ok this is kind of a silly question/ issue. in spring ill be putting a 351W in my 64 half ton, i've got a borg warner T18 4speed trans. right now it has the linkage type clutch.

Would it be difficult or dumb to switch to a cable or hydrulic clutch. Its not a race truck thats going to put out 600something horses, just a good 'ol fairly stock 351W. 2 barrel.

I guess i'm just looking for pros and cons to the different types. thanks

 

Hydraulic and cable clutches are not affected by the engine vs. frame movements that cause Z-bar linkages to either have to be a little sloppy or bind up. Plus, they are a lot easier to route vs. making your own bars and linkages for a non-oem application.

There are aftermarket hydraulics, as well as late '50s F series trucks and C series trucks that had hydraulics that might adapt.

Cable would probably be less expensive, and cable wears, but doesn't leak.

 

Thru 1964 = Warner T-98.

1965 and later = Warner T-18.

 

is there any rule of thumb on limits of the cable.

numberdummy i think weve been through this before the side of the trans says t18 and what i assume is a date code. but it is supposed to have the t98, it's kinda weird i have no idea what happened to the 292 or the t98 that the vin says it should have.

is hydrulic more difficult to set up. and what part dictates the difficulty of the pedal. does hydrulic make it easier to drive, id rather have a weekend of misery than years of struggling to press the clutch.

thanks for the help

 

you can use all the parts that the factory used
the t18 came in 80s small block ford trucks so the aluminum bellhousing with slave mount is available for your swap
I am guessing you firewall is nice and flat so it would be easy to mount the factory master from the same 80s ford truck on it.
just some measuring and firewall reinforcement needed
the master has about 1.6" of travel
so find the point on your pedal that travels about 1.5" in relation to the fire wall
add a mounting bolt to the pedal and drill the holes for the master in the firewall

russell sells adapters to make the master and slave accept common AN/JIC-03 fittings

I am doing this swap on a 78 truggy 78fordhydroclutch pictures by mjmillar - Photobucket

 

you make it sound too easy. i like it. so i can go to a junk yard to find the hard parts and should probably get new or rebuilt cylinders.

thanks

 

The hydraulic set up will make driving in stop and go traffic much easier and is easier to slip the clutch when towing. The nice thing is it engages at the top, the mechanical usually engages near the bottom.

That being said, I think it is easier to toast your clutch with a hydraulic vs. manual on a very steep slope. You just do not get that "grabbing" feedback near the stall point.

Plus, the hydraulic is hard to bleed and expensive to repair. If I was going to do it, I would use an external slave, I think that is mostly found on the I-6/300 set up. Make sure you mount the reservoir up high, the master as high as possible too.

All in all, I would go for the hydraulic any day. Except I would make sure the slave was external. Nothing stinks more then having to pull the tranny because the slave leaks, especially when it leaks on a fairly new disc.

 

the parts I suggested are external slave and are very cheap
I dont have an application for ford truck 4 speed internal slave (np435 preferably if you hae one). if I did I would probably be using one on my project

a mechanical linkage can engage anywhere you choose to have it do so, it is manually adjustable at the rod from bellcrank to fork.
as the disc wears the engaement moves higher on the pedal which is why most guys will set it low