Clutch Issue

So i got my hydralic clutch all plumbed up today. Its got a 58 T-bird 1 inch bore MC, and a ? 1 inch bore slave cylinder. My issue is that the clutch pegal is so freekin hard to push in, its undrivable. Theres no way i could slam gears, because it takes so much force to push the pedal in. This is my first time messing with a hydralic setup, so any help is appreciated!

Thanks,
Marty

 

Did you swap anything else out? Is there any play in the clutch fork?

Get a helper to step on the clutch fork while you are looking at it. See if it is binding. Is the pivot point adjustable? Is the rod going to the slave cylinder adjustable?

Throw out some more info when you can.

 

mechanical (pedal) force and hydraulic (mastercylinder) force are interchangeable. after checking for binding as Bullington suggests your choices are to either get a smaller bore master or increase the leverage of your pedal. any aftermarket slave cylinders I have used are 7/8" I find a 3/4" master and a pedal ratio of about 7-1 works well

 

Are you sure what the diameter of your slave cylinder is? My aftermarket slave cylinder has a 3/4" bore. My m/c is a 1" bore. I had the same problem. Even the instructions for the slave cylinder recommends a 3/4" bore m/c. Went to www.brakecylinder.com and had them sleeve my m/c to 3/4".

 

im thinking of increasing the mechanical advantage of my pedal first, and if that doesnt work, ill get the 3/4 bore MC. The binding is probably half of the issue too

 

I set mine up with a 1960's Ford Econoline unit, M/C & slave are factory items, be sure to leave some "play" between clutch arm & adjusting rod inside the slave unit, maybe a half inch.-------------Don

 

Most factory hyd. clutch systems use master cylinders and slave cylinders with equal bore or very close to it. For example some Brit sports cars had 3/4 bores on both, Chevy-GMC p/Us early 60s had 1&1/8 bore masters and 1 or 1&1/16 bore slaves. Chevy LUV P/Us used a 5/8 bore master and a 3/4 slave. Going to a smaller bore master will give a easier pedal but reduced travel at the slave. Many things affect pedal effort ,pedal leverage for starts and a short throwout arm will need less travel to release but with higher pedal effort. And it goes without saying any binding in the mechinism is a no-no. I have seen release bearings bind on the nose of the trans which makes for hard pedal.

 

Can you take some pics of where your slave push rod to clutch arm meets?