Hi All, Anyone running a hydraulic clutch setup in a Shoebox (50 Ford)? Current Mustang dual master under car, thinking of moving both to the firewall? Thanks, Steve
Personally I don't like ugly master cylinders on firewalls of vehicles that didn't leave the factory with them. Then on the shoebox that might depend on how often you open the hood out in public and break up the great lines of the shoebox if you have an engine worthy of having the hood open. Your call on the conveinence of having it up where you can reach it though.
In the process of installing a T5, either need to switch to the truck bell with an adapter or find a way to mount the trans directly to the existing bell. Any thoughts on how to do that?
I am still in the process of getting my 51 going. I have ranger pedals and clutch master feeding a Ni$$an pickup slave. It is a 302/t5. Fork moves easily. I know it is not traditional, but I build with what I have and can get cheaply. CN
I'm with you on that. I am wondering if I can machine the original bell to fit the T5, or use a Ford case.
The Mustang T-5 will bolt directly to the stock '49-up Ford/'51-up Merc bell with a 1" adapter from Modern Driveline.
As said, the location of your master cylinders is pretty much up tp you. There are plus and minus with both locations. If you are looking to clean things up, I see a lot of guys using the Mustang clutch cable setup instead of hydraulic. Seems to be simple and reliable. Then you would just have the brake master to potential mount on the firewall. Good luck.
Two problems with the cable. First the cable can be very tiring to push. It takes a lot of pressure to push. Second the shoebox firewall is pretty flimsy. It will flex and would need to be reinforced. The cable is more reliable, is the good side. CN
This is the plate I made up to mount my slave. Bellhousing is from a '55 Chevy. I had it for decades, always thought it was from a truck.
The Mustang cable style clutch works with a quadrant, I can press the clutch pedal with my fingers, it's the easiest clutch I have ever had and it takes very little to reinforce the fire wall, I just used a piece of angle iron with a hole drilled in the center and bolted it in place. This is in our '54 Ford Ranch wagon with a 5 speed transmission. HRP I've added a album that shows how I installed the Mustang clutch cable, I also upgraded to a new cable and a aluminum quadrant. HRP This thread may help if you decide to go that way. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...clutch-when-using-a-t-5-transmission.1227845/
I think you might want to look at a cable clutch set up from something like a 90s Mustang or a 90s Jeep. The pedal assembly should mount with a little adaption and a bracket on the bellhousing. Pretty simple to do and works well.
The Mustang assembly will work but the pedals will need to be extended, compared to the older cars they will mount higher on the firewall, I tried it and didn't like the way the looked, I wanted the assembly to look original. This is the original Fox body mustang assembly this is the mid to late Ford assembly
I know the mustang works on a quadrant. I have had over 10 fox mustangs. The clutches, especially performance, are hard to push. I went to look at your link and it doesn’t work. CN
I think that they may have been different over the years, maybe a couple different types. I have one from a 99 Mustang that appears to be a little different. Perhaps you can measure your pedals and see if the length is the same. Also, the late 80s-90s Jeep Cherokees had some pretty compact assemblies and since they are a taller vehicle the pedals may be longer.. Here are a couple off Facebook. They look longer to me. Prices as low as $25 and up. They are pretty easy to set up compared to some other clutch mechanisms.
Is there a reason why you don't want to used the existing linkage? I made a simple bracket that bolts to an S10 T5 that works well
I have foxbody pedals mounted in my 49 coupe. Fits well. Some might think the pedal box hangs too low but can't see it fro outside the car or from the drivers seat. Clears the merc column I have in mine too.
I robbed the parts from a mustang to convert the clutch pedal in the wagon are over 30 years old and had concerns about the original equipment plastic quadrant, with it's age it may be getting brittle and could break leaving us stilling high and dry on the side of the road, if that happened a rollback is the first phone call because you are not going to drive it home. The part you will need to acquire is the clutch cross shaft from the mustang, they may be available from Ford but I removed it from the same car I got the engine and transmission. This is the original fox body mustang pedals. This is the shaft after removing. Rod sent me this photo of his '56 pedal assembly and it looks pretty much like the '54 Ford, in this case you will want to remove the big spring which is no longer needed. then remove the clutch cross shaft bolt and insert the mustang clutch shaft, you may need a spacer or two on the quadrant side. This photo show's the shaft installed, I believe I cut part of the mustang clutch pedal and welded it to the '54 clutch pedal, I think there is a square shank on the cross over shaft. I ordered the kit from Summit which comes with a aluminum quadrant and a adjustable firewall mount for the clutch. I watched all the video's and it looked simple enough and each one said it only takes about 2 hours, sounds good. I started by jacking the car up and getting the jack stands in place,crawled under the car with a 3/8" socket as recommended to remove the cover for the cable and clutch fork, naturally mine was not 3/8" so I crawled back out and found the correct socket 5/16'' and removed the cover, I managed to get the cable released from the clutch arm and removed the C clip holding the exterior plastic cover to the transmission and fished it out. No photo of this. I then moved to the small screw holding the cable to the firewall, I was also 5/16", guess where the socket was? under the car! I got the cable loose from the quadrant and fished it through the hole on the firewall I then turned my attention to removing the plastic quadrant and it fought me tooth and nail, I had to contort my 6' 4" frame under the steering wheel and probably resembled the famous Chinese acrobats most of you have seen at the Circus at one time or another. After finding all the tools needed to remove the clips and prying off the quadrant spring and the smaller pawl spring all the old parts were removed. The RED circle indicates the piece I was concerned about,with the original equipment Mustang quadrant being made of hard plastic I feared the fingers may break considering the age of the part. I then used anti seize to use on the aluminum adjuster and then installed it in the existing hole in the firewall, it seem the clutch cable outer mount is a little smaller than the new adjustable piece, after I did some file work and testing, I finally got the part to seat. Next I turned my attention to installing the new quadrant, again it wouldn't slide on the shaft, the new piece has 2 holes, the forward hole is the pivot and the rear that originally held the pawl bit the aft hole is off a bit so I clamped the piece down on the drill press and enlarged the hole, crawled back under the steering wheel and slid the quadrant in place. with this side by side you can see the small fork where the cable inside the car attaches. The way the new piece is made and the modifications I made originally I used some spacers and a few washers, I don't want any rattles. This is the end of the cable that attaches to the hook on the quadrant inside the car and black plastic piece of the outer sleeve fit's inside the adjuster. This end of the cable attaches to the clutch fork, the rounded piece attached to the loop on the side of the transmission and is held in place with a ''C'' clip. Side view of how it attaches to the transmission. Cover for the cable. The clutch cable is exactly like the original but with the stock rubber firewall mount removed,that way it can slide into the adjuster. This is the firewall clutch adjuster . Now all that's left is to adjust the cable on the firewall. HRP 1954 Ranch Wagon build
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