Anyone have any tips on a Hydraulic clutch conversion?
Allen Siekman
As some of you may remember, I have a '51 2R that is running a '51 232
V8 with a T86 OD trans. I have had the truck for some 35 years now and
still continue to drive it nearly every day.
The clutch linkage is bad at best. The clutch shaft on the bell
housing does not line up well with anything (except the shift linkage
as it comes down to the transmission). When the dealer installed the
V8 engine in 1951 for the new owner (a great story that I can tell
later if there is interest) they ran a clutch operating shaft from the
bell housing down to the frame at a downward and rearward angle, ended
it in a standard Studebaker rubber cushioned bushing that was mounted
on an angle and ran a linage arm from the clutch pedal to the bar.
This is not very efficient and I have had to replace the rubber and
brass bushing about every 6-9 months. The pedal force is considerable
and the bushing just does not hold up well.
I had a '53 Commander Coupe for a while that had a 327 Chevy
installed. It was running a stock Studebaker brake master cylinder for
a clutch master and had a bolt on, external slave cylinder. The clutch
pedal was easy to push and very pleasant to drive with.
I would love to eliminate the poor manual linkage once and for all,
and can fabricate brackets and such, but I thought that before I re-
invented the wheel relative to the application of hydraulics, I would
ask if anyone has done it before. As I recall, I need a smaller
diameter master cylinder than the slave cylinder. Anyone have
recommendations on the diameters of both.
Can anyone help? My 62 year-old knee is not as strong as it once was,
and since I plan on driving the truck till I drop dead, I thought a
nice conversion might hold of the eventual switch to an
automatic.......
Wouldn't it be nice if I could just go online and buy a conversion kit
like you can for other brand X vintage trucks?
Thanks in advance for your help.....
Allen
Use allen at ebold dot com if you want to send me an email directly.
Transtar60
Used two identical Master cylinders.
And the slave down on the bellhousing.
--
2R10
2R14
3E38
4E3
4E28
5E13
7E7
8E7
8E12
8E28
etc etc
