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    Results 1 to 20 of 21
    1. #1
      Join Date
      Oct 2008
      Location
      Toronto, Canada
      Posts
      111

      Hydraulic clutch pedal needing adjustment.

      Installed a new LS engine along and a new TKX transmission from of Bowler, the hydraulics are the Mcleod pedal setup for 69 Camaro and bearing from Ram.
      Shimmed to .150" bearing clearance, problem is I'm having a hard time getting into gears especially reverse, grinding a bit and it seems the clutch grabs near the floor not like the mechanical old one about half way. I'm new to hydraulic clutches, maybe in need of adjustment, wondering if the rod end on the pedal has to be shortened or the threaded rod needs to be pushed into the cylinder. Was bleed, have pedal pressure just near the floor.
      Anyone with some input would be appreciated? Craig? Otherwise Mcleod gets a call from me this week.
      https://www.mcleodracing.com/conversion-kits-chevy/p90
      https://ramclutches.com/product/78131/

    2. #2
      Join Date
      Oct 2011
      Posts
      696
      I have the McLeod kit for my 69 Camaro, the only thing I can say is your not supposed to preload the McLeod master because it’ll start to leak. I preloaded mine to try to take out slack in the peddle but you need a little slack about 1/8” or so before the rod starts to push on the master.

    3. #3
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Ontario, Canada
      Posts
      2,313
      Country Flag: Canada
      I have the McLeod pedal setup in my Nova with a GM spec LUK bearing slave. I have as much slack as possible adjusted out out of the master and still find that clutch engagement is closer to the floor than I would like.
      McLeod's pedal and master kit comes with a 3/4" master while GM F-bodies use a 13/16" master. I suspect that is where our problems stem from.
      I hope to change over to the bigger master cylinder next summer.

      Ken
      If there is a hard way to do something, I'll find it!
      My other car is a Vega.

    4. #4
      Join Date
      Oct 2008
      Location
      Toronto, Canada
      Posts
      111
      Guys, thanks for both responding. I had a difficult time setting the piston preload up in the first place. The instructions are pretty vague and you have to feel tension while screwing the adjustment rod. After a call to Mcleod they did mention that there shouldn't be any preload........Brian used the wording like a loose bolt so I'll allow a bit of slack on the piston preload and hope it resolves things. He also mentioned that TKX's are sometimes difficult to get into reverse and told me to go into 4th before reverse to see if that helps.
      Time to tweak things and re-bleed if necessary, see if it makes any difference. Wanna take it out for a drive that the weathers still decent.

    5. #5
      Join Date
      Apr 2001
      Location
      The City of Fountains
      Posts
      15,971
      Country Flag: United States
      What size MC are you using? and how much stroke does the MC have?

      Andrew
      1970 GTO Version 3.0
      1967 Cougar build
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      Dr. EFI
      I deliver what EFI promises.
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      Please get in touch if I can be of service.

      "You were the gun, your voice was the trigger, your bravery was the barrel, your eyes were the bullets." ~ Her

    6. #6
      Join Date
      Oct 2008
      Location
      Toronto, Canada
      Posts
      111
      Quote Originally Posted by andrewb70 View Post
      What size MC are you using? and how much stroke does the MC have?

      Andrew
      Master size is 3/4" diameter and I believe the stroke is 1". Its the Mcleod kit made for 1 Gen Camaro's, link is in my 1st post.

    7. #7
      Join Date
      Oct 2008
      Location
      Toronto, Canada
      Posts
      111
      Happy to report that after some adjustments on the threaded rod to make sure the master wasn't preloaded and given a little bit of slack(Joeko23) I went through the gears in neutral and no grinding in all the gears. Still grabbing near the floor but I can live with that.
      The true test will be when I take it out tomorrow for the maiden voyage.
      Here's a little clip of when I took it out of the garage today.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frXtdwXsweY

    8. #8
      Join Date
      Oct 2011
      Posts
      696
      Camaro, looks great! Glad it worked out.

    9. #9
      Join Date
      Oct 2008
      Location
      Toronto, Canada
      Posts
      111
      Quote Originally Posted by joeko23 View Post
      Camaro, looks great! Glad it worked out.
      Thanks, still gonna try and tweak the master pushrod wherever I can get it in the best possible position come spring time, too cold here now to work on the car in a non-heated garage. Gonna send you a PM, I think you put in BMW rear seat in your car, I don't like the plain jane look of the factory one.

    10. #10
      Join Date
      Oct 2008
      Location
      Toronto, Canada
      Posts
      111
      Was a nice day yesterday so I decided to pull the car out of the garage to tidy up some wiring and be able to fully open the doors. At one point I started to smell something thinking some wires were getting fried. Turned the car off heard some hissing then noticed some fluid pooling on the drivers side mat.

      Name:  Oil of drivers floor.jpg
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      As I jump to conclusions thinking its the clutch master...............WTF. Then I notice that the fluid is around the driver gas pedal again I'm thinking the master sprung a leak and its going sideways!!!

      Then I take a closer look with my light and its my braided PTFE oil line going to my mechanical gauge that's leaking under the dash. Glad its only that and not the master. Whew!
      I realize down the road eventually I'll have to replace just not now on this fresh build. Rant over! Now we return to our regular scheduled program.

    11. #11
      Join Date
      Jul 2018
      Posts
      433
      Red Roberts AKA: Drivelinecomponents sells an accumulator that supposedly lets you make the adjustments to the system. I have one on mine but have not completed the build yet so no first hand experience other than purchase and install.
      https://redrobertsinc.com/?page_id=228

    12. #12
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Ontario, Canada
      Posts
      2,313
      Country Flag: Canada
      Quote Originally Posted by Kenova View Post
      I have the McLeod pedal setup in my Nova with a GM spec LUK bearing slave. I have as much slack as possible adjusted out out of the master and still find that clutch engagement is closer to the floor than I would like.
      McLeod's pedal and master kit comes with a 3/4" master while GM F-bodies use a 13/16" master. I suspect that is where our problems stem from.
      I hope to change over to the bigger master cylinder next summer.

      Ken
      UPDATE:
      I replaced the master cylinder that came with the pedal kit with a 13/16" cylinder for a Camaro.
      I now have clutch engagement in the upper half of pedal travel with no noticeable increase in pedal effort. The driving experience is much better now. I didn't realize how irritating the low pedal engagement was.

      If doing a hydraulic clutch conversion I would recommend finding a kit with the 13/16" master cylinder.

      Ken
      If there is a hard way to do something, I'll find it!
      My other car is a Vega.

    13. #13
      Join Date
      Aug 2022
      Location
      San Carlos, Ca.
      Posts
      20
      Country Flag: United States
      I just read this thread while I am waiting for my TKX kit with mcleod hydraulic system parts to be shipped. My kit has the 1434002-firewall kit, hope I don't have an issue. My theory is I would rather have the clutch engage sooner off the floor rather than higher up but that's just me.

    14. #14
      Join Date
      Feb 2022
      Posts
      30
      I just purchased a '69 Firebird,Fresh build.
      LS2/T-56 with a Mcloed pedal MC setup running through a Wildwood block.
      When I test drove the car we were barely able to get the Hurst shifter into reverse.
      Also hard to shift through the gears once the car is rolling.
      The Mcloed clutch engages about 1/2" off the floor.
      The Firebird is a Pro built car from a Shop in Alaska that has done many LS swaps.

      I also own a '69 Chevelle BBC Stroker with a Keisler prepped TKO 600.
      When we recently rebuilt the BBC we switched from a Spec clutch setup to a Ram unit.
      I got Tech assistance from Silver Sport transmission who sold me a new TOB and advised to remove the 1/4" spacer plate supplied by Keisler.
      We also had to extend the adjustment rod under the dash to get enough throw to engage the TOB fully.

      Is the issue with the Firebird likely a linkage issue like the Chevelle,or possibly a hydraulics/MC problem?

      The Firebird is not currently in my possession, transport is delivering it tomorrow.
      I REALLY don't want to pull the trans and start over with TOB/clutch measurements.
      Hoping this is an easy fix,the car is really nice and I got a smokin' deal!

    15. #15
      Join Date
      Oct 2008
      Location
      Toronto, Canada
      Posts
      111
      Harleydave, first off the Mcleod setup that I used was specifically setup for a 1st gen Camaro, don't know if the Firebird pedal configuration is exactly the same. What I found was that it is imperative to make sure the pushrod alignment is dead on otherwise you will side load the piston which will eventually leak. Make sure the supplied parts are in the correct order as Mcleod mentions in their instructions. Check out post #4 for pushrod slack.
      Here is the video I referred to for bleeding the master.
      https://www.mcleodracing.com/video-g...bearing-/vgk10

      The hydraulic bearing air gap needs to be in the range of .150-.200" check with your clutch supplier that you used for what they recommend. Bellhousing alignment needs to be checked and offset dowel pins need to be used if not within recommended spec. Very important to check parallelism 1st then concentricity.
      https://www.tremec.com/faqs.php
      Go to the 'D' performance heading, possible reasons for performance issues, some good overall info on the main link for oil, etc. as well.

      Since my original posting and some accumulated miles I'm happy with the settlement, the pedal engagement is at about a inch down once pressed.

    16. #16
      Join Date
      Feb 2022
      Posts
      30
      Thanks for the response.
      I have the rear of the car up on jack stands and as I suspected the rear wheels are under power if the car is in gear with the engine running even with the clutch pedal to the floor.
      I adjusted the heim joint attached to the pedal assembly to try to get more “throw” to the TOB.
      While this may have helped getting the shifter into gear the rear tires are still turning with the clutch depressed.
      I also seem to be leaking a small amount of hydraulic fluid from master cylinder now.


      I want to try to bleed the system,but don’t see a bleed line/valve between the master cylinder and TOB??

    17. #17
      Join Date
      Oct 2008
      Location
      Toronto, Canada
      Posts
      111
      Here is the instructions from Mcleod on the order of installation, check for the order of the supplied hardware, #5.
      https://www.mcleodracing.com/conversion-kits-chevy/p90
      Hit instructions, go to 67-69 Camaro.

      I attached a pic of my trans before it went onto bellhousing, you can see shims in place and bleed line on top. Check with the shop who did the work?
      Name:  thumbnail_IMG_2930.jpg
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    18. #18
      Join Date
      Feb 2022
      Posts
      30
      McLeod link doesn't work??
      My setup does NOT have a separate bleed line like yours??
      Braided line goes straight from the MC and threads into the T-56.



    19. #19
      Join Date
      Oct 2008
      Location
      Toronto, Canada
      Posts
      111
      Link works just give it time to load up, then scroll down a bit to topic- instructions.
      When you test drove the car and it wasn't functioning properly did they do anything to fix the issues? You should contact the shop in Alaska to get answers, I can only help so much from this end of the keyboard.

    20. #20
      Join Date
      Feb 2022
      Posts
      30
      Thanks for your help.
      I will contact the builder/McLeod Monday.
      I was hoping it was a easy adjustment and I could figure it out myself.

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