Which is better, hydraulic clutch or mechanical clutch linkage? I'm putting a T5 in my 1986 Camaro and was wondering which was best. After looking at that cheesy *** plastic GM crap I wasn't too impressed. And was thinking maybe mechanical would be the way to go. Thanks.

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1986 SC Camaro
Mods: Threw 2.8 in garbage, put in rebuilt
350 .060 over, XE268H Comp cam, Edlebrock
Performer Intake and Edlebrock 600 CFM Carb,
Pete Jackson noisy GearDrive (which sounded
cool for about 5 minutes, now I'm sick of it)
Rebuilt TH350, 3.42 Rear Gears. LCA RLB's.
B&M Mega Shifter.
Soon to be T5 YES!!!

 

Personally I prefer hydraulic for the smooth engagement. Pedal pressure I've seen has been less for hydraulic with high-grip clutches too.

 

I put a hydraulic setup in my '83 that origionally came with the mechanical. I've seen guys in the A-sedan crowd say both. (that's American Sedan SCCA Club racing) The reason I switched out was because I kept breaking the ball-stud on my mechanical setup. I don't know the exact reason (motor mounts...?) but something was causing it to bind and break the outboard pivot stud. I like my hydraulic setup...NOW. You've gotta make sure you get it in there and aligned PERFECTLY. make sure the pushrod is concentric with the master cylinder bore. It's gotta be or it WILL destroy the master cylinder and leak. I know from repeated experience

an alternative would be to use the stock master cylinder and get a hydraulic throwout bearing at the slave end. I think a lot of the problems with the hydraulic setup is due to the slave cylinder hanging out there where heat and rocks and other crash debris can affect it (again, aluding to A-sedan). With a hydraulic thowout slave, you eliminate this...

HTH

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Clem
SCCA TransAm Series Race Mechanic/CrewChief
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1983 Z28 with LG4, 5 speed, and (unfortunately) T-tops
1983 Z28, NO T-tops, (unfortunately) Auto Transmission (hopefully not for long)