hydraulic clutch

[holgate86]

Having had the car on the road for just over a month I have found the clutch to be rather heavy, I have tried a couple of mods but with little improvement, I suspect it will only be a problem with turbo cars but would be interested if anybody else has had this problem.
I was thinking of converting it to hydraulic which may be hard work but if it softens the pedal and makes it controllable that would be worth it. I know Trev has fitted hydraulic system to his turbo so does it work well Trev, have you driven yours yet. Brian.

[Ex-Biker]

If you are looking to retro fit a hydraulic clutch, have a look at the R600 assembly.

Was looking at one. It looks to have a remote resevoir at the pedal (which solves any probs of it fitting next to the brake servo) and activates a small cable at the gearbox end (which might help with the connection already there).

Just a thought.

[holgate86]

Cheers Trev, i'll check that out. Brian

[tony-g]

Hi all

Did you use the geabox clutch release arm that was used for the hyd clutch or did you replace the release arm with the longer type fitted to a cable clutch gearbox. as this is longer and gives you greater leverage. If you did I take I am going to get the same problem.

Perhaps you could extend the release arm to increase the leverage the down side there would be less pedal travel.

all the best
tony g

[holgate86]

Hi tony, hows it going, i have fitted the mechanical lever which is longer and the clutch is new. I think the problem is the cable, to give it a smoother run i ran it down the l/h side and up in front of the wheel and straight into the lever. This meant lengthening the cable which i think is part of the problem in the first place. I don't know if a specially made better quality low friction cable is the answer, and where would you get one. i definately think a hydraulic system is the best answer. I don't know of any other mid engine setup using a cable clutch.
I may just have a problem with my system, i would be interested to know if anybody else has got there cable system connected and working and could let us all know how they find it. cheers Brian

[tony-g]

Hi Brian

It is hard to tell with mine. Until I drive the car it is hard to tell what the clutch action is truly like. I ran my cable down the centre tunnel as marlin. I did find it quite stiff at first and the cable pushed hard up against the fuel tank. I shortened the length of the first section of outer cable from the pedal. This produced a much smoother curve down to the centre tunnel. I also replaced the gearbox inner cable attachment bracket for one a bit more sturdy, so it did not flex and alow adjstment from each end of the cable. Time well tell I suppose. When I drove Marlins 5EXi car that had the turbo engine fitted the clutch did feel ok.

all the best
tony g

[dylanp]

I'm using the standard cable clutch as supplied by Marlin and don't really think of it as particularly heavy... (I only notice it when I step out of my Honda Civic Type R and into the 5Exi as Type-R's clutch is very very light..)

It takes about 2 minutes to get used to it and I don't find it annoying or less effective whilst driving..
(Then again I'm used to TVR clutches - not particularly light or friendly!)

4200 miles on the clock now and loving it...

[holgate86]

Hey Dylan,
your certainly racking up the miles mate, thats more miles than my focus does in a year. I think i have sorted clutch issue I was about to remove pedal box today and work out how to fit a hydraulic cylinder etc. When i removed the cable from the pedal and clutch fork I worked it back and forth, it seemed ok until a put the original curvature into it and it stiffened up. I pulled out the full length of inner cable and found the plastic coating had come away at the pedal end looking like norah battys stockings. I'm not sure why this should have happened, so I decided to try the cable back on. I removed the pvc coating which left me with a steel inner. I then lubricated the inner cable thoroughly as i fed it back in. The pedal operation is much much better, still heavier than your average saloon but quite manageable. I have left the cable routed round the side of the car as it is a smoother run. I have stiffened the area of the pedal box where the cable enters due to excessive movement which prevented clutch clearing fully and also tapped out the bulkhead to allow more pedal travel.

regards Brian