TheSamba.com :: View topic - Hydraulic Clutch conversion in an early bus, anyone done it?

Mon Jul 04, 2011 11:21 am

I have a stretched Type 2 ( roughly 3 feet) and I am looking at my options for a clutch cable set up. The previous owner had used 2 cables and made a funky thing to attch both in the center of the chassis. I was thinking of possibly converting to a hydraulic set up but not sure of the work involved or what products to use. I am open to all suggestions.

Mon Jul 04, 2011 11:38 am

Yes, I did it. Speedway Motors has a purple pull type slave and they also have a clutch master cylinder. I used regular brake line with a braded hose on the rear. You have to make your own slave cylinder mounting bracket but that was easy for me. You also have to make the mounting for the master cylinder, but again it was somewhat easy if you have a welder. Now would be a nice time to convert to a duel brake master cylinder and use a mounting bracket for both. Enlarge the hole in the floor to service all three fluids. I used a Mustang II non power master cylinder ($18).

Mon Jul 04, 2011 1:16 pm

Im thinkin you need to throw up some pictures of your home made clutch hydraulic setup. Ive contemplated this for years. The only thing that doesnt thrill me is having to order a special slave cylinder. If that special slave cylinder takes a shit, your done. You then have to wait for the mail man. Good luck doing that when you are in the middle of nowwhere especially on a trip. Now making a readily available slave work is good.

Mon Jul 04, 2011 1:19 pm

why wont a hydraulic slave for a bug work

Mon Jul 04, 2011 1:36 pm

Uhhh, when did bugs have a hydralic system? Unless your talking about the new car thats supposed to be a beetle.

Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:23 pm

sittin here trying to find a vanagon trans picture. Figures, autohole doesnt have a manual for the vanagon online.

Mon Jul 04, 2011 5:01 pm

Speedway slave $35, clutch M/C $43 some brake line and a flex hose. Total around $120. There are pictures on line of others who have converted to hydraulic and you can see the bracket. Simple and easy with a cut off wheel and welder. Wish I could show you the system I built but the computer crashed (new tower $400), monitor went out three months ago ($150), chair broke ($89) and then the modem quit ($100). Oh, and the Qwest vault lost all my pictures. right now I'm trying to put all the *^%#@ rubber in the doors and windows. This should be simple. Hell, I even got problems with the damn horn button. Yes, pictures would be nice but I'm afraid to pick up the camera nevermind learning Windows 7!

Mon Jul 04, 2011 5:10 pm

^^^^^^I think I need a hug!

Mon Jul 04, 2011 8:03 pm

^^^ virtual hug sent.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=420762

Mon Jul 04, 2011 10:00 pm

The details are on page seven or just click here

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4990939#4990939

Mon Jul 04, 2011 10:30 pm

Wow, I thought the special slave was quite pricey. Cant really beat 35 bucks unless you pick a part wrecking yard it.

Tue Jul 05, 2011 2:16 am

quartermilecamel wrote: Uhhh, when did bugs have a hydralic system? Unless your talking about the new car thats supposed to be a beetle.

no air cooled vw came with a hydraulic clutch but people have been putting them in ghias bugs and sand cars for years

Tue Jul 05, 2011 7:47 am

When I scavenged the Toyota engine for the bus I also took the clutch hydraulics but later discarded it because the slave cylinder was a pull type and did not lend itself to adapting for my situation. Most of the sslave cylinders in the junkyard are pull type. I tried to use the Toyota clutch master cylinder but the stroke did not match the Speedway slave cylinder. Bottom line here is if you get a junkyard system that will work for you, get the entire system so that it matches.

Tue Jul 05, 2011 12:31 pm

toyota engine for a bus? :x

and for what the cost is on cnc slave and master why not buy new and know it works and works well

i would be very upset if i were to get a few hundred miles down the road and have the clutch go out do to a bad seal etc

pay once cry once

ps whats the demand for a hydro clutch my cacle works fine

Tue Jul 05, 2011 12:33 pm

do they sell the master to go with that slave? 35 bucks for the slave. Wondering what the master to go with the slave costs, if they even make one, and if it might be a simpler design than what you had to do. Looks like you put a lot of thought in to yours to get it to work. I like the slave cylinder, just bolt that right on. I was going to make a pivot rod on 2 ball bearings to change the direction of a regular push slave. The down side to that was the tight area to work with all that crap right next to the top engine bolt. Going to be studying your master setup. Thanks for the pics!!

Tue Jul 05, 2011 1:38 pm

A little more input on the links from my build above-some important things to note:

-as of this date, I haven't seen or heard of a good master cylinder for a bus that won't require hacking. The dune buggy setups don't seem to fit the bill. Bug style pedals don't work like bus pedals at all. Bug slides back and forth, bus pushes up and down in an arc pattern. The master cylinder is the hard part to get right

-if you go with a dune buggy slave cylinder like I did, making or buying the "slave saver" bracket is important to keep the action of the cylinder smooth and from binding back and forth. It will ruin it in no time.

-if you are going to fab something like I did, the hardest part is getting the pedal travel, pushrod lengths, bracketry etc., to work in harmony without blowing the cylinders out from bottoming them out!

-don't use nylon tubing for the connections, it splits over time

-have a good understanding of the different type of fittings and connections. I had to use metric thread, pipe thread and US style inverted flare pieces to get it to go together

look in my build thread for more details and post any questions here or there 8)

Tue Jul 05, 2011 7:03 pm

Good information here about hydraulic clutches for a split bus! I'm gonna be the dick and ask why? Seems like a pieced together clutch cable is the perfect match for the op's truck. It'll do the job as good as a made to fit cable does on a factory truck, I built manx's in the 70's. :lol:

Wed Jul 06, 2011 12:18 pm

volksaddict wrote: Good information here about hydraulic clutches for a split bus! I'm gonna be the dick and ask why? Seems like a pieced together clutch cable is the perfect match for the op's truck. It'll do the job as good as a made to fit cable does on a factory truck, I built manx's in the 70's. :lol:

Well, in my case, my kneecap was crushed in a motorcycle accident. The cable clutch hurts and/or gets tiring on my left leg. I'm lucky to still be able to drive a manual shifting car, let alone walk at all. It was either hydraulic clutch or automatic.

Wed Jul 06, 2011 3:19 pm

roachdub58 wrote: volksaddict wrote: Good information here about hydraulic clutches for a split bus! I'm gonna be the dick and ask why? Seems like a pieced together clutch cable is the perfect match for the op's truck. It'll do the job as good as a made to fit cable does on a factory truck, I built manx's in the 70's. :lol:

Well, in my case, my kneecap was crushed in a motorcycle accident. The cable clutch hurts and/or gets tiring on my left leg. I'm lucky to still be able to drive a manual shifting car, let alone walk at all. It was either hydraulic clutch or automatic.

Slight hijack.
I use a "long arm" clutch lever on my SC's trans, it cuts the pedal force down quite a ways and makes for a smoother engagement, at least in my case.
Got it on here, forgot who makes / sells them.

Wed Jul 06, 2011 6:53 pm

Make a clutch cable. Check out harbor freight. They have the cable and fittings for the pedal end and the clutch arm end.
http://www.harborfreight.com/3-16-inch-x-50-ft-aircraft-grade-wire-cable-97506.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/fork-terminal-for-3mm-wire-96894.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/96mm-threaded-terminal-for-3mm-wire-96889.html