I am soon to be closing out on a t-56 swap in my 79, partly inspired from you guys that have done these already. I have a question regarding the throw and release point of my clutch. I have a McLeod 1400-22 throw out and a McLeod super street pro clutch and pressure plate kit. Last night I was bleeding the clutch, I found that the pedal was much closer to the floor than the top of the pedal travel. it will engage the pressure plate but it doesn't feel right. I have never done anything with a hydraulic clutch so I don't have much of a base line for the system. I am using an 85' 1 ton clutch master cylinder.

Is it common for the pedal to be so close to the floor for engagement or do I have something going on with my system?

 

The engagement point (as long as the system is completely air free) is determined by the relationship between the master cylinder bore and release bearing bore. A larger master bore will increase travel on the bearing, meaning your engagement will be higher.

Best thing is probably to call McCleod and ask them what master cylinder bore they recommend for that hydraulic release bearing.

I'm also using that same master, but I have an external slave cylinder & fork (Tremec TKO trans).

With my first slave cylinder (0.9" bore) I had to push the pedal all the way to the floor to disengage. It made taking off annoying as the clutch grabbed before I fed in enough rpm. I switched to a 0.8" bore slave and now it is perfect with engagement about 1/2 up.

 

Thanks, I'll be giving them a call about it. I should have known better about the bore relationship of the MC, guess I just over looked it. I might have to deal with it for a couple of weeks, just so long as my set up is drive able.

 

I'm wondering - maybe I didn't have all the air out on the first go round, but does the clutch kit (pressure plate, disc) have an impact as well?

My CF clutch releases very high vs the organic one, which released almost dead center of travel. I preferred the feel of the dead center release point, but overall it hasn't been a problem. Not even a hint of clutch slip.

 

Yes, the clutch pressure plate also makes a difference. It's not really supposed to, they should all be the same. But in reality there are differences. My McCleod dual disc required a little more travel than my Hayes single disk, for instance.

 

My pedal hangs down noticeably lower than it did

Dont know if the truck slave is anything like the Camaro one
The latter needs no more than 1 " throw at the rod going into the firewall
This should give you about .030 at the disk for clutch disengagement

 

First, I assume you measured and set up the hydraulic throwout correctly? Many times they will need to be shimmed. Then it is a matter of moving enough fluid for the particular throwout. Your pedal ratio, master bore diameter, and stroke length all have a part - and all can be changed.

 

I did, also the McLeod throw out luckily is a threaded adjustment so I didn't have to pull the trans completely every time. I was able to get within the tolerance specified for clearance. Judging from the other responses I am thinking I might need a larger bore MC.

 

Sounds like you found it then. Maybe McLeod can give you the volume needed and you can check aftermarket for bore and stroke needed. Good luck. I added a pedal stop to mine as extra insurance for over pressuring mine with an aftermarket master.

 

Its been a wile since I did mine but when I did every manufacturer sold there kit with a 3/4" master cylinder. I doubt that has changed much. There was no consideration as to what type or brand of clutch was being used. I played around a bunch with mine and ended up using a 5/8" bore. A smaller bore will make for less peddle pressure, and a longer release. A bigger bore will make for higher peddle pressure and a shorter release. The 3/4" wasn't nessisarly ideal, it was considered big enough to get the job done, and keep people from calling the help line.
The first thing I would do is to try to figure out what bore and stroke You have now. The Web might tell what bore You have. As far as stroke You will have measure this yourself. If others have used the same with good results it sounds as though You might not be getting enough stroke. This would mean moving your linkage further down the clutch peddle and gaining more stroke. Since the Slave Cylinder is a given, there is nothing You can do to change its size or stroke, so all the adjustments are made with the Master.
You might of mentioned that You have a stiff clutch. If so they don't work all that well with a Hyd setup. Reason being is that You are mounting the Master on the firewall and it will flex. Where the old set up pushed against the linkage and transferred the load to the frame.