I'm having trouble finding a new clutch master cylinder that works. They seem pretty cheesy to me being made out of plastic and having a plastic bushing for the pivot on the pedal. I was wondering if anyone has tried swapping a pick-up clutch master cylinder from that era in. They look very similar in design and look to be all metal except for the hose fitting for the reservoir hose, so maybe they're more rugged and work better. Seems like full-size trucks usually got more heavy duty parts than cars and seem to be engineered more to last. I think GM cars were always built with a certain amount of planned obsolescence in mind starting sometime in the 1970's.

Just an idea I had.

 

I got a metal one from advance Auto parts

 

The pick up MC's had a flange that was perpendicular to the bore. The 3rd gen MC flange is at something like a 45* angle....among other differences.

 

I don't know which Chevy Pick-up's clutch cylinder you are referring to, but the '85 1/2 ton one is angled a bit:

 

Welp? Give'r hell.

Here is a 3rd gen one....

 

If getting that angle is so terribly important you could just shim it with a wedge shaped shim. I think you could make the pick-up master cylinder (and probably the slave cylinder) work if you really wanted to, and then you wouldn't have to deal with the cheesy plastic construction and goofy roll pin fittings of the f-body ones.

 

I have a steel master w a 3an fitting i got from american powertrain. It works awesome and bolted right in.

 

I have and have always had, cheesy plastic construction and goofy roll pin fittings for every master cylinder in all of my cars and yes, even my Chev truck. "Goofy" and "Cheezee" though they might be, there is another thing that they are, and that is: Engineered. They are engineered to work, and that, they do. They work great. I've never had the plastic...de-plasticize, never had a roll pin, un-roll. IDK...they do what they're meant to do.

 

Rumor has it, they de-plasticize and un-roll very frequently!!!!!

so, my reason to use a metal one in part was because thats what was spec'd w my hydra release bearing for my t56. But, my bigger concern was flexibility, or lack there of. My 82 car has a thinner firewall than 84 and up cars. I put a doubler plate and the supports in but i wanted the most supportive setup possible. Ive seen a couple of people w cracks in the firewall at the mounting points w hydro setups. I really didn't want the firewall metal de-metalizing.

 

I had a bad McLeod experience 20+ years ago on theirs.

Never a problem with a plastic one.

I do recommend supporting Tick Performance. They typically offer a larger bore. Ask if they offer the smaller to match what you have.