What hydraulic clutch slave cylinders might have been used by a hot rodder in 1954 or 1955? If I have a 1.0" diameter clutch master cylinder, what diameter slave cylinder would be appropriate for a '53 Cadillac 331 running a '37 LaSalle trans? The original bellhousing still has the original clutch fork installed, so I'm ***uming the pushrod from the slave cylinder actuated that directly. I have a few parts missing for the restoration of my car and I'm trying to make an educated guess which parts were originally used. Thanks! P.S. Here's some photos of my project from back in the day: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=301575
didn't know they were running hyd. clutch setups back that far as first one i had was 60' chevy truck. bet the slave setup was off larger truck, 2 ton + as i have never sen or heard of car application in that era.
A 7/8ths or 15/16 slave is what I would run with that bore MC. Some British cars had hyd. clutchs in that era but as I recall smaller bores. No US cars light trucks used hyd. clutchs untill the late 50s.
This slave cylinder was in a car featured in a magazine in October of 1957: Can anyone identify what kind of slave cylinder that is? Here's the entire article in case anyone is interested... http://www.forgottenfibergl***.com/?p=13195
Hydraulic clutches appeared on foreign cars and big trucks before they started to show up on US-built p***enger cars and light trucks. I've never encountered a hydraulic setup on anything older than the early '60s in American made cars and light trucks. That being said, hot rodders were quick to adapt hydraulic clutch setups from foreign cars to hot rods. I've seen several cars built in the '50s with hydraulic clutches. Usually the decision to use a hydraulic system had a lot to do with the tight confines in vintage ch***is. Very difficult to build a mechanical clutch linkage that works smoothly when there are obstructions that need to occupy the same space, but very easy to route a hydraulic line however you need to. Some of the Chevy/GMC hydraulic setups had the slave cylinder on the p***enger side of the bellhousing. I've had good service with a master and slave from a mid '70s Mazda/Ford Courier pickup on the small block Chevy and T-5 in my '38 Ford pickup. If you want something that looks like it could have been built in the '50s, you wouldn't want the Mazda/Courier MC because of the plastic reservoir. Chevy/GMC and International pickups came out with hydraulic clutches in the early '60s, and these dual MC's (one side for brakes, the other for clutch) immediately became a favorite with hot rodders. There were some systems back then designed for racing applications that could be bought if you had the money, but most people building a car at home on a budget were more likely to find their components at the salvage yard rather than in a catalog.
Yeah, that car in the article was made right hand drive (probably to make it look more foreign), so that is probably why they went to the hydraulic setup. I'm trying to restore my car to as close as original as possible, so plastic stuff and in fact anything later than 1957 would probably be out of the question. I have the original clutch master cylinder and it appears to be a common Willys/Studebaker type, exactly the same as the original brake master cylinder the car also came with. They sat side-by-side in a fabricated custom bracket. If you look at the original build photos of my car in 1955 you can see the brake and clutch master cylinder setup. Both original units have casting dates of 1954. Here is the setup on my car, it doesn't look like the clutch slave cylinder had been installed yet:
Hi I have a similar setup that was built in the late 50's in my 49' Ford Coupe. I have a 57' 283 SBC and there is two 1952-56 Ford F Series MC with 1" Bore on the firewall side by side. One being used as the HC MC. My Clutch Slave is an old Lockheed not sure of the bore but it looks to be damn close to 1" or so. This weekend the slave sprung a major leak and it's almost impossible to find this same one. Everything close that I've come across seems to be from like and MG or some other Euro car and Bus. I hope this helps some. Because it's not helping me locate a replacement. haha
I'd be glad to provide some sympathy if that would help! ;-) Do you have a casting number on the slave cylinder? Can you take the innards from the slave cylinder to someplace like NAPA to see if they can match it up? I'd love to see a picture of the setup, especially installed.
When I had my Tbucket it had a 4sp w/slave cylinder clutch. When the slave went bad I put a early '60s chevy PU clutch/brake master cylinder on it. Got it at NAPA and they found an old slave to match it. Worked great - NAPA has some great old car parts - just have to look for them.
I am using a 61 Dodge pu slave cylinder on my 31A. I used the bellhousing with modification.s to an A833 4spd. overdrive behind my 270 Hemi. I mounted the master cylinder 8" behind the pedal ***y on the ****** crossmeber and run the line over to the slave that mounts on the bellhousing. The complete cltch set up is for the 61 pu. Lee
I am using a 61 Dodge pu slave cylinder on my 31A. I used the bellhousing with modification.s to an A833 4spd. overdrive behind my 270 Hemi. I mounted the master cylinder 8" behind the pedal ***y on the ****** crossmember and run the line over to the slave that mounts on the bellhousing. The complete clutch set up is for the 61 pu. Lee
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