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Got an 85 trans am that used to be an automatic, the last owner T5 swapped but used a mechanical clutch. I got the car with no engine or tranny, and I'm having trouble converting to a hydraulic clutch. Mainly, the master cylinder seems to come through the firewall nowhere near the clutch pedal (see pictures) unless I'm missing something? Also, the hydraulic line was melted pretty bad when I got the cylinder sets (traded for my mechanical clutch), does anyone know the pressure in the line? I want to know if I can get away with some stiff fuel injection line.
That looks like the MC is mounted too far toward the gas pedal.
Also looks like you still have the mech clutch pedal. That won't work; the pedal is different for the hyd setup. Gotta change that out.
With the right pedal it might fit better.
I also don't see where you have the 2 braces that you can see in jharrison's photo, that go from the pedal pivot bolt to the bolts that hold in the MC. Those are ESSENTIAL... the firewall will flex so much from the pressure that the clutch won't work. They'll come with the hyd pedal assy when you get that. They'll also show you exactly where the MC needs to be mounted, you may find yourself having to move the holes over.
There's not all that much pressure in that line. Seems like somebody even makes a braided stainless replacement, basically looks like a brake line. The factory LT1 setup uses that kind of line.
Last edited by sofakingdom; Jul 11, 2017 at 05:42 AM.
The support rods that were on all the third gen. hydr. pedals help line things up nicely, in addition to supporting the firewall. The $100 or less a set of pedals will cost you is more than worth it, instead of adding the pedal stud, creating supports, and hoping the master is lined up. It's a free jig, included with the parts you need anyway.
In case you have one, The LT1 line will work if you mod it to allow the roll-pin to work.
Thanks! I'll order the pedals tonight and see how they fit when they come in. I think I'm going to give fuel injection or PS line a try, see how it works. I'm going to probably upgrade the clutch hydraulics some day anyways I just want to get the car moving.
So I got the pedals in. They came out of an 86' Trans Am, 5 speed hydraulic clutch. Here's where it gets strange: I had them sent in by the owner (I previously saw the car once before), and the pedals do not have the curly studs/supports common to all of the hydraulic clutch pedal sets. The car owner insists the car was a factory T5, but the pedals seem to me to be out of a car with a mechanical clutch (hence the lack of supports for the firewall). Is this a correct assumption or is there some other configuration that was available stock? I don't mind rigging up a support for the firewall, but short of the owner of the car swapping these pedals into his car, I can't see how they could have ended up in that 86'.
