Hyd Pedal Set up ????

[insanityranch]

hello everyone...
As I said in my last post, I just got back from the Manx Club event in Big Bear Ca.
over 165 buggies made it
it was way cool....im dedicated to being involved next your for the 2014 run
I will post photos tonight of this years event..

I was told by one of the many great guys I meet, that he had heard of a hyd. pedal set up that could use the orig. bolt holes and location as the orig. pedal set up used, all that was needed to be done, was to run a hyd. line down the center of the hump
( Now this would be a hole lot easer to do for me then to run a new cluch cable tube as my year does not have one)

My question is this " Does anyone have info on this item or one like it for a shorty buggy ????????????????

[BL3Manx]

He maybe talking about the type that mounts a clutch master cylinder inside the tunnel. The drawback with that is it requires cutting a rather large hole in the tunnel which significantly weakens it and nornmally causes it to crack. Its also hell to access to adjust/serice.

A preferable alternative would be to make a bracket to mount a clutch master cylinder on the pan to the left of the brake master cylinder, weld a tab on the clutch pedal arm to connect a push rod clevis to, and drill a hole in the body for the push rod to pass through. I did it on my Manx back in the seventies and it worked fine.

I went back to a cable because I lke the feel bettter but I think hydraulic clutch systems are better engineered now.

[Oz Towdster]

Get in contact with Brad at Barn Fab ( "Iguana" on here and he would have been at Big Bear also driving my Kermit Green Meyers Tow'd with early Jamar wheels ) as he has a kit that will suit what your looking for although as BL3 said you still need to cut a hole in the top of the tunnel to fit it but Brad has a gusset / doubler plate and cover to weld on to the cut out area which re strenghtens the cut out area and you have a nice alloy cover plate that is removeable with a few screws for easy future access .

Andrew
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Working at getting my Baja Bus and the Towdster back on the road

[BL3Manx]

Here is a Baja that mounted a standard CNC clutch master cylinder next to the brake master, a much simpler job and no hole cutting in the tunnel required as with SACO. The welding and fitting job aren't real pretty and I would have shortened the pushrod an inch or so, but this will work. When I did it I welded a short tab on the clutch pedal arm and I had no need to bend the pedal the way this was done.

[insanityranch]

[insanityranch]

[insanityranch]

[insanityranch]

[BL3Manx]

http://www.cncbrakes.com/hck.asp?grp=hck&subgrp=all&series=320

http://www.pacificcustoms.com/CNC320B58.html

Use the smaller diameter master (5/8") and standard 1/8" pipe thread. The mounting bracket in the kit is for a metal body. For a fiberglass buggy it would need to be solidly attached to the chassis so that means it would need to be taller. When I did it I made a steel L bracket that was bolted to the chassis on the front side Napoleon hat bulkhead.

[insanityranch]

[wythac]

Do a thread search here for Saco hydraulic clutch and you'll see info on the kit you were originally inquiring about. It bolts inside the tunnel and only needs a hydraulic line run to the T/O bearing arm.

Unfortunately, I can't recommend them. The supplied clutch master cylinder is hard to bleed, and the reservoir kit that comes with it is of poor quality and prone to leak. I eventually replaced the M/C with a Wilwood brake M/C and reservoir that I modified to work, by then I had replaced almost every original component of the kit, besides the slave cylinder.


Edit: here is a link to the thread I mentioned.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=458100&highlight=saco

[BGEE68]

I'm amazed how difficult people can make simple things/fixes.

The chassis on my Bug had bad clutch and accelerator cable tubes. I'm simply using either a CNC or JAMAR pedal assembly (including throttle). Ya just modify the front of the chassis and body to allow the pedals to extend thru where it once was a two piece thickness.When I'm done, I'll post pictures to show how simple the fix is!

Why am I doing this fix...Simple, both tubes (and the gas line), including brackets in the tunnel are/were rusted...

[wythac]

It was tough to get past the implied insult to all the posters here and read your suggestion but I did anyway.

In response;

I considered doing the job as you suggest but didn't want to modify my pan or the foot well of my buggy body in the manner you suggest.

I would also point out that done properly, (which, if I am reading your post correctly, you haven't actually accomplished yet) the modifications you are talking about are as much if not more work than the other methods discussed in this thread. Since everyone approaches these cars with different skills, tools, and point of view,"simple" and "complicated" are relative terms. Post pics when you are done, more ideas are always better than less.

[BL3Manx]

[nro_doc]

My setup

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VW Baja 65 Class 5

[andygere]

I have the SACO unit in my Manxter, and I like the way it drives relative to the stock cable actuated clutch. It is indeed hard to access, but once installed, there's little reason to go in there and fuss with it. I'm not crazy about the hole in the tunnel, but mine is a street car and I've seen no signs of cracking as a result. I'd be more concerned about a pan that gets thrashed off-road. The upside of the SACO kit is it's complete, and doesn't require any fabrication, and that may have appeal to some builders. I do like the simple system made by BL3Manx, probably a better and simpler solution that the in-tunnel SACO master.