Here's my G-body manual trans hydraulic setup...Lots of pics

[dragracr]

I'm a new guy here, I've done a lot of reading but have not posted until now. I put a stick setup into my mid 10 second street strip Monte Carlo about 5 years ago and had a heck of a time doing it with the Hooker headers I had at the time. I ended up doing a master cylinder/push style slave cylinder setup. There seems to be a lot of people with questions about the G-body manual trans swap so I figured I would post what I have done and maybe help someone else out. Oddly enough I am actually in the process of changing over to a mechanical linkage setup right now since I have changed to Hedman Hustler headers that allow linkage. The car has a Dart blocked 408sbc with a Jerico 4 speed. I backhalved it years ago with a S&W Racecars ladder bar backhalf kit but I retained the factory floor and wheel tubs and run a 9x30 tire. I started the swap by buying a bellhousing kit from Forte's parts connection..here is the link- http://www.fortesparts.com/product_info.php?products_id=207
It comes with a billet fork, push style slave cylinder and a block welded to the side of the bellhousing(Lakewood 15000) to mount the slave cylinder on. I then purchased a 3/4 bore wilwood master cylinder and fabbed a mounting plate out of 1/4 aluminum to mount the master cylinder as high as I could and as close to the brake master cylinder as possible. I had to weld a couple of half washers to the pedal mount so the Wilwood cylinder had a good solid mounting surface. It should also be noted that I have a manual brake master cylinder which made everything much easier for me. A guy I knew had a clutch pedal from his Malibu and he gave it to me. I mounted the Wilwood rod as high as I could on the pedal but was limited by how high I could mount the master cylinder, I'm about an inch or so below the original hole. I could have used a little more leverage but it worked out ok. I made a pair of pedal stops to keep it were it needs to be and I found a Neutral safety switch at my local parts store that works well with the factory mount(I think the original G-body switch is not made anymore). I have the part number for it at work and I'll have to add it later. It has 2 switches in it, one for neutrel safety(cuts power with pedal up) and another that cuts power when the pedal is down(could be used with nitrous..cuts power to nitrous system during a shift). Overall it has worked well for me. I'm sure I've left a few things out feel free to ask any questions. Here is some video's and a ton of pictures.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbAVzw_NsJI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDvQipkfS7E

 

[malibuj]

Re: Here's my G-body manual trans hydraulic setup...Lots of

Very nice lookin car....
And awesome vids... cool.gif

 

[James Bond]

Re: Here's my G-body manual trans hydraulic setup...Lots of

If I read that correctly, you're switching to a mechanical linkage? I have a mech linkage in my car and your hyd stuff looks much nicer. I have the hustler headers, maybe the same ones, they're about 10 hrs old, 1 3/4 tubes. Why are you switching?

 

[DOUG213XRJ]

Re: Here's my G-body manual trans hydraulic setup...Lots of

Love the Monte Carlo. Doug

 

[Tony_SS]

Re: Here's my G-body manual trans hydraulic setup...Lots of

You know I like it!

 

[dragracr]

Re: Here's my G-body manual trans hydraulic setup...Lots of

Thanks for the compliments. It has been a good setup but the mechanical setup will give me better adjustability and more throw. I have been running a Ram single disk sintered iron adjustable clutch and I've always felt the hydraulic setup has not been as precise as I would have liked it to be. This winter I purchased a Mcleod Soft-Lok clutch setup with counterweight and they recommend .300 clearance from the throw out bearing to the pressure plate fingers when the pedal is up. I think the hydraulic setup lacks the travel I need. The billet fork is also thicker(very close to pressure plate) in the pivot ball area and may have clearance issues with the Soft-Lok PP. I had to clearance it a bit with the Ram PP and the Soft-Lok is a little taller overall. Adusting the air gap will be easier also. I guess I mainly just want to have a direct mechanical link to the clutch. There is a local stickshift racing organization that I'd like to join one day and they require mechanical linkage, so its also a little preparation for the future...

 

[James Bond]

Re: Here's my G-body manual trans hydraulic setup...Lots of

the mech does have great adjustability. i run a ram iron setup by hyatt and i've had a "too little throw out clearance" experience. it caused a top end slip. easy to diagnose though. from your vid it looks as though your car works great off the line and down the track. why the change to a soft loc with c'wieghts? do you use the clutch to shift? what rpm?

 

[James Bond]

Re: Here's my G-body manual trans hydraulic setup...Lots of

just watched your vid again. your cars works good. what times do you run and what gear?

 

[dragracr]

Re: Here's my G-body manual trans hydraulic setup...Lots of

My Soft-Lok setup is actually on its way to me from Tim Hyatt. For the past 4 years I have run a Ram 800 lb base pressure plate with an aluminum flywheel. I wasn't real happy with Rams customer service or advice. I had been running it down at the 800 lb base and still had traction issues on an average track. You can hear the slicks bark on every gear change on the outside video posted above with the exhaust on. That night just had exceptional traction and was able to hold me...The only reason the slicks barked on the launch is because the clutch was not slipping at all and something had to give. The car does work well but only when the track is at its best. My clutch was just too aggressive. I wanted to work with a lower base pressure and some counterweight so I bought a nearly new Soft-Lok pressure plate(200 lb base with cw). I have heard nothing but good things about Hyatt Racing Service so I sent it off to him along with my flywheel for a rebuild/checkup. I'm glad I now have a clutch guy I can work with to help me get things dialed in or help me troubleshoot any issues. I am also going to add either a data logger or a 2 channel Autometer Ultimate II tach so I can analyze the clutch slippage.
I shift at 7200rpm and normally just blip the throttle as I am pulling on the shifter and it goes easlily into the next gear, so I do shift clutchless but I give it a little interuption in power..although you'd never know watching at the track. I run a Hurst Pro-billet H pattern shifter. I once broke the shifter during a true full power clutchless shift, one of the arms off that hangs out of the bottom of the shifter snapped in half. True clutchless shifts are best left to Long inline shifters with the Jerico. I run in the 10.50's at 128 on a normal night with a best of 10.39. Rear gear is a 5.14 with a 3.04 1st gear in the trans.

 

[James Bond]

Re: Here's my G-body manual trans hydraulic setup...Lots of

I've got an inline shifter on mine. Im surprised to hear that you use an h pattern. I'm thinking about going back to the h. My 5spd is a pain to find 3rd when just cruising around. I dont lift on shifts even while spraying so im a little nervous about missing a gear with the h. What rear shocks do you have?

Oh, yeah hyatt sets them up great. I picked up a bit with his settings.