Hydraulic throttles, let's see 'em

I plan to hook this hydraulic pedal setup in my 55. It came from an early funny car.

Can I see some pics of others setup?

 

What I have:

 

Why hydraulic? More options to mount it?

 

One reason, yes. It's easier to run a line down a tube than build a tricky linkage setup.

The guy I got it from told me he ran it because he liked how it 'snapped' the throttle.

 

I've got a simple and quite stupid question, are they actually hydraulic or are they pneumatic? one would think hydraulic would give smoother response, but since you mentioned "snapped" the throttle it almost sounds like a pneumatic cylinder...I'd love to run one of these in my gasser, but I'd like to know a bit more about them first...thanks

 

AFAIK, it's all hydraulic, but I never took it apart. It works fine.

I haven't used it yet. Just quoting the guy who sold it to me. It seems to be 1:1 ratio.

In theory, being hydraulic, it should give little to no resistance even with stiff springs. So I should be able to crack the throttle as fast as I can flick my foot.

I'm matching this up with an aluminum flywheel, a 9K rev limit, and six shooters, so it should spin up like a crotch rocket.

 

I've thought about building my own setup from some small hydraulic cylinders, but I've always been wary of any type of malfunction sticking the throttle wide open even with stiff springs...or having any kind of leakage because of the springs resulting in the throttle backing off while going down the track...maybe I'll just stick to cable throttle, who knows...

 

seems overcomplicated

 

That'll never work and won't be trad and all the other things I gotta say for you to abandon the idea.

Uh do ya want my address?

 

I ran a couple of different hydraulic throttles in the very early 60's.

They took up more foot room than I thought they should have, plus they were very expensive.

A junkyard 59 Ford throttle pedal, some Heims and 1/4" rod made a much better throttle in my 50 Ford coupe.
Not to mention lots cheaper $$ wise.

The hydraulic throttles were originally for inboard boats, flat-bottoms and the like.
A few guys used them on competition only drag race cars, but like JohnnyX says, no provisions for rectifying a stuck throttle from the drivers seat.

Pain in the ass to get bled as well.

 

I ran an identical setup. You can see it if you look closely. I don't recommend it. Mine got air in it and stopped opening the butterflys all the way. Car slowed down as a result. Also, it never responded to the pedal as quick as a mechanical linkage would have.

 

Thanks Johnny. Mine doesn't need bleeding right now, so I'm not going near the fittings. I'm suprised to hear you say it was slow, that's the opposite of what I was told (by the guy I bought it from -ha). I only paid $50, so I won't be taking it back, and you can't have it Pork..

I'll see how it works sometime in June.

Johnny, that rail is awesome. Can you email all the pics you have? I'll trade back some good shots of my ex-girlfriends

 

As Johnny said, they react slowly most of the time. I ran one in my AA/F coup or a while back in the 60's. I hated it. Engine vibration at idle made it hard to open and then all of a sudden "WHAM",,,wide open. Would scare the shit outta you. Oh, and when it decided to stick.............oooppps

 

I sure would like to purchase your moon hydraulic throttle set up. What do you want for it? I am restoring my Fuller dragster I ran in Australia in 1966 as part of the U.S. Drag Team. It is the final part I need to complete the project. Bob Keith

 

Bob you might look at the date on this thread....by the way mine has a hydralic pedal in it.