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As most of you already know i still have the crappy factory mechanical clutch
linkage in my car and it is starting to fail me. I can't afford a T56 conversion
yet but a hydraulic clutch conversion will put me one step closer to that goal
and keep the car functional till then. After much deliberations with race
buddies and lot's of googling i think i have come up with a good configuration
that fits my budget. I'll be using the Ram LS1 adjustable master cylinder, Ram
hydraulic bearing, Ram bleeder kit, Ram 12" and a 18" -3AN female-female
lines, Earl's -3AN male union and, a Nooks And Tranny T56 master clutch line
hose adapter fitting -3AN. After lot's of searching for a solution to connect
the feed line to the mc without a phracking clamp i came across the adapter
at Nook And Tranny. I'll be running the 18" feed line with the 90 degree end
on the mc, through the firewall and under the carpet then, back out near the
bell housing to avoid getting near the header then to the 12" line. Am using
two lines so i can easily disconnect the 12" line whenever i need to pull the
tranny. So far am $5.51 over budget.This was possible only because i found
the bearing and bleeder kit for $80. I already have the mc ubolt, pedals, new
pedal pads, pedal bushings and, a reservoir. The reservoir is used and looks a
little dingy so i may cop for a new one from Nook and Tranny for $20 or
maybe something billet after market. All in all i think this is a good start that
will also work once i convert to a T56 with only two more additional pieces for
the bearing. Here is a list of parts for those interested, with the most
interesting part 'for me anyway' being the Nook And Tranny adapter. With the
exception of the lines i found all these RAM parts cheaper elsewhere.
P.S. guys i have bitten the bullet and added an AD banner to my websites
in order to start a T56 conversion fund. Work has been REALLY slow and
i really need to do this. It would help me tremendously if you guys could visit
from time to time and click on the ad banner. Help a brother out and visit
a few times a week please.
Well i finally got around to the hydraulic clutch conversion and i am dead
tired. Because of timing i ended up doing it at home on my driveway with the
car on jack stands. I won't do that again. Hydraulic master cylinder and pedals
install went smooth and came out nice. I still had an old empty grommet in
the firewall where some factory wiring went through right under the old
clutch rod hole. The master cylinder fit right in the old clutch rod hole and it
was easy to align once i got the pedals mounted. I left the top pedal mount
bolt in so i could remove the firewall/brake booster bolts while the pedals
where still in place and brake booster out of the way. This made it easy to
align the master cylinder and mark the ubolt holes to drill out. The feed line i
used has a 90 elbow and i ran the line back into the firewall in the old grommet,
under the carpet and out the floorboard right above the clutch fork hole. MY
measurement for the line was perfect as it stuck out of the new hole/grommet
about 6" and using a flare union mated it to the 12" line to the bearing. This
will make it easy to disconnect there when i have to service the tranny next.
So that came out perfect.
Pulling the tranny while laying on the ground on my drive was a B!TCH. I had
to remove the bell housing as well to get the clutch fork out AND to get the
bearing in there as it doesn't clear the hole while installed on the tranny with
the lines on the bearing. Once i got the tranny installed it was easy to bleed
with the bleeder kit/line that i installed on the bearing. Unfortunately my
helper doesn't know anything about cars and had no idea what the pedal
should feel like or what 'push the pedal to the floor' means. So i wasted 30
minutes before i figured i better check the pedal myself. Sure enough i could
just feel the bearing pressing on the pressure plate right at the bottom of the
pedal throw 'the floor'. So i showed my helper the difference by pushing the
pedal past the pressure point. Once i got past that bleeding was easy.
Buttoned it all up and went for a test drive and it shifted well but didn't have
any bite under high torque. I readjusted the master cylinder rod 'AWESOME
MASTER CYLINDER' and went for another test drive and this time i left a
HAIRY burn out down the street... lol
So it appears my theory worked and this was a good idea. The clutch pedal is
WAY smooth and easy on the leg compared to my mechanical pedal. Felt like i
was clutching my boys Mustang. I did run about $25 over budget, right under
$330 for this conversion but damn well worth it and now ready for a 6 speed.
The master cylinder is adjustable so i'll probably tweak on that and get the
pedal hight that feels best for me.
Very cool. I feel your pain about working with a car on jack stands. I had a stud break off on the pass. manifold for the y-pipe trying to fix an exhaust leak. Spent all night trying to get the manifold out only to be stopped by the last bolt at the rear. Gonna have to get a different wrench for it. And about a month ago I had to retap the transmission bolt holes on the rear that connect to the crossmember mount because they were stripped. Oh well, the fun we have with our cars.
wow come on now. i have always worked on all my cars on jack stands. maybe im used to it. i refuse to take it anywhere. great that you got it going.
Indeed i've done almost everything in my driveway but heavy
stuff like the tranny i like to do at my buddies shop where he
has BETTER tools then just my little red toolbox. My friend
Byron with the shop has been really busy and i wanted to get
this done before my son comes to town this weekend. Just to
be clear though, i don't let ANYONE work on my car. I do it all
with my little red toolbox and little help from Byron from time
to time.
With the clutch conversion finished i can now concentrate on doing
a 6 speed conversion. I have made a youtube video along the lines
of 'Save The Pet' type commercials on tv. It's called 'Save The Bird'.
Please take the time to visit the youtube video and 'Like It' in order
for me to try and monetize the video. TIA
Hey Jup, can the hydraulic release barring be used with t5 stock hydraulics to. get rid of the slave cylinder and fork?
Yep. Just keep in mind it is not the same bearing as the T10 bearing or T56 bearing. If i remember correctly Ram makes one for about $200 and Howe makes one for about $150...
That's nice. I wasn't wasn't asking it for a t5 tho. If that barring and t5 hydraulics work with a bw t10. Also would a stick fbody drive shaft with a th400 yoke be a good replacement for a t10 drive shaft?
No it was my mistake. I never assume a t10 because they are so uncommon in a 3rd gen now days. Yea that Ram 78125 or 78125HD will work just fine. The yoke from the th400 works BUT the t10 shafts are longer. If i remember correctly the t10 shaft was about 3-4 inches longer. I'll try and find that information and post it if i can.
P.S. ooh yea you can look up the specs for the th400, check length, check the same for the t10 and find the difference and add that to the length of an auto which i think was 40.8"
Hey Jupiter great write up. Looking at doing this same conversion as I'm not doing the t56 yet but I'm having trouble with the mechanical setup. Did this conversion work with stock clutch? Seems straight forward just want to clear that up. Also I'm pretty sure hawks put a conversion kit up based on this same kind of conversion, but a bit more pricey than just buying all the parts on their own.
I’m doing this conversion due to large 3” header collectors wouldn’t afford me clearance to use the slave cylinder. So I had to notch the craaap outta that mounting boss on the transmission bell housing.
I’ll post more as the time goes on, I’m installing a Ram conversion clutch for my T56 swap.
Plus I want to point my collectors just a little closer to the power train no real reason other than getting the exhaust away from the fuel lines on the driver side and on the passenger side it hits the frame pretty good. This wouldn’t be an issue if I would’ve purchased 2.5” collectors from Stainless works instead of 3”. Not to mention they don’t sell a full system for a 3”.
Last edited by Tombowman89; Oct 23, 2023 at 11:21 PM.
You are only one modification away from the next 20 that will be required for the first one you started. Haha
Stay greasy my business in the front party in the back Motley Crue friends
