Clutch Master

So I have been working on my drive train on a very part time basis for a year now (this working for a living thing sure get's in the way of my hobbies). What began as a failed clutch slave cylinder morphed into an excuse to remove the original Muncie M21 (1st and reverse were to high for a 3:1 rear) and swap in a WC T5. This led to the replacement of the pilot bushing, a new flywheel, a new 10.5" LUK clutch, a new aluminum bellhousing (the steel scatter shield dial gauged out of center by 088"), an aftermarket slave cylinder and attachment bracket from Novak Adaptors, and various fabricated brackets and adaptors required to compensate for the T5's natural installed clocked position of 17 degrees (she will bolt up the BH at 12:00 now).

I began to reinstall the T5 but got held up about 5/8" away from the BH, must be a small misalignment between the input shaft and the pilot bushing. To try to resolve this I had hoped to charge and bleed the hydraulics, push the clutch pedal, free the clutch disk and wiggle her home.

No joy. First I could not seem to get all the air out of the system. In addition there are unknown factors at play. My new slave has a 3/4" bore. The master bore is unknown and there is no usable markings on is to identify its bore or make. After a lot of bleeding and pedal pumping I got some movement at the clutch fork but not nearly enough, the pedal was way hard as well. Ultimately the master push rod that connected to the pedal arm bent itself, so that's toast.

This unidentified master is an odd looking thing. It was designed to bolt up to the firewall and angle downward. This was required because of clearance issues with the break booster. Mechanically it looks like a poor system. The attachment point on the clutch pedal travels essentially horizontally while the pushrod from the master approaches it at a rather steep angle.

So here is where I am heading. Wilwood has a reverse mount clutch pedal (pt. #: 340-13574) that accepts one of there 3/4" masters at the top front of the pedal unit (inside the cockpit). This would ensure the correct bore for my slave, eliminate the remote fluid reservoir, eliminate the interference issues, provide a 6:1 advantage which is probably better than my original pedal and should make for a softer pedal.
The unit is like 80. bucks, figure another 80 for their master so it's cheep enough. I would just need to weld up a solid installation bracket and fit it in under the panel.

ANY FEEDBACK ON ALL OF THIS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECEIATED!!

One problem I see is accessing the clutch master to fill it without pulling the dash or being a contortionist.   Wilwood masters usually come with an assortment of fluid tops including one that will connect with a hose to a remote reservoir.  I would look at mounting the reservoir under the hood and running the hose (or a steel line) through the firewall to the MC.

The other thing I see is if the master should leak, you'll have brake (clutch) fluid leaking on your floor and carpet.  You might be able to mount a small catch pan under the MC with a hose running out under the car.  It could even be plastic as long as it is compatible with brake fluid.

Other than mounting it all solidly,  it should work fine.

Mike

I will do both Mike, thanks. As I mentioned, I could not bleed all the air from the system Saturday. The slave and hyd. hose are new and those connections were tight. The old master showed no signs of leaking so I assume it was not sucking air. The hose attaching the master to the remote had questionable attachments. Can air enter the system from that hose? (sort of why I liked the notion of the Wilwood attached master/res. combo).

Yes, air can enter at any connection.  I used small screw clamps on the hoses on the Wilwood masters on my streetrod.  Make sure the fluid top that the hose connects to is seated well and isn't cracked.  There's an O-ring on the MC also.