truck right now, with no problem with the linkage due to the headers, my problem is the clutch rod comming out of the firewall keeps bending, it has broke twice, first time it bent I welding angle iron to it to stiffen it up, worked like a charm, then it broke down towards the first "stock" bend in the rod, welded it back, broke again, same place, welded it back, but this time, I put a piece of metal in there to keep it from breaking again, keeping my fingers crossed till I can do the conversion.

I have a Saginaw 3-speed, in my opinion a bullet proof Trannsmission, I found this Throwout bearing on jegs, http://www.jegs.com/i/Ram+Clutches/798/78125/10002/-1 any Ideas?

[Mike C]

If you are breaking linkage parts, you have something out of whack. One of the pieces is not adjusted correctly. My original linkage went 300k miles in the Jimmy. I replaced the upper and lower rods and I welded up the holes in the bell crank and re-drilled them. NOTHING was round at that point. Has another 50k on it since then.

If I was to do a hydraulic clutch, I would be tempted to get a later model bellhousing and use an external slave rather than the hydraulic throwout bearing. For your 3 speed, you could use the bellhousing from an '84-'87 Corvette with the BW 4+3. For people with an large bore trans (SM 465) you can get one from a truck. My '86 K30 dually has a hydraulic clutch setup.

[gerfunken]

So, I've been looking at converting to hydraulic as well. I feel that I've got about an issue a year in dealing with the mechanical clutch set up, whether it's a bent/broken zbar, bolts backing out of the block, bending the lower link... I did happen to run across this as an alternative to the hydraulic throw-out bearing. While I'm sure the bearing works well, I question that you'd need to replace it every time you had to replace your clutch.

Anyway.....

http://www.novak-adapt.com/catalog/kit_hcrc.htm

It's a hydraulic clutch slave retrofit for Chevy 90 degree bellhousings.

[Mthird]

Originally Posted by Mike C

If you are breaking linkage parts, you have something out of whack. One of the pieces is not adjusted correctly. My original linkage went 300k miles in the Jimmy. I replaced the upper and lower rods and I welded up the holes in the bell crank and re-drilled them. NOTHING was round at that point. Has another 50k on it since then.

If I was to do a hydraulic clutch, I would be tempted to get a later model bellhousing and use an external slave rather than the hydraulic throwout bearing. For your 3 speed, you could use the bellhousing from an '84-'87 Corvette with the BW 4+3. For people with an large bore trans (SM 465) you can get one from a truck. My '86 K30 dually has a hydraulic clutch setup.

believe it or not my truck has 600K+ miles on it, the odometer has rolled over 6 times..... I think the mechanical linkage has seen its fair share of work.....

[Mthird]

ok, so I have done some diggin and I found these three products that I think will do the trick nicely

http://www.jegs.com/i/Wilwood/950/260-1333/10002/-1

http://www.jegs.com/i/Wilwood/950/260-3376/10002/-1

http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/63047/10002/-1

since it is a Pull type slave, im going to make a bracket that will attach to my after-market floor shifter bracket, 72 inches is plenty long enough, heck it might be too much, but at least its not too little, if need be I can cut and flare the line myself, I have alot of tools I never use, like a line bender, a flare tool, and a line cutter, might as well dust em off, and give me a reason to tell my wife to quit nagging me about buying tools I will never need, lol.

[Tx Firefighter]

I build clutch linkages out of 3/8 solid rod and aircraft heims ends. It's relatively inexpensive and there is no way they are going to break or bend. Figure 50 bucks to do the whole job.

[Mthird]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

I build clutch linkages out of 3/8 solid rod and aircraft heims ends. It's relatively inexpensive and there is no way they are going to break or bend. Figure 50 bucks to do the whole job.

I thought about building a rod myself, but I also would like the clutch to operate easier, I have a bum knee, and in stop and go traffic it hurts....

[highrpm]

Dont know how much the Mcleod unit is, I'm going to try this one from Speedway. http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Stock-...Kits,1945.html

Sumitt also has one $162.00

A guy at word is converting his 80 Malibu to hydraulic and is using a MC from an 94 Camaro.

[BossHogg69]

[QUOTE=highrpm;3295298]Dont know how much the Mcleod unit is, I'm going to try this one from Speedway. http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Stock-...Kits,1945.html

Sumitt also has one $162.00QUOTE]


The McLeod one is about 3x more than that...