Anyone put a sbc in to there buick with a standard clutch? Needing some clutch linkage ideas. Thinking of cutting the pivot ball end off my z bar welding it to buick “zbar shaft” then building a bracket on engine for chevy pivot ball to mount to. Better ideas? Thanks in advance
Ive gone the hydraulic route before, would like to stay with original pedal and a linkage set up. Its all real close, would like to see what others have done
When I put a SBF in my 53, I made an L shaped bracket to pick up two of the bell housing bolts and mounted the pivot ball on the bracket. The Z bar was for the car, so the ch***is end of it was fine.
Just what you said. Make a custom bracket on the engine to locate pivot ball where it needs to be so Buick clutch linkage (equalizer included) stay’s the same.
I've done Z bar changes by either using the bellhousing bolts to locate a bracket for a pivot ball to align, or by making a frame bracket with a ball on that end to align with the pivot ball on the block. Both ways work fine and rarely does the rod angle from the pedal change enough to create an issue.
Setup in second pic , no need for zbar in some cases , just pivot off the block , I used 3/8 cold rolled round bar , bent to shape for linkage , pretty simple actually
I'd look at installing a cable setup like 90s Mustangs employ. Yes, hydraulics are the rage, but look into using a cable and you may find its pretty simple as well as reliable. Buy a used pedal setup to get all the parts and you can either mount hanging pedals or adapt the quadrant to your below floor pedal. Make a bracket for your bellhousing and buy a new cable from Amazon. Firewall clutch adjuster if you use hanging pedals. How easy is that...........
I have never seen conventional rod /lever (mechanical) clutch linkage fail , I have seen cable linkage fail as well as hydraulic linkage fail , might take a bit of extra time to work out the mechanical , but it won't leave you at the side of the road .
Well, I have had mechanical clutch linkage fail a couple of times, but in spite of that I still much prefer it over a cable or hydraulic set up. Easier to repair (at least in my cases), cheaper to repair, and not requiring pulling the trans (hydraulic) or needing aftermarket custom parts (both in many cases). Both of my failures were inadequacies in the OEM design, easily addressed in the repair. Specialized parts to custom build a mechanical linkage are readily available and inexpensive, and raw material (tubing/flat stock/rods) common. Yeah, some skull sweat is required but it's not rocket science...
One failure was identical to what this guy had happen... Technical - 1965 F100 clutch modification? | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com) The only difference was the truck was a few years newer, same linkage design. Basically a wear issue and somewhat common to these trucks, as the rod pivot would wear down until it got too small for the stress, then break. Mileage was well beyond 150K when it broke. The other one was a bit weird. A '64 Comet V8/4-speed, the Z-bar broke, and not how you'd think. The round tubing Ford used to make it was thick enough to weld the levers to, but they machined the ends out to about 1/2 of its actual thickness to allow the pivot bearings to fit inside. The motor end cracked, then split/tore open. A new piece of tubing with a slightly thicker wall, and more importantly, a bigger ID that didn't require machining to allow the bearings to fit was used for replacement. Cut the arms off the old tube, welded 'em to the new tube. Problem solved.
I'd be hunting the pedal ***embly out of a 55 Special with a stick setup. That may take some hunting and probably will cost some coin but avoids a lot of the h***les of trying to cobble something else in that car.
I thought this was a hotrod community where design & fabrication wouldn't be referred to as " cobbling" ? Sounds more like a comment from a restorer .
The Jalopy Journal
