converting to manual trans help

[mallet2442]

Hi, Im converting my sub to a manual and Im having a problem finding the clutch/brake pedal assembaly? Its a 87 chevy suburban and I like to put a hydrolic clutch in it. Does any body have any sugestions or evune part numbers?

[NH2112]

I swapped an SM465 with hydraulic clutch into my K10 several years back and just used the clutch/brake pedal bracket from the gasser K20 that the tranny and transfer case came from. I'd say just hit all the salvage yards you can find, as that's a part that most likely goes to the crusher when all the "good" parts are gone.

Here's some food for thought, though. I was having clutch problems with my K10 and eventually traced them to the fact that the stub on the clutch pedal arm where the master cylinder's eye attaches was worn enough to prevent the piston from making a full stroke. All I did was pull the pedal off and build the stub up with a wire-feed due to time constraints, but if I had to do it again I'd remove the stub, drill and tap a hole in the arm, and mount a spherical rod-end bearing (often and inaccurately called a "Heim joint") to the master cylinder pushrod in place of the fixed eye. The pushrod would have to be threaded and you could do a lot of playing with the length of the stroke by adjusting the bearing in or out. It may be a bit of work, but I'm positive that the fact that my master cylinder wasn't fully stroking and therefore neither was the slave was the major contributor to losing a new B-W clutch after just a little more than a year.

[mallet2442]

Thanks phil. I have been looking for a 80's model truck to rob the parts off of but the salveg yards are all automatics. Can any body tell me what year did chevy go to the hydrolic clutch? Maybe I can nerow my surch down. I now 87 was the last year for that body still so it would halft to be pre 87? Thanks again!

[NH2112]

My donor truck was an 87 K20. My K10 had the dimples marking the master cylinder's location on the firewall, so I'd have to say it was at least an option in 1985.

[Dieselboy]

There's a good article on Coloradok5 right now about swapping in an sm465 for a TH350.

Linky (http://www.coloradok5.com/auto2manual.shtml)

[ueckebes]

hello,2442 ,not positive but i think 1984 was first year of hyd clutch in gm trucks ,unless your headset on hyd set up, you can use manual linkage from as for back as 73 this may be a thought to consider since it would increase your odds of finding salvage yard parts,70's and 80's body styles are getting a lot harder to find in salvage yards. good luck , jim

[Quack_Addict]

Unless GM changed over to hydraulic mid-year in 1984, the first year for the hydraulic clutch was 1985.

When I did my hydraulic conversion from automatic trans to SM465/NP205 in my 1984, I bought new clutch master and slave cylinders from Autozone; hydraulic line, clutch pedal and some other necessary goodies from SPO. I didn't really have any problems, but the `84 cab didn't have studs to mount the master cylinder onto - so I had to drill through the firewall and use bolts with some large backer washers inside the cab to keep the firewall from deflecting when I push the pedal in. As I recall, I had to cut and reweld the clutch pedal arm - as installed originally, it was almost touching the brake pedal when up.

Make sure you get the proper release arm (clutch fork) for your application... the first one I came across was too short in length and wouldn't hold the release bearing while engaging the ball stud at the same time...