Tasmin Clutch Cable

[NTEL]

As part of the recent engine rebuild Mr Toovey fitted a 4 paddle competition clutch to replace the capri clutch (which sometimes slipped a bit) that was installed. This clutch requires quite a lot of force to operate it and I am not sure the existing clutch cable is man enough for for the job. Can anybody recommend a good supplier of "Beefed Up" clutch cables and also advise what the original cable was off (assuming it wasn't bespoke).

[Graham]

Sorry cant help on that, although you could copy the hydraulic conversion from mine.


when they built the lhd cars the clutch cable was about a mile long so they converted.

it consists of a bent bit of metal ( looks like somthing I would bash out on a forge from a bit of tin!! and im no blacksmith) with a slave cylinder bolted to it.. and obviously a master cyl on the pedal..

the clutch on topless was light as a light thing after a helium diet... the teflon lined hoses made a difference as well..

[NTEL]

Graham said:

Sorry cant help on that, although you could copy the hydraulic conversion from mine.


when they built the lhd cars the clutch cable was about a mile long so they converted.

it consists of a bent bit of metal ( looks like somthing I would bash out on a forge from a bit of tin!! and im no blacksmith) with a slave cylinder bolted to it.. and obviously a master cyl on the pedal..

the clutch on topless was light as a light thing after a helium diet... the teflon lined hoses made a difference as well..

Sounds interesting. Would the existing Ford type release arm and thrust bearing be reused? Could it be just a simple case of making a bracket supporting the slave cylinder which in turn pulls / pushes the release arm. Would this also require changing the pedal box? Got anymore details?

[kg55]

NTEL said:

As part of the recent engine rebuild Mr Toovey fitted a 4 paddle competition clutch to replace the capri clutch (which sometimes slipped a bit) that was installed. This clutch requires quite a lot of force to operate it and I am not sure the existing clutch cable is man enough for for the job. Can anybody recommend a good supplier of "Beefed Up" clutch cables and also advise what the original cable was off (assuming it wasn't bespoke).

Talk to leigh my old taz3 was hydraulic clutch but the car was one of the first 40 mk1 series cars

[Graham]

yes standard release arm and bearing, just a metal bracket bolted to the side with a slave cylinder pushing the release arm.


you would need to mod the pedal box as well ( or better still replace it there are some reasonable aftermarket pedal boxed these days...

[NTEL]

Graham, thanks for the ideas, I will have all the bits this week and will hopefully get the conversion done at the weekend. Only very minor alterations to be done to the pedal box and clutch pedal. Slave bracket will be easy enough to make out of 6mm flat bar. Managed to get hold of a free 0.75" Girling master cylinder so the whole job will only cost 70 quid including slave, hose, and bits. If the pedal is still heavy then I have access to a 0.7" master which will only be a small job to change.

[Graham]

Happy to help... The clutch on my old taz is super light.. using a teflon lined clutch pipe seemed to make a difference as well..

The taz has got all sorts of exotic braided hoses made from titanium and all sorts of expensive sounding stuff.

we needed some hoses making quickly but it was a holiday period. only the sales men were in at Listers, and the parts store was closed, so they raided the sales samples from their cars, and made up the hoses we needed, and as they were board didnt even charge us !!!!

[Guillotine]

Dave,

I had issues with my race clutch when the engine went. it was the only prob really.

Heavy clutch will..

stretch your cable
pull the cable stops thru the bulkhead (or stop plate) so strengthen
push the operating rod thru the lever plate (or silimar) so strengthen

you will need to heavily beef up all these areas or you'll get failures.

I went for a centre release bearing/piston type (Griff are hydr anyway). When redone by Dulfords after Austec coocked it up (it failed again that time cocking up a gearbox)...its been perfect ever since.

Do it once - do it right mate. DNFs are a bngger.

Edited by Guillotine on Tuesday 6th January 10:18

[NTEL]

Graham said:

Happy to help... The clutch on my old taz is super light.. using a teflon lined clutch pipe seemed to make a difference as well..

The taz has got all sorts of exotic braided hoses made from titanium and all sorts of expensive sounding stuff.

we needed some hoses making quickly but it was a holiday period. only the sales men were in at Listers, and the parts store was closed, so they raided the sales samples from their cars, and made up the hoses we needed, and as they were board didnt even charge us !!!!

Yip, got the stainless steel braided and PTFE lined hose also

[NTEL]

Guillotine said:

Dave,

I had issues with my race clutch when the engine went. it was the only prob really.

Heavy clutch will..

stretch your cable
pull the cable stops thru the bulkhead (or stop plate) so strengthen
push the operating rod thru the lever plate (or silimar) so strengthen

you will need to heavily beef up all these areas or you'll get failures.

I went for a centre release bearing/piston type (Griff are hydr anyway). When redone by Dulfords after Austec coocked it up (it failed again that time cocking up a gearbox)...its been perfect ever since.

Do it once - do it right mate. DNFs are a bngger.

Edited by Guillotine on Tuesday 6th January 10:18

Hi Andy,

Heavy clutch will..

stretch your cable.
Thats why I'm converting it to hydraulic

pull the cable stops thru the bulkhead (or stop plate) so strengthen.
See above

push the operating rod thru the lever plate (or silimar) so strengthen.
I'm using a rounded M10 stainless steel piston rod which seats into the release arm perfectly. I'm testing at Oulton next month so will be able to see how much wear, if any, it causes.

Hopefully it will be OK and a good thrashing around Oulton should bring to light any problems

[Graham]

Whats the actual clutch your using? I never had any problems with the standard unit in mine, but my taz had a fair bit less bhp. I dont think we ever changed it !!!

G

[Guillotine]

Sorry mate, I was thrown by the Title.

(should have known you'd get in there.

[NTEL]

Graham said:

Whats the actual clutch your using? I never had any problems with the standard unit in mine, but my taz had a fair bit less bhp. I dont think we ever changed it !!!

G

Not sure what the actual make is. All I know is that it is a 4 paddle, sintered (sp?) bronze full competition clutch. The bite is going to take some getting used to, its either in or out with nowt in between. Should be fun on the starting grid

[Keithyboy]

NTEL said:

. . . its either in or out with nowt in between. Should be fun on the starting grid

Sounds just like mine Dave, I still struggle to get a good launch sometimes

[NTEL]

Well, the installation of the new hydraulic clutch setup went very well. I made a slave cylinder mounting bracket from 6mm mild steel plate and fixed it to two of the gearbox / bell housing bolts. The push rod was made from an M10 coach bolt, with a dome head, ground to fit into the slave, an M10 screwed rod extender and a piece of M10 stainless screwed rod with a rounded end to sit into the clutch release arm. The end of the stainless rod was drilled and tapped and a M5 pin was screwed in to make sure it couldn't pop out. I removed the pedal box, took off the clutch cable assembly, and fitted a girling master cylinder to the pre-drilled mounting holes. The centre line of the clutch pedal was slightly off set from the centre line of the master cylinder so I mounted the clevis just to the left of the pedal onto an M8 bolt I welded into the existing clevis pin hole. I then made up a -04 hydraulic hose and connected it to both the master and slave cylinders. The reservoir was then fitted to the master cylinder and filled with fluid. The system was bled through and I have ended up with a clutch which is a joy to use The pedal weight is just right and the bite point is very easy to control. Its the best seventy odd quid I've ever spent on an upgrade . WELL CHUFFED IS AN UNDER STATEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Graham]

Glad you got it sorted.. It always worked well on mine,


G