Originally Posted by AndyF
I'm thinking the next project on my '65 Coronet will be to replace the mechanical clutch linkage with a hyd setup. American Powertrain has a complete kit which looks promising. Anybody have any experience with this kit? https://americanpowertrain.com/shop...ith-ford-tko-or-18-spline-a-833-4-speed/

I'm running a Doug Nash transmission with a scattershield and I have the larger 18 spline setup. As far as I can tell this is the correct kit for my application but I'm not clear on how the cylinder mounts to the firewall. They say it is adjustable but they don't show much in the way of illustrations and I don't see any instructions on the website. I'll give them a call next week to see what they say.


I used one of their kits on my '68 Coronet. The firewall bracket is 'adjustable' in that it has half-moon shaped slots that allow it to be positioned at the same angle as the clutch rod. It's more of a pivot really.

[img]https://www.dropbox.com/s/nrgi7eggs5ua950/IMG_5369.jpg?dl=0[/img]

[img]https://www.dropbox.com/s/3bgankhc5abm0bj/IMG_5370.jpg?dl=0[/img]

They supply you with a threaded rod and coupler that attaches to the master cylinder and a rod end that goes on the pedal. The rod end is small and does not fit over the factory clutch rod pin on the pedal. They want you to cut/drill that pin out but that's a real PITA with the pedal in the car. I cut down an old clutch rod and tapped the cut end to accept the threaded rod, worked perfect. The factory rod has a slight angle in it which the supplied rod end does not have so the offset does not change. Using the cut down OE clutch rod attached to the factory pin also keeps the pedal ratio the same as well.

[img]https://www.dropbox.com/s/61tp6z0f0l88xx6/IMG_5371.jpg?dl=0[/img]

Took a little bit of trial and error to setup the shim pack for the proper cylinder distance but it wasn't too bad. It's essentially just like a disc brake piston. The throwout is in almost constant contact with the clutch fingers. When you depress the clutch pedal, the piston moves out and actuates the clutch and retracts back when you release it.

I like it a lot. No more need for an over-center spring. That little free-play hitch in the pedal travel before the clutch releases is also gone, the actuation is smooth.


'71 Duster
'72 Challenger
'17 Ram 1500