Pedal Pressure

[WASP]

Can I have an opinion from the masses in regard to the physical effort required to use a hydraulic clutch in a T5 versus a cable operated system.

Which is more demanding on the good old left leg?

[Bryan Wilson]

I have a Tilton bearing with Hays clutch and Super T10 box.
When I first got the car I thought the clutch pedal was very hard to push in but after a short time I got used to it. Now I don't even notice how firm the clutch is.
Cheers,
Bryan

[stiffy]

Is thats because you cannot feel you leg anymore

[Aussie Mike]

With the right master cylinder size and pedal ratio you can make you vlutch pedal as light as a 4 cylinder car.

It's all about leverage. If you use a smaller master cylinder and a longer throw on the pedal you can move the same ammount of hydraulic fluid and have a light pedal feel.

Try it with the pedal setup you already have and then change the pedal ratio to get the best result. If you can't get enough out of the pedal ratio then look at changing the master cylinder size.

Cheers

[Philm]

HI Richard,
As Mike has mentioned you can taylor the action feel by changing bore sizes and pedal ratio.

I found it hard to change the ratio as things are pretty tight in there so I played arround with the bore sizes.

After 2 slave cylinders and 2 master cylinders I have a pedal that is not to light and just the right travel, I had to consider Karen as well.

The master cylinder is 3/4 and the external slave is 5/8ths.

Thanks

Phil

[WASP]

The left leg has not recovered fully from the January episode. But I am working on it.
I have been told that a mechanical clutch which would be a lot easier to fit in my car because of the huge toyota brake vacumn cylinder just about covers the whole firewall.

I am looking towards mechanical, just worried about how much push is needed in city driving conditions.

I am going to manual over the C10 because I don't want to have to swap out the diff.

[stephen low]

Wasp

I am in the same position as you but was planning to automatically go mechanical for now, though this needs mods to my pedal.

I had been told the std setup isn't too bad, and considering it is straight out of a manual AU, then the setup should be driveable/useable!

Anybody out there got advice on the mechanical systems for us both?

Cheers

[boxhead]

Could you maybe fit a smaller booster such as the ones fitted to the Gemini, I know these units are very small (Have fitted one to an FJ Panel van with commodore V6 engine).
I do believe you will get a lighter pedal with hydraulic than you could with cable, also the hydraulic once setup will require alot less looking after and be a less breakable assy than a cable system.
Your biggest issue with cable will be the under bonnet heat, causing lubrication issues within the cable.

[Aussie Mike]

There is one advantage with a cable not mentioned. You can set up a cable with an ecentric cam in the linkage. This will mean the pedal will be initially quite hard but once you get over the initial push the ecentric kicks in and effectively changes the pedal ratio. This makes the pedal relatively light when pressed all the way in so you aren't straining to keep it pressed.

If you've ever done any archery you will understand how it works. Modern compound bows use cammed pulleys that can give you 50% or more let off. This means you can draw a 55 to 60 pound bow and hold it for a couple of minutes till you are ready to take your shot. Keeping it drawn you are only holding 25 pounds. Do that with a similar recurve bow that's 55 pound at maximum draw and you would pop your pooper valve with the strain.

Just a thought.

Cheers

[jess]

hey guys
check out ba falcon or ford fiesta they have internal master cyl which sit next to the pedal box
cheers
jess

[dbn04]

wasp,
i have the cable setup in mine and its fine , the only issue i had (as boxhead said) was heat , melted 2 cables thats now been sorted with heat shelds and all is good !

[stephen low]

dbn04

Are you able to post any pics of the cable heat shields. These would provide useful info.

Cheers