idea for hand clutch

[Slag Kustom]

i have been working on this t-bucket and want to run stick. but we all know there is no room for size 12 boots and use 3 pedals. i was thinking of using a brake handle from an old harley on the stick. The cable would run to a master hidden under the car to work the clutch. maybe some kind of a pistol grip shifter so the lever would look like a revers lock out lever. do you think it would look good. the function part is the easy end of it. looks have to be the tuffest part.

[Spedley]

I think its a good idea. Never really thought of that b4. I wanna see it, I think it'd look cool.

[grass hopper]

i was thinking of doing that for the same resones. but i plan on draging my rod so i went with a auto and man i hate it. the only thing that stoped me was having to pull in the clutch handle and shifting the trany at the same time would mean no hands on the wheel. no big deal but on the track it mite no be a safe thing. (for me). if you end up doing it please post up pixs. good luck

[ray]

sounds like a good idea...for YOUR car!

you'll probably have to use a power master to do it, to get some advantage over the clutch.

people should really leave the hand clutches to motorsicickles and hand shifters to cars. why not install a steering tiller? easier to get in and out of the car around a tiller handle!

[Curly]

Uhhh am I missing something here?

Why not put the clutch lever ON the shifter arm? We had to do this for a 'Nam vet and his bike. He had a trike built since he was a double below the knee amputee and wanted tank shift.We made a custom lever that came up next to the side of the tank and put the clutch lever on the end of it. When he shifted he grabbed the shifter and squeezed the clutch lever and either pulled or pushed the entire shifter/clutch lever assemply depending on what gear he was going for. It all moved at the same time. The crazy F***er did some monsterous burnouts and could get the front wheel off the ground between 1-2 & 2-3. It was a 105in stroker motor.

I'd run a mechanical lever (with a cable ) that connected to a bellcrank mechanism that pushed a hydraulic mastercylinder to operate either a slave cylinder or a hydraulic throwout bearing.This way you wouldn't have a lever mastercylinder in the air but it possible to do it that way also. Harleys do use a remote mounted resivoir on some models for their brake systems....look at them also.

Looking for Hydraulic clutch stuff??? I'd go with the stuff that the roundy round boys use...Howe, C-N-C or Wilwood. I'm running the CNC pedals, Howe slave cylinder and a Wilwood m/c and it all goes together just fine and it is easy to hookup.

[Flexicoker]

If you wanted to be reeeealy different you could do a butterfly shifter, shifts and clutches in the same motion... but again you'd probably need a power master to get some leverage.

[old beet]

What about an under dash E-Brake handle?? Would lock for hand off at idle? This idea was stole from speednazi!!!!........OLDBEET

[Bruce Lancaster]

Do some hunting on the history of hand controls, especially from right after WWII--there's a good bit on Google.
Note the drawings for Roosevelt's rig--that's a Model A in the cross section!
There was a boom in hand controls in 1945, and automatics were barely available then. I doubt if there's any modern hardware, since the automatic solves so many problems, but maybe there is. I think there are likely interesting solutions to be found.

http://www.disabilitymuseum.org/search_lib.php?from=kwlist&q=hand_controls

http://www.handicapsinc.com/HCHistory.htm

[Flexicoker]

OR you could do a hand throttle! Alot of offroaders use some sort of bicycle brake lever as a throttle on their shift lever so they can brake and clutch simultaneously. They use a certain lever with an adjuster on it so they can set the engine to a certain RPM and tighten it down... cruise control!

[Hackerbilt]

Now THATS an interesting idea!
How about a twist grip throttle on a column shifter...
or a paddle style throttle behind the wheel?
Maybe a horn ring modified to act as the throttle!

Lots of possibilities to mix and match something here...

[57JoeFoMoPar]

Damn Slag, I think it could work, but you'd be about the only person who could drive the thing! If you didn't want to mount the clutch on the shifter, you could hinge it off of the steering column like a paddle shifter or the clutch in a shifter cart. You could do it hydraulicaly or you could hve a cable linkage. Still sounds like more work than it's worth. I know it's not the same, but what about a full manual valvebody in an automatic?

[Hackerbilt]

Maybe the whole steering wheel itself could be on a slip joint and pull back to act as a throttle...why not?
Sorta like an airplane control yoke.
A DEADMAN'S THROTTLE! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Slag Kustom]

i was speaking of putting the clutch lever on the stick running to a hidden master. paddle lever for the clutch is a good idea.

some of the idea came from a harley trike i had done much the same way for some one in a wheel chair

[Fifty5C-Gas]

only you slag, only you....but the sick part is itll work flawlessly...lol...what a nut.

[SPEEDBARRONS]

the hand clutch works pretty good on mine, but I have alot of leverage, if you put just a clutch handle of a bike, you would get instantaneous carpal tunnel, and all your tendons would snap, btw if your running a gm clutch just get the clutch cable from a 76 monza, its as easy as luring kids to smoke cigarettes

[Spedley]

I think its a cool idea, have a regular shifter, with a clutch lever similar to a motorcycle clutch lever on it (think of a hurst quarterstick) attached to a small master cyl controlling a hydraulic clutch. May even look like an old emergency brake lever.

[Fat Hack]

How did the (Oh gee...I gotta say it...) VOLKSWAGEN deals work?

I had one with the ASS trans (Automatic Stick Shift!), and it was cool to drive! It was a floor shifted three speed manual, but only had two pedals on the floor (gas and brake) and the clutch was operated electrically as soon as you touched the shifter...worked flawlessly, and was the only thing I ever dug about that car!

If VW could engineer it back in the 70s, I'm sure it could be done by clever car guys today!

[Flat Ernie]

Didn't the early/mid-70s Moto-Guzzis or Ducatis have cable operated brake m/c under the tank (clean bars) - you might be able to run one of those for your hydraulic clutch...

Most of the semi-autos/auto-stick I've seen have been on bikes/atvs - Triumph had the slick shift in the late 50s/early 60s - the first little bit of shifter movement pressed the cluch pushrod via a roller. Same concept on Honda ATCs - pretty much. All mechanical there.

There was a bike in The Horse several months ago that had only a 'brake' pedal - it ran two M/Cs, one for the clutch, the other for the brakes. When you pushed down the first bit, only the hydraulic clutch disengaged, if you kept pushing further down, the brakes came on - pretty neat, actually. Yeah, it was suicide shift! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Lotsa neat ways to do stuff like this...

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[Hackerbilt]

That could be very easy to control in a car!
Wouldn't have to do anything wild to gain back your leverage like you would with a hand clutch either.
I can see that working!

Hack...I THINK those old bugs actually had a torque converter as well. The electric clutch was just a disengagement to allow changing gear ranges without grinding. It was an on or off deal...no slipping for take off.
I learned to drive on one of those!

Father was a manager of a car dealership and let me drive the used cars around.
Spent a 1/2 hour out in the back field on the first VW drive, by myself, thinking I had stripped out the tranny...and I obviously DIDN'T own the car!!!
Damn thing wouldn't move!
I was almost physically sick...thought I was gonna have to buy an automatic SUPER beetle...with a CURVED windshield no less!
YUCK!

THEN I took my hand off the gearshift. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif Hahahaha
Dad was up in the window of the dealership laughing his head off at me!

Yeah...the 'ol man set me up GOOD!!!

[Fat Hack]

Yeah, Bill...now that I think about it, my gold Super Beetle would idle in gear at a light without stalling (most times!)...so it had to have some sort of torque converter or fluid coupling to allow for the slippage.

(But...I clearly remember that you could grab the shifter, floor it, then let go and it would chirp the tires and launch, too...kinda cool to drive...too bad it was wasted on such a crappy car!)

Would like to drive a V8 powered car with the same type of deal! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[InjectorTim]

I'm just thinking out loud, but you should take and old metal cap gun and make it the shifter, the trigger could be the clutch, I don't know if it would work, but it would be cool if it did.

[choprods]

I hate to be a spoilsport here -but I think it would be a safety issue more than an aestetics issue...
It would also be about as handy as a paraphlegic contro;;ed motorcycle [in my opinion].
I built a 29 A a couple years ago and it had a tall hum around the trans case-and still had a fourspeed trans..andI DO WEAR A 12W shoe......
My point is it can and SHOULD be with a foot clutch as there is nothing safer or simpler.
Min were short pedals that barely cleared the column[39 ford]and had the stock round pads that Ford made....I seriously had more issue with the accelerator than the other two...had to cut a heel dip in the hump to allow my foot to have a rest so it would clear the other brake pedal...Yes it can be done. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[choprods]

If you Must do this here is a hint for you-
An old friend of mine [deceased now] had a 59 Corvette with a Chrysler Hemi and a GM four speed.
He was injured in a motorcycle crash and crippled.
I worked on his a lot so I know how it worked - He even drag raced it a lot and used a second kid to pull the gears!!!
His was mounted on a pedestal mounted solidly to the floor and frame of that corvette-TO THE RIGHT SIDE OF YOUR RIGHT LEG-
It pivoted at about dashboard level ,and the handle was about 16-18" long.
This actuated acable over a pully which went around a second pully on the frame which in turn pulled the throwout arm rearwards...... the effort was minimul.
it was handle down when engaged and started pulling the clutch at about a level point. it would also LOCK IN A STRAIGHT UP position[neutral].....SO IT WAS ONE HANDED OPERATION WITH RIGHT HAND!
The throttlw was a Harley twist grip and cable on that same handle .
So when you were letting the handle down you simply twisted the throttle to get the car moving-IT WORKED FLAWLESSLY -as I can testify that I never in three years of racing that car won a single time!

[lik2writ]

FDR had all his cars modified after he was afflicted with polio. He liked to drive fast open style cars, all which he had the controls mounted on or near the column. His 1936 Ford Phaeton is a surviving example of this. It still remains at the FDR home & museum in Hyde Park, N.Y. I don't remember what it looks like but I'm sure it had the "right" look especially since he went to great lengths to mask his affliction. If you could find the info or a detailed picture you may be able to draw upon a few things for your own design.
Ralph

[dixiedog]

Okay let me add to this.

A draftsman I use is paralyzed lower back & down and is in a wheel chair (dove off a bridge into a unknown sandbar and broke his back), He drives a 69 Chevelle 396 automatic daily.

He made his own hand controls using the motorcycle lever mounted to a shift rod on the console next to the auto shifter. He pulls the lever back to activate the brakes (via a rod to the pedal) and squeezes the motorcycle lever for the throttle control. He has ran in the 12's with this set up

[krooser]

All the old circl track modifieds around here in the '50's and '60's ran hydraulic hand clutches. The master was mounted on the leftside roll cage door bars. A handle was fab'd out of you choice of round, flat, oblong (choose one) stock. They worked great. This enabled the driver (who sat in the center of the narrowed body) to have the brake on the left side of the bellhousing..not much room in these old cars. This set-up is better than the one my old buddy had on his '57 Chevy..he switched the brake and clutch positions to make left foot braking easier..I drove the car ONCE...ran into about 5 cars before I got outta the pits onto the track...geez!

[willowbilly3]

You will have to run some kind of power assist unless you have paws like Mongo. No way could you squeeze a motorcycle lever to disengage a car clutch. Of course you only need it to start out and after that you can shift without the clutch anyway.