LT1 and a T56 in a 55 Chevy

One of us put the tranny in 3rd gear and tried to rotate the rear end while depressing the clutch, it disengaged fairly high up on the pedal travel, and left a lot of travel within the disengaged zone, so I'm thinking I could have mounted the MC higher up and had more leverage at the pedal (and less travel), but I just did not have any accurate info on how much movement was required at the clutch arm inside the bell housing.
 
2Loose said:
One of us put the tranny in 3rd gear and tried to rotate the rear end while depressing the clutch, it disengaged fairly high up on the pedal travel, and left a lot of travel within the disengaged zone, so I'm thinking I could have mounted the MC higher up and had more leverage at the pedal (and less travel), but I just did not have any accurate info on how much movement was required at the clutch arm inside the bell housing.
Click to expand...
Walking more will help the left leg get stronger Willy.
Working out even better.
I know you like to surf alot.
 
When I set up the mechanical clutch linkage in the blown Olds powered 55 gasser, I used the original clutch mechanical mechanism, a shaft with levers, I think they are sometimes called Z-bars, and I modified mine to result in a fairly light pedal pressure but the clutch mechanism functions flawlessly, and it is a dual disk ceramic setup, as I tend to fry the single disk units in that car, I'll have to measure the clutch pedal pressure on that one and see how it compares...

Figured out a way to put overnight pressure on the brake pedal, it goes down to the floor overnight, but I can't find any leaks, maybe the master cylinder is leaking back around the pistons internally? It's a dual chamber unit.
Hmmmm....

Tried to hook up the over-center/return spring on the clutch pedal, but can't find the usual anchor up under the dash, as this car was originally an automatic, and was always one until I got it, do ya suppose that anchor for a clutch pedal return spring never got installed at the factory? So I'm going to have to fab something? Once again....
Hmmmm....

Also need to fab an adjustable stop for the up stroke of the clutch pedal....

My fuel tank came supposedly drilled for the fuel gage sender to be mounted on the front side, and was drilled supposedly for a stock '55 sending unit, and the unit I ordered was was supposed to be a stock '55 sending unit, and it doesn't match up to the hole in the tank, more fab work to get it to fit right.....

Am traveling right now so it will be awhile for me to get back to it, but am thinking about how to do these while traveling....

Happy 4th to all....
Willy
 
I got to spend time with 3 of my 4 kids who are up in the Seattle area, 6 grandkids, man they wore me out !!!
Good to be back home and working on the project again, a new fuel filler tube arrived while I was gone,
2" ss supposed to fit right in place on my '55 hardtop, right into the inlet tube on the new fuel tank
I had installed before I put the body back on the frame...

Ha, wouldn't fit, too short and some interference from the frame rail....
So tried cutting off a piece that goes into the tank and extending it with some 2" fuel hose I had on hand....

55HTfuel120s_July2019.JPG


55HTfuel121s_July2019.JPG


It needs to be about 3" longer at the fuel tank,
so I cut off the O-ring portion and did a trial fit....

It didn't work, the tank inlet is partially below the frame,
I couldn't get the rubber hose to bend that much,
so I bought a 45 deg bend piece of ss 2" pipe
and drew up as accurate a sketch of what needed
to fit where as I could....

55HTfuel123s_July2019.JPG


......and started cutting to fit....

55HTfuel122s_July2019.JPG


Cutting by hand with a hack saw gives me the thinnest
cuts when I want precision fitting of the pieces...

55HTfuel124s_July2019.JPG


Now to cut each piece to get the correct length
in the middle....

55HTfuel125s_July2019.JPG


This matched my drawing pretty well,
now to tack it together and see how well it fits
in the car and into the fuel tank

55HTfuel126s_July2019.JPG


It fits quite well, now to weld it up, test for leaks
and paint it...
 
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thats a VERY impressive post and very impressive fabrication skills,
darn , I can,t begin to tell you how often I see guys screw up similar jobs ,
and how refreshing it is to see quality work,
where some one actually gives a crap about doing good quality work,
rather than 1/2 ass slap it together crap,
btw that looks like mig tack pre-welding what welder are you using
 
A Millermatic 251 that I've had forever, I usually run 0.030" wire in it, but for jobs like this I swap in the 0.023" wire.
I like to run the 75/25 argon/co2 mix also. I have a nice Miller tig also, a Synchrowave 180 SD, but I'm not as good with that rig as I am with the mig.
I use it mostly for aluminum welding with straight argon.
I was the welding shop superintendent at the local sugar mill from 1980 - 1985, those guys
taught me a lot !!:):)
 
yeah!
I've got the slightly newer 252 miller mig version,
252mig.jpg

I thought that looked familiar,
I'd bet the difference is minimal,
Ive yet to meet anyone who owns either version,
that regrets spending the cash required,
and yeah that .023 mig wire makes welding exhaust tube,
and similar sheet metal easier than the .030 wire.
my welding and milling and lathe,
instructor in colleges favorite saying,
was
"I've heard they could teach monkeys too mig weld,
so theres some faint hope for your gentlemen"
Click to expand...
 
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Yes, that's some very nice fab work. I'm impressed by how straight you cut the SS tubing
with a hacksaw. I've tried it, it's not easy!
 
I do have to admit that I used the bench grinder just ‘a tad’ to get a good fit at the cuts.
but, yes, I was surprised at how well the cuts came out.
I only had 2 leaks at the welds, and those sealed up nicely with a tad more welding.
 
Very nice fab work!
I have a small Miller 140 for mig .... it is useful for thin stuff but anything over 3/16" I use my Stick welder.
 
I've had this old 110 v Lincoln welder about forever.....
My first mig welder, it's easy to toss in the back of a pickup with a small bottle of argon and take it anywhere....
I keep it loaded with 0.023 wire.

Lincoln%20Welder%2001s.JPG
 
Back on the clutch again....
Tried to install the clutch pedal "over center/return spring" but it was too loose
with the oem anchor, the lower one, so I made up a shorter/adjustable one....

55HTclutch18s_July2019.JPG


It fits like this (below) with the front hook located so that the pedal pivot
passes through the plane of the springs pull in such a way that
when the pedal is up the spring holds it up, and when the pedal
is depresses the spring assists in pushing against the
mastercylinder. I got it installed and adjusted so that it
feels pretty good....

55HTclutch19s_July2019.JPG


The clutch pedal needed a stop for when I took my foot
off of it, as the original lever on the right side of the
pedal pivot was not being used, I fabbed an adjustable
stop and put it in there....

55HTclutch79s_July2019.JPG


A close up....
55HTclutch79as_July2019.JPG


After aedjusting the push rod for the master cylinder, I had about
a 1/4" of "free play" before the push rod touched anything in the MC,
the over center / return spring is working perfectly to hold the pedal
up against the stop and sitting at the same level as the brake pedal
right next to it.

55HTclutch80s_July2019.JPG


The brake pedal feels good, and the clutch pedal feels pretty good also,
a slightly heavier clutch pedal feel than the mechanical one in my
'55 gasser, and I think it will be ok....
 
thank you for both the explanation and accompanying photos
 
I would consider you lucking that there was enough room to get a drill in there to make holes
for the adjustable stop.
 
Indycars said:
I would consider you lucking that there was enough room to get a drill in there to make holes
for the adjustable stop.
Click to expand...

Nawww, I just got lucky, there was already a hole right where I wanted it on that under dash support for the steering column and the brake / clutch pedal pivot assembly...
I had a little trouble getting the mounting bolt and nut for that adjustable stop in there and tightened up, but it worked out ok....
 
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