skongolf

If you get a chance could you post a pic or 2 of the pedal install from underneath? Would love to see what it looks like.

1964SS

iTrader: (1)

Your factory A body clutch pedal works great with the T-56 hydraulic master. All you need is the adapter on the firewall for the clutch master cylinder to bolt to and a tab welded onto your factory pedal to get the correct throw.

jamier2

Well I'm pretty frustrated here. I don't have anything else to put on the car, but can't get going!

I have everything installed except my new rear end and brakes because the order that was estimated to take "2-3 weeks" is now at 11 weeks and still isn't even on its way! I was hoping to get going before winter sets in so I could drive some and that's looking pretty unlikely.

I suppose the plan now will be to just go ahead and do the wiring and vintage air since I'm down anyway. The car starts and runs, but there's some backfiring that I don't like - I'm hoping that is just because the O2 sensors are too close to the end of the exhaust.

jamier2

Under the car or under the dash? Under the car / from the firewall there are just three nuts from the all-thread I used to mount it.

The clutch bolted right in after I made the required hole for the master cylinder. The only issue I have is a very heavy pedal feel - I will have to weld a tab higher on the arm so it is easier to push.

kwhizz

Just found out I can't use the stock manifolds that came with my engine.....How did the Hooker headers fit ???

Ken

jamier2

The hooker headers fit very well. I didn't have to do anything at all other than bolt them up.

jamier2

Been bad about updates. I got the rear end and rear brakes installed. Got the sway bars on both ends. Brakes bled - only had a problem with one flare. Driveshaft from Dynotech (3 1/2" aluminum, 1350 joints) is awesome and in place.

All I have now is to drop the hood back on and take it for an alignment and get my mufflers and x-pipe put back on and I'll be ready to road test!!!

jamier2

Well… I got it back on the ground and was ready to load it on the trailer to get my alignment and such done but hit a snag.

When I let out the pedal it engages extremely high and I found that even with my foot off the pedal it slips. I can't even get it loaded. I really don't know why this would happen. I used OEM LS7 clutch/flywheel/pressure plate and OEM LS throwout bearing. I read one place that if the throwout/slave is overextended it will cause the fingers on the pressure plate to bend and will cause it to slip.

I don't really know what is going on as of now, but I can see I'm going to have to take the trans back out to check into a solution. I hate to buy more parts before I know for sure what is wrong. Everything I have read about throwout bearings is that they are often too "short" and need shimming to get full release, but it seems I have the opposite symptoms.

I haven't gotten much from my searching so far so if anyone has an idea what may be going on or how to find out for sure the problem, I would appreciate any ideas.

jamier2

The trans is a T56 Magnum, brand new aftermarket. Slave is 24264182 OEM for 98-02 LS1 from Tick Performance - I was told this was the one that works most reliably.

Anyone have an idea what happened?

skongolf

If you could post pics of both, that would be great!
Hope you get your clutch situation figured out. Chasing down snags sucks!

74c10

The gauge cluster really looks nice. Sorry to hear about the rear end issues. Car looks great!

jamier2

Thanks. I am very very happy with the gauge cluster. I almost didn't splurge on it but looking back it was a good call.

jamier2

I have a couple of pictures on my camera, will post soon. Got busy with the clutch today and didn't get a chance to upload them.

jamier2

Well I think I know what happened. I had the pushrod for the master adjusted too long. Fixed that and now it holds, but I don't know for sure if it is as it should be. I checked that this afternoon and it was hard tight against the pedal stop so I re-adjusted it and it works much better now.

I am pretty sure I did some damage to the pressure plate by pushing so hard against it, but it is still functional at this point. If I find it doesn't hold enough, I will probably just put a Tick adjustable master and new clutch/plate combo and all that. I definitely need to relocate the clutch pushrod point on the clutch pedal to get the pedal to have a more normal swing to it.

It's on the trailer now to get the exhaust on tomorrow (or alignment, depending on who can get to it first).

jamier2

Well yet another hang up. It's at the shop now and when they set the alignment the wheels just about touch the fenders in front. Not even close to driveable. Can't figure this out. The wheels fit with the factory set up but now that I have this they don't. I have looked at multiple cars with similar suspension (some with the same) using similar wheels.

Mine are 18x8, 0 offset, 4.5" BS. I think another 1/2" BS and they'd be fine. However neither the Ridler 695 or Boss 338 come like that.

It's almost like my lower control arms are sticking out about 1/2" too far - and I only say that because I've read about so many other cars with the same suspension using those wheels without trouble.

Really not wanting to have to buy another set of wheels.

jamier2

Interesting day today. I think I have my wheels sorted out, am waiting to hear back from the vendors to make sure they are actually in stock before I order them. I will probably have to use a small (up to 1/2") spacer in front, but all in all I think it will be good. The new rear wheels will be the same width as my current set, but have about 0.2" less backspace but it looks like I've easily got that to spare.

So today I picked it up after having the exhaust put on. It sounds decent, not obnoxious but maybe not quite as loud as I'd hoped.

Driving home the clutch was acting as usual - since I adjusted the pushrod it engages fully, but at the top of the pedal. At the insurance office I noticed an odd "pop" that was pretty subtle but the pedal went to feeling perfect! It disengaged at about 3/4 of the pedal travel and felt awesome!

However…

From that point on it very quickly went waaaaaaay downhill. The pedal began to feel spongy, like it wasn't bled right. It progressed to needing to pump it once, then twice, then all the way to three times to get the clutch released. The last time the pedal felt like it wasn't connected to anything, just went down (and back up, didn't stick down or anything), but it did not disengage the clutch at all. I ended up stuck in traffic having to coast to a stop in neutral, then kill the engine, put in gear, then start in first to get going again. I had a friend come use his AAA to get it towed home.

I've heard of the line being too close to the exhaust and boiling the fluid, and that could be the problem I guess. I will go try it again tomorrow to see if it seems to have came back. My gut feeling is that it's the clutch master cylinder. I would guess it died because of a few things:

1. I'm pretty sure I've been overdoing the stroke length, even though part of the appeal of the kit I got is that Keisler said the MC has internal stop to protect it from that.

2. Since I used the factory clutch pedal linkage hole to attach my hydraulic pushrod, I know the angle probably wasn't right either.

One thing I don't understand is why it didn't lose fluid? I checked my reservoir and it is still as full as when I finished bleeding the clutch master initially. I thought that it would probably leak out if it died, but I don't know for sure.

It's a little aggravating to be so close to done and hit these snags, but I am still having fun with it. Of course, the day I get stranded in town it would start to snow! Lucky a friend saw me and I was not out in the cold.

JonRagTop

Hang in there man, you'll get it worked out. Remember that it's the journey, once it's done you'll miss the days of trying to overcome these obstacles.

kwhizz

Yep.........What Jonathan said........It took me a year and an accident to find a rear Brake issue in my Impala..........I was shipped pads with the kit that were too thin............I assumed that parts that came with the kit were correct.......LOL......so I never second guessed or focused on them..........Crazy things happen.....


Ken

LongIsland63SS409

iTrader: (22)

Very nice conversion!
Thank you for sharing.


Mike

gagliano7

I would try bleeding again. Those internal slaves can be a bitch to bleed. Did you bench bleed the master cylinder? I had air in mine so I disconnected the line at the master cylinder and covered hole while my buddy pumped pedal to get air out of master cylinder. This way I didn't have to remove master cylinder. Before that pedal would disengage very high now it works perfect.