Z bar or hydraulic?

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Tnfastbk

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Well I have come to the point of deciding on what type clutch to run. Anyone want to chime in on it? Leaning to hydraulic for the fact that 1. I have no Z bar 2. Already had my headers ceramic coated and not sure if they will clear the z bar or not.:s

 
I am looking at the same question since I am planning a 5 speed swap.

I need to preface my opinion with the fact I am basically cheap and would rather build than buy. That said we built a new z-bar for one of the racecars last winter and it performed flawlessly. That makes me think mechanical linkage because it is always simpler and more reliable. I have thought about the external hydraulic linkage that uses the stock cable fork.

Kinda on the fence yet but leaning toward the z-bar.

 
You MAY have a problem with the long tube headers and the Z bar, since you have spent the money to have the headers coated. The use of the bar may necessitate some "banging" on the pipes which will surely not be GOOD for the coating on the headers.

I think I would go with the hydraulic clutch in this situation.

BT

 
You MAY have a problem with the long tube headers and the Z bar, since you have spent the money to have the headers coated. The use of the bar may necessitate some "banging" on the pipes which will surely not be GOOD for the coating on the headers.

I think I would go with the hydraulic clutch in this situation.

BT
Kinda my thoughts to but weighing my options still. The kit from Keisler is around $650 for the toploader.

 
I am in the middle of reassembling my car and also would like to head this one off while the car is dissassembled. I have searched quite a bit and not found much, but I would like to share with others what I have found.

The biggest problem I see is mounting the clutch master, brake booster is in the way big time. I personnally would like to use an external slave, but if the headers end up hitting, internal slaves are avalable for the top-loader.

I have seen the hydraulic clutch done 2 ways in a 71-73. The first is by buidling a master cylinder mount that is right behind the P/S gearbox. Kinda hard to describe, pictures worth a thousand words so search for "hydraulic clutch 73 convertible" on the "Ford Muscle" website. That is a 5-speed conversion.

The other way I have seen it done is by making a bracket that attaches to the clutch pedal. From the drivers seat it is bent to the left. The clutch master is mounted to the firewall just to the left of the brakebooster. It is a tight fit, but it should work. The pushrod attaches to the "L" bracket. Should be able to find this one on the internet as well, I run across it occasionally.

American Powertrain does list a hydraulic conversion kit for 71-73 Mustangs. I did talk to them last year, I think, and a bracket has to be fabricated that bolts to the clutch pedal. When I talked to them about it they were looking at having that piece supplied to make it a complete kit, haven't heard and haven't had time to check. It is kinda pricey. I requested the instruction sheet to see how it installs, they wouldn't send it to me. I would like to see how they mount the master cylinder.

That's my 2 cents.

Louis

 
same coated headers in the way scene[71 460 toploader] we purchased the powermax setup and are stumped on install. firewall w/ large booster in the way and pedal doesnt have a hole, but a pin. z bar to pedal rod pulls up thru floor 1.5" when pedal is depressed. the master cyl. would have to move up & down with pushrod pushing on floor to work. we would rather mount it verticaly down where z bar mounted. is it possible?

 
Guys,

I have recently sucessfully completed a 460 toploader installation. I would recommend the mechanical OEM type linkage do to the ease of installation with less problems. I also had to install the pedal set & z-bar in my car. I used 85 460 P/U truck exhaust manifolds and modified a H-pipe to fit. I would suggest to obtain a OEM Z-bar (302 & 351C type) and remove the lower arm. I fabricated a new arm and then had the ability to relocate or bend it to clear the exhaust as necessary and them weld it together. It all went together and works well.

Thanks, Jay

 
Just my .02, I converted my '68 coupe J code to a 393w and a Tremec TKO-600 with a clutch cable kit from Modern Driveline. It was fairly easy and it worked well with my mid-length headers.

 
You MAY have a problem with the long tube headers and the Z bar, since you have spent the money to have the headers coated. The use of the bar may necessitate some "banging" on the pipes which will surely not be GOOD for the coating on the headers.

I think I would go with the hydraulic clutch in this situation.

BT
That would b e a good reason to buy them with the ceramic but have them shipped plain first to test fit. Then send them back to be coated.

 
I would attempt a Fox Body type clutch cable conversion if I was going to use a modern manual trans. If you are going to use a t5 or Tremec that would be the best option. With some patience and power tools I'm sure something like this could be adapted to work on our gen cars: http://www.mustangsteve.com/cable.html .I'm going to use his kit on a 66 I picked up for my son.

 
I sat in a 70 at san bernadino cruise with toploader and cable kit, not much lighter pedal than stock z bar. owner wasnt impressed and was planning hyd setup. of course he could have had issues like dry worn bushings ect. adding to increased effort.

 
I'm running a clutch cable setup In mine with a dual Kevlar clutch. It feels just like my '95 GT and I don't have to worry about hydraulic lines or any of that. It wears out, I just replace it like I would a new mustang. It's pretty simple.

 
i used a McLeod hydraulic setup with a wilwood MC,.. i think its pretty easy.. but i havent felt a stock z-bar setup...

 
I got a new clutch cable kit from moderndriveline and it works great. No more effort to push than a stock setup, maybe even easier. Easy to install, reasonable price, no fabrication, no need to find one from a fox body. You can even get a new clutch peddle for 71-73 now from Modern Driveline too. Just trim your brake pedal down and you're all set.

The rub is the headers fitment. I still got the stock logs and would also be interested to hear if any 351c-4v headers fit.

 
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My '68 has a set of Hedman mid-length headers and a 9qt riad race pan. The cable fits just fine. So it should fit fine on a '71-'73. I just dont know about long tubes.

 
My '68 has a set of Hedman mid-length headers and a 9qt riad race pan. The cable fits just fine. So it should fit fine on a '71-'73. I just dont know about long tubes.
I wish someone made mid-length headers for a 351C-4v.

Several brands make longtubes and there's Sanderson shortys (which are really short) is all I have found for the C.

 
Well, I can't imagine you would gain a ton if power going from shorties to long tubes. And if you have a manual, I'm sure shorties are easier to work with then changing a clutch.

 
I was just about to put the credit card down for the Sanderson shortys,,until I read another (unfortunatly old) thread on another forum. They said they didn't see much power gain on a dyno between the stock 351-4v manifolds vs shortys. They said there was a significant power gain between the 2v manifolds and shortys. (I assume they used 2v heads with the 2v manifolds too but just neglected to say). So i guess the stock 4v logs actually are pretty decent.

I'm wondering if Ford used the same manifolds on the Boss 351 and 4v.

 
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