Hydraulic release bearing conversion on a 71 B-Body

[Wookie316]

Hi guys
I have converted my 71 Charger to a TKO 600 and Hydraulic release bearing. The kit came from American Powertrain and the way it is designed only gives me about a 2.5-1 mechanical advantage. The pedal effort was and is terrible at this ratio. We swapped out the 3/4" slave to a 5/8" slave cylinder. This has made the car at least drivable, but pedal effort is still much heavier that I'd like it to be.
For those who have done conversions (especially B-Bodies), can you supply photos of your installs or kits you have used that work better? It appears I have no room to go up without serious modification the way this kit is designed, but if something was on the market that is a better set up, PLEASE point me in the right direction! I would love to get a 4-1 or 5-1 mechanical advantage so I don't have to have a leg like Hercules to drive this thing! Thx so much for the help and input in advance!

[John_Kunkel]

What pressure plate? Diaphragm or B&B?

[Wookie316]

Diaphragm. McLeod P/N#360709.

[John_Kunkel]

With a diaphragm clutch you should have little pedal effort...I think the pedal ratio is your problem.

[Wookie316]

Well, I decided to do a little research on the net and tackle the issue myself. First it is amazing what you find some people will do when you get into something you yourself do not work on. I must say I am not impressed with the quality of workmanship that was done. Wires running through linkage, firewall looks like swiss cheese and the bracket that holds the cylinder was only holding on the top 2 bolts because there was no metal left on the bottom. Not to mention that the coupling nut was not locked with jam nuts so it could spin freely an possibly fall apart! As well the cylinder block was offset and not square to the pedal travel. So I had to scratch my head for a bit on how to fix the problem? The pedal ratio as it stood was a pitiful 1.8-1. The recommend somewhere between 4-1 & 6-1. The photo will show I could drill high enough to get 6-1, but the link would hit the clutch pedal bracket and that was going to get into some serious mods, so I settled for a tad lower at 4.7-1.
Wires and D/S vent cable run through the clutch pedals. Not impressed!




My swiss cheese firewall.



So after some thought, I had my local machine shop with their fancy water jet machine cut me a plate using the steering column holes for support which strengthened everything up. I just had to fab up a card board template. As well I notched the top corner of the cylinder block so it clears the column bracket on the firewall.



First test fit on the linkage shows that I had to use bolts with slimmer heads on them. Otherwise the clutch and the brake hit each other.



I spent 3 hours re-wiring and routing wires over clutch and brake bracket. Frustrating, but well worth the time and effort. As well I moved the D/S vent cable and ran it through a hole in the clutch/brake bracket above pedals. This way it lined up perfect with the pivot on the vent. These details shouldn't be overlooked on build as you want to make things as safe and reliable as possible.



After adding and subtracting washers to get my spacing correct. My travel is full through complete clutch pedal movement. The rod clears fine on both sides and the new bolts on the clutch eye and brake have a good 1/4" space between them now.



Topped off the cylinder mount with round allen head screws, so there is no contact anywhere on the rod. I also put jam nuts at the end of the eye and both ends of the coupling link. Much safer now!



Adjusted brake light switch and tied wires up nice. Now that is all you see for wires.



Just waiting on my flywheel and new RST McLeod clutch to get it all back together and feel that nice light clutch pedal my car deserves.
So aside from frustration that the job was not done correct the first time, I must say I am pleased so far with the setup now. We'll see if it works as good as it looks soon!