Auto to manual trans conversion?

[Machinos]

Lately I've been missing driving my former car, a slow, loud, way-too-big rusty truck just because it had a manual trans.

My current car is a '55 New Yorker, which was never offered with a manual trans, so I wouldn't be able to simply swap in parts. I'm wondering how complicated the conversion would actually be.

I was thinking about a T-5 or T-56 trans, or failing that an A-833 (same as was in my truck) since it's a lot cheaper...although considering that the early hemi trans adapter alone costs over $600 I'd need a lot of money to even get started anyway. Things I'm wondering are like, is a hydraulic clutch more or less complicated than a conventional clutch, and what can you do if the shifter location is in a bad spot?

I'm not going to be doing this any time soon, I'm just trying to think it through right now.

[Fat Hack]

Check with the roundy-round racers. They have several compact universal hydraulic clutch pedal assemblies available to them that could be incorporated into your older ride with basic fab skills.

Now, hooking up the other end might require the use of a universal 'push' or 'pull' slave cylinder, depending on how it's mounted. A fully hydraulic throwout bearing might be an option with some machine work and carefull parts cross-checking.

For the tranny, an adapter will likely have to be found or made to join your engine to the chosen manual transmission, and it's also likely that crossmember and driveshaft mods will be needed to button it up as well.

It all sounds complicated, but if you attack in a sensible way and solve each problem as it comes, you'll be through it in no time. As they say, "Once begun, you're half done!".

Another option would be an engine and tranny swap. Maybe a 318-360 Mopar with an early 4 speed or a later 5 speed. This would make joining th engine and tranny a bolt-together deal, but would introduce the common challenges of an engine swap. Probably easier in the long run, though.

[53_210]

Custom Rodder did a tech deal about the same kind of thing. It might help you out as to what you need and where you can get parts.

http://www.customrodder.com/tech/0307cr_transformation/

-Derrick

[Machinos]

So can you convert pretty much any standard clutch into a hydraulic clutch?

[Fat Hack]

Yes, you can fab up mounts to use a slave cylinder to operate a clutch fork in custom applications. In a car like yours, space for a set-up like this shouldn't be a problem.