alwelch

Alas, I had total knee replacement and am looking for a slave clutch kit for my 65. Does anyone offer a kit to install a slave cyclinder to assist with the clutch operation? I suppose an alternative may be a different style clutch pressure plate to replace the bent finger style?

Al Welch

Bigger Hammer

Keisler sells them for C2's with their TKO conversions:
http://www.keislerauto.com/store/sho...sp?search=yes#
Should fit a non-TKO car as well.

Bill

66jack

I found this one because i have lower back surgury...am considering trying is...have not put it in tho.
jack

http://www.keislerauto.com/gm/transm...h-link-kit.asp

split63

As usual, Keisler wants quite a premium for their products.

The least expensive way is to find a master cylinder from an existing generic car and adapt it for your use.
There are also more generic versions which may be easier to adapt, such as this one http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku
Wilwood also offers some sort of adapter kit to allow for easy install.

Once you have the master, you will need the slave. Here is a company offering a nice little kit.
http://www.novak-adapt.com/catalog/kit_hcr3.htm

One thing about the internal hydralic slave version.....what if it fails or leaks, you would need to pull the trans to get at it. Hence this external slave option might be the better choice.

alwelch

Thanks for the replies. I looked at both brands. I was confused about the Keisler brands slave actuation. They make it sound like the trow out bearing is the slave. If so those linkage kits must not be necessary and you just run the hose from master to the bearing. Not clear to me.

The summit kit was not clear as to how I would adapt it to my clucth pedal/linkage.

Al

split63

I'm now looking at this for my vehicle too. I have decided to go with the RAM Clutches hydraulic release bearing
Release bearing
This allows the elimination of the clutch fork, the clutch fork pivot adjustment, external linkage, and external slave.
I will combine this with some yet to be determined donor clutch master. Although, I'm currently leaning towards a C4 clutch master or a master from a Camaro. The Camaro Masters are interesting because they seem to form an angle with the firewall that is like that of the existing clutch pedal rod coming through the firewall. I still need to get my hands on the various version from the various years to determine which would fit the best. The weakness of the Camaro master is that it has a remote reservoir, so it will be necessary to mount it somewhere. The Corvette Master does not have this issue, but its angle is wrong.....which may or may not be a problem
With either solution, a custom pedal to master rod will be necessary. That should be fairly easy to make.

UPDATE
After examining the corvette master, I have determined that its mounting flange interfers with the fuse panel on the C2s. So its not going to work. The angle on the camaro cylinder seems to great.
So now I'm looking at this unit:http://www.wilwood.com/Products/006-...SBMC/index.asp
I'm waiting to hear back from Wilwood as to the overall dimensions of their flange.

rj8806

That is right. Our kit does not use an external slave. It is quite simply a reservoir that feeds the master cylinder that actuates a throw out bearing mounted to the front retainer on the TKO.

Richard

rj8806

What tranny are you running? Even though our kit is designed to work with the TKO only, I carry Wilwood master cylinders and have custom mounting blocks, in your case, that will mount correctly to the firewall in the opening for the mechanical pushrod. keep in mind, our master cylinder is a 3/4" bore and a 1.4" pedal pushrod travel. You will need to get a bearing with the same requirements.
Let me know if my master cylinder will help you out.

Richard
Tech Support
Keisler Engineering

alwelch

Richard,

My tranny is the original Muncie 4-speed. It sounds like your kit would not fit that transmission. Is that correct? If it does not fit, have you considered offering a kit for the C2 muncie transmission to convert it to master/slave setup? I always had the clutch bracket set in the quick shift position. Now I am wondering if I reposition it to the longer throw will my knee bend enough or not with my total knee replacement. The slave clutch may be the only way for me to drive it again.

ctjackster

call the Centerforce tech line - they have some thoughts in this area, I think involving a part from a later model Chevy product.

Pop Chevy

I too am looking at a knee replacement. I understood that with proper therapy it would be good to go. However, please keep me posted on your progress. Maybe I was fed a line. I am 53 , how old might you be? My knee was seriously damaged in a motorcycle accident years ago and is getting worse.
I will do some research on the hydraulic issue. I used a Willwood setup in my Nascar stock car (Muncie based trans) and it worked fine. It was with a Ram triple disc, but it's the same basic setup. Worked great, very reliable and simple.

rj8806

We have set aside some time to engineer a kit for the Muncie as well as the A833. The issue with our current kit is the way the slave(hydraulic throw out brg) mounts to the front of the tranny. On the TKO, we actually machine our own front retainer and do away with the factory piece.
RAM makes a bearing setup that will work on Muncies. We have a C2 master cylinders that will work with the RAM bearing. Let me know.

Richard

alwelch

Pop,

My surgery did not go well... I had to have it redone after about 4 months of pain and frozen knee. Second go around is a little better but still in pain. I have arthrofibrosis which causes scare tissue to grow into the joint capsule post surgery.

Al

70vert

Can someone explain to me how a hydralic clutch reduces pedal effort. It seems to me, for a given clutch, it will require so much throw and so much force (work) regardless of the means of activation. The only advantage I can see is the reduction of frictional losses caused by the mechanical linkage, which I would guess is small. I can see where you could reduce throw OR the force but this would increase the force OR the throw, respectively. What am I not considering?

alwelch

Think of those hydraulic jacks that can lift your car or a house with reasonable effort.

Al

70vert

Those jacks do not decrease the amount of work done. What they do is decrease the amount of force required but increases the lenght required. There is no free lunch.

aworks

I hate to tell you but. I have a hydraulic throw out bearing in one of my cars. The pedal effort is no diff. than a stock clutch linkage setup. I did it cause I moved the eng. back. So to make the linkage work would have been a PIA. The action of the clutch is much faster than the stock setup but effort is about the same.

rj8806

Hydraulic actuators will decrease the amount of effort needed to dis-engage the clutch. Typically, you will feel the most difference when using an aftermarket "heavy" clutch. I tell prospective customers that if you are using a "standard" clutch, the benefits of hydraulics will not be as great as those who have alot of horsepower and are using clutchs with a huge amount of clamping force i.e.... Mcleod twin disc etc...
If your looking for a pedal feel of say a Hyundai or the likes, you have to run a standard clutch not meant for vehicles with a ton of power.
Hope this helps.

Richard