I'm getting ready in an attempt to stick a Richmond 5 speed in my '55 and was wondering if anyone has any experience with those floor mount Wilwood pedals and integral master cylinders to a hydraulic throwout bearing. My car has no dash any more because all the engine setback so there's no way to hang a factory style pedal. I've seen several different hydraulic throwout bearings that require no slave cylinder and look really easy to install. I think they're built for the circle track crowd. I'm also looking into a Centerforce dual friction clutch. Any opinions on this combination/setup?
Ask a lot of questions. I'm not sure about the Richmond, but the hydraulic T/O bearing for my Tremec is almost $400, not $150 like the Saginaw and Borg Warner. I ended up going with a slave. I think most of the T/O bearings require the 3/4" master. Good Luck
When I was asking around for input on hydraulic clutches to get ready to put the Muncie in my car, I repeatedly heard/read people saying to stay away from hydraulic throw-outs and to go with a slave cyl/clutch fork combo. Apparently the hyd. TO's are tough to bleed properly, and give headaches to no end. Not to mention they are pricey, like flt-blk said. Do you already have the Richmond? (Didn't Tremec buy out Richmond's tranny manufacturing?) I also found this while looking for parts for my set-up... I already had a bellhousing/fork/slave, but it at least looked interesting... I used a Wilwood master in my car (56 Chevy car pedals), and it seems fine to me, but Dirty2* thinks the pedal is too stiff. It could be that I don't have the proper leverage ratio from the pedal to the master cyl. pushrod, but I needed to set it so that I got full-travel of the m/c piston. * Dirty2 has much more experience/knowledge on this subject than I do... and was very helpful in t-shooting my setup when I first put it together. (Thanks, Danny!!!! )
We've been playing with these for about 3 yrs, using Tilton parts (61-601 bearing and 61-619 collar) You have to improvise a bit but once set up it works great with a 3/4" master cylinder.
I have this setup in my 51 Chevy: It is from TCI and uses a Wilwood 3/4 clutch master. I had planned on using a hyd. t.o. instead of a slave cyl. I ordered a hyd. t.o. and mocked everything up and just didnt like what I saw. The hyd. t.o. is nice because is saves room (no slave cyl or clutch fork). What I didnt like is it had no overtravel protection. If the hyd. t.o. traveled too far, it would come apart. Overall, I just didnt have a lot of confidence in it. I ended up returning it and went to a slave cyl. setup.
The Richmond is not an Overdrive, 5th is 1:1. The Tremec like the old T5 has a 5th gear overdrive, mine is 0.64 and I love it. Colorado. One of the tricks to setting up the Hyd. T/O is a pedal stop so you don't overstroke. with that and proper shim, they work great. If the Tremec one wasn't so expensive I would have one in my car now.
True... just looked it up and it was Borg-Warner they bought, not Richmond... must be the cold medicine I'm on . Hope this isn't hijacking, but, Tyler, with that tall of an OD, what rear gear are you using? Was thinking I might go w/ a Tremec later, but thought the 0.80-something version would be a better OD for my tall 2.73's.
3:45 rear gear with a radial 225/75 -15 tire. 70mph = 2,000 RPM 85mph = 2,300RPM The TKO 500 = 5th 0.62 TKO 600 = 5th 0.64
Cool, thanks! Might hafta look for a rear gear in the mid-3's now.... FWIW my Muncie w/ 2.73's and 225/70-15's 2500 RPM = 73 mph. (Still not bad...) What was the original question??? Oh, yeah:
That's just like my A pickup, it's great on the freeway but sucks at the drag strip. To get back on topicl. My A has a Tilton hanging pedal cluster and master cylinders that I highly recommend. I also use a Willwood puller slave.
I sold quite a few pedal assemblies, master cylinders and hyd. throwouts at my circle track shop. Regarding the bleeding part, the trick is to attach a short braided line with AN fittings to the throwout, run it out through the release arm hole and put the bleeder on the end of the line. Two things have to be watched carefully; one - that you don't over extend the throwout releasing the clutch and blow the thing apart, two - that you keep adequate clearance between the face of the throwout and release fingers of the clutch (.001" wear of the clutch friction material lets the fingers move toward the throwout as much a .006" or so, before long you have an overheated/burned-out throwout) stlouisgasser.....drop me a line if you'd like some pricing on parts; [email protected] Lynn
I have circle track raced for awhile and my experience has been that the hyd. throwout bearings are a little finicky. I had trouble making them last more than two seasons, but I am not the most knowledgeable about them either. Sounds like Winfab is the one to talk to if this is the route you want to go. I personaly love the CNC puller style slave cyl. 3 years and not a single problem yet with it and I'll probably run it again next year. Will however take some fabrication to make it work.
With the dual and triple disc round track clutches I {swag} make a wild ass guess I get about 12 to 16 hundred cycles {35 to 50 races} then have some trouble, but by then I have replaced the disc or the whole unit.{this has a lot to do with who is driving the car} I have never used the hyd to brg to on a single disc 9 to 11 clutch but also take into consideration the strength of the springs on the presure plate. Until you get used to the shims its sort of a bitch to set up. I have gone back to the pull slave units much easier to work . I have had the best luck when you use a good grade of fluid. I like the red line products. I hope this helps....Bobby..
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