I suppose it is fair to say that a significant number of clutch failures are attributible to bad hydrolics including masters', slaves and burnt hydro lines, air in the system, etc.

Are there any thoughts of producing an aftermarket setup that uses a spring-loaded cable to engage the clutch (e.g., a dry not wet clutch)?

This could be "fabbed-up" from a steel bell housing and some other low-tech stuff.

If I were in the after-market business, I would persue this idea and make a killing!

 

I would love for something like this to come out.

 

can just picture my clutch leg ballooning in size due to the extra workout a mechanical clutch will give... heh

 

The mechanical clutch (centerforce DF) in my truck takes less pedal effort than the hydraulic clutch in my camaro (spec 3). It's more the clutch itself that determines pedal effort than the style of linkage to disengage it.

I'd venture to say a very large number of people would make the switch from hydraulic to cable if it were made available, myself included. I'm kinda surprised nobody has produced this yet.

 

True about pedal pressure. I wanna say its really the pressure plate fingers that determine just how hard the pedal is gonna be.

 

There's gotta be someone out there that can make this happen. come on capitalism.....

 

Bringing this back from the dead.....

How can we convert it to a non-hydraulic setup to a cable setup like Ford's have? It seems to be a less complicated setup.

Andy

 

Aren't the older T56's mechanical? 97 and down to 93?

 

Searching around on google.......

I found this made by Quick Time Performance:
RM-6036 - Chevy LS-1 Bellhousing/Richmond Style Transmission - Available 12-15-07 NEW!

SFI Certified @ 6.1

* Height = 6.290
* Trans. Bore Ø = 4.687
* Engine = Chevy LS-1
* Trans. = Richmond, Saginaw, Muncie, Bert, Brinn
* Clutch Ø = 10.5"
* Flywheel = 168 tooth
* Weight = 20#
* Stock Shifter fork & throwout bearing
* Passed ALL SFI testing
* Pivot ball, full engine plate included


It appears this uses an adapter plate for the LS-1 engine, and is a bellhousing that uses a "shifter fork and throwout bearing". Could this mean that a Ford type of mechanical clutch disengagement would work as long as we could convert our pedal from "push" to "pull" ??????

Andy

 

Well lucky for us LT1 guys, we are already a pull style clutch!

 

You guys are cracking me up. How are you going to get from the pedal to the throw-out bearing? Fords use a cable quadrant assembly that converts the pushing motion of the clutch pedal to a pulling motion of the cable. Ford clutch forks pivot on the passenger side of the bellhousing compared to the driver's side on a typical, old school Chevrolet bellhousing. So when the cable pulls on the fork the throwout bearing pushes on the clutch spring fingers.

I personally don't understand why so many people have issues with the hydraulics. Install, bleed, forget about it.

Andrew

 

Nooooooo

 

No, it's still hydraulic, but the slave actuator is on the outside of the transmission instead of inside the bellhousing like our POS LS1 setups....

 

Its rarely the parts failing.

Rather its either....

A. Install error- Missing shim, forgetting to put in a new slave.

B. Improper bleeding or further matience (checking fluiding and swapping out dead fluid, no wrapping the clutch line)

C. Driver error- i.e. slipping a racing clutch on the street acting like it should be a stock style clutch.

Having a cable clutch would eliminate alot of head aches but then again, doing the above 3 should eliminate 95% of all issues with these types of setups.

I just did mine yesterday, no issues, but I bought a clutch that acts like a stock feeling unit, but I had to pay for it.

 

It could be done.....

The quadrant could be mated to a clutch pedal assembly and fit in the camaro/firedbird.
If I had the tooling and knew how to weld, I could make one, but I don't

I am about to put an LS2 in my Mustang with a Tremec TKO behind it.

I will let you know if there is any clearance issues with the bellhousing.

Lining up the clutch fork and adjusting it for the correct throw isn't hard at all.

I am more concerned of the depth from the input shaft into the pilot bearing.

 

then there's me (the %5...) that cant keep a slave or tob alive in my stock daily driver. been through three different, new clutches (ls6, centerforce, spec stg 3; to try to solve the problem, not because they were bad), 3 new masters, 5 slaves, and 6 tob's in two years. no problems bleeding it, or needing to be bled over time. the only thing left to look at is the pedal linkage possibly being bent and over extending the master causing the slave to be overpressurized and extending too far, causing the tob to exert too much pressure on the clutch fingers making it fail prematurely.

and as for driver error, i've owned numerous manual trans vehicles, and NEVER had issues with clutches other than regular replacement.

i'd personally love to have a cable clutch. the option to run an aftermarket tob that i know will hold up, less mess, simpler design, not to mention a clutch cable has a better "feel" to it, instead of on/off like the hydraulic fbodies use. maybe i wouldn't consider replacing my built t56 with an auto if i didn't have so many problems with my hydraulics...

hell at $250-300 each time i have to do this (not including the new clutches or master cylinders at this being the 7th time = $1700-2100. then add in three master cylenders at $200 ea = $2300-2700. plus three clutches = $3500-3600. hell, that's a new 9" and a set of bogarts!!! just to keep my daily (lid and cutout) on the road...

hell, i'd pay alot for a cable setup now...

 

I've never had a problem with the hydraulics, just week p.plates.

 

I never had any problems with mine. So I don't know about all the people that seem to have so many problems when with the same exact parts others seem to be perfectly fine.

It would be nice to have a kit out there that gave the option to go with a cable set up though. But, the firewall has to be nice and strong to have the cable pulling on it. With some strong aftermarket clutches in mustangs, the firewall will flex so much you can watch it and this affects dis-engaugement and adjustment. Another thing is with the way our bodys are, is there room for the cable to come beside the bellhousing and have the arm sticking out? Gotta think about the headers being close to the cable sheath.

Then, adjusted wrong(happens quite often) and they can eat clutches, and throwout bearings.

Lastly, and one point of importance. The cable. They stretch with hard driving, and especially with some stiffer clutches, requiring some adjustment here and there. Sometimes the cables just break, out of nowhere, boom, no clutch at all! That can be a royal pita. I had 3 break on me while driving and know of numerous others who it happens to.

Some guys complain about pedal effort with our hydraulic set-ups. I just laugh. You guys haven't felt pedal effort til you feel a badass clutch with a cable set up. My left leg would get sore if I got stuck in a traffic jam due to a wreck or something. It will push you back in the seat when you push it in. At the power level of the majority of the ls1s and the weight of the cars, the clutches needed I'm sure would have a decent amount of pedal effort.

IMO, the hydraulics are great!

 

I thought I read that the folks over at T56rebuilds.com (Joe and Amber) are running a cable clutch in their car.

Might be worth asking them. I know they said they had to have their bellhousing modified to work with the clutch lever.

 

nope...i talked to amber this week about mine, and she was talking to me about the hydraulics in theirs.

and TOB's don't wear out faster with hard driving?

would you consider when the TOB seizes up on the slave cylinder driving down the street, or the slave cylinder loses it's seal sitting at a red light and the car jumps in to the intersection equal to that of a cable breaking? cause both of those have happened to me. so i don't see any down side to using a cable in my situation...i'd gladly adjust the cable on a weekly basis vs having to pull the tranny every 3-7 months to replace the slave and/or TOB...