First time clutch problem & questions.. Whats original?

[raven68]

Thanks for those comments and links. You're right of course that one system pushes and the cable system pulls so the clutch forks would pivot differently.....Mmmmm !
I dont think there is room to extend the clutch pedal upwards to take the cable quadrant but we'll have a look. I think you would have to look at dropping the pivot point which might be just as tricky!
Well at least the current badly designed system is still working so we haven't got to solve this one quickly. I'm hoping it will work for the summer and then we'll drop the box later and see what can be done at that end first. I'll probably order in a standard clutch fork in the meantime so we can play around with that on the bench and see what thoughts develop from there.... Will keep you posted and thanks for all your help.... Great to know there is a source of help when you need it.........

[sargentrs]

Cool. Look forward to seeing what you come up with. Keep us posted.

[raven68]

Just got back to this forum and not realised its been 2yrs since last post.... Well the old truck has been doing quite a few miles over here, but 2 weeks ago the clutch master cylinder seals finally gave up and we had hydraulic fluid all over the floor! Looking up part numbers we've found the master cylinder and the slave cylinder are one system that was fitted to 1986 Bronco's that someone has adapted to fit. Ordered a new master cylinder from Rock Auto and fitted that last weekend. When we bled the system, the pedal pressure blew the slave cylinder completely to bits - it was a helluva bang! Turns out the slave cylinder was made entirely of plastic with a steel liner which I think finally let go after years of being stressed in that makeshift bracket shown above. Ordered new slave cylinder from Rock Auto which arrived yesterday. Pleasantly surprised to see its made entirely of metal (by Dorman) so it looks and feels much stronger.

However I've still not found a company that makes any sort of decent hydraulic conversion (or cable) for this truck, or found any articles on a swop using later model parts?
So I guess you are all running the standard linkage set-up and it works really well !!

Hopefully we'll get the new slave cylinder installed this weekend and be back on the road but no further forward some 2yrs later to finding a better conversion...

All the best for now from the UK ..........

[sargentrs]

Found these topics and links. Might get the creative juices flowing for you.

http://midnightdsigns.com/Mustang/HYD%20Clutch.htm
http://www.fordification.com/tech/M5R2_5spd-swap.htm

[raven68]

Found these topics and links. Might get the creative juices flowing for you.

http://midnightdsigns.com/Mustang/HYD%20Clutch.htm
http://www.fordification.com/tech/M5R2_5spd-swap.htm

Cheers Buddy - that's a good find and I'll give that some close reading. Considering the engine is the same as in the Mustang, etc. I'm surprised there aren't more articles about swopping in either complete engine & trans combos (manual or auto) from later models for better efficiency. I like the idea of putting in a later T5 5 speed from the mustang. Will just have to do some harder research over the winter

[raven68]

Well here's some better pictures as we pulled the transmission and bellhousing out from under the truck, washed off 45yrs of grease and Montana dirt from it all and re-assembled it with a direct replacement for the 'old' slave cylinder unit. The master / slave system is from a 1986 Bronco set-up apparently. Although the geometry is all wrong it worked before so we are hoping it will work again to get the truck back on the road while we figure out a complete change to the 5 speed as per the link above or even go the auto route with a C4............





I'm pleased we actually pulled out the transmission as we then found the clutch cover plate fingers to be severely worn. You can see the polished surfaces in this photo and the fingers are almost completely gone in the 4 and 5 o'clock position which must be down to the amount of pre-load there must have been in the TOB permanently running against the clutch fingers. SO, sticking with the current 'conversion' clearly isn't going to do our new clutch much good; we need to figure out a better set-up but there is no room to mount the slave further outboard or forwards as it will hit the shorty headers /downpipes. Space is very tight, hence this cranky set-up.

The simplest (but expensive) option would be to fit a modern hydraulic throw out bearing inside BUT can't find one that fits the 1.438" diameter of the T18's snout. ANY IDEAS there please?
Novak conversions keep coming up in my search for T18 hydraulic conversions so I have emailed them tonight and will keep you posted on their reply in due course. and I'll probably start some other thread / questions..

IN the meantime we re-assembled everything as it used to be with a new clutch and the new slave cylinder, re-installed it back under the truck, bled the system, and still can't disengage the clutch because for some reason we can't get enough movement in the slave cylinder..... THE QUEST FOR A SIMPLE CONVERSION CONTINUES..............