Hi. As some of you may remember, I have a '51 2R that is running a '51 232 V8 with a T86 OD trans. I have had the truck for some 35 years now and still continue to drive it nearly every day.
The clutch linkage is bad at best. The clutch shaft on the bell housing does not line up well with anything (except the shift linkage as it comes down to the transmission). When the dealer installed the V8 engine in 1951 for the new owner (a great story that I can tell later if there is interest) they ran a clutch operating shaft from the bell housing down to the frame at a downward and rearward angle, ended it in a standard Studebaker rubber cushioned bushing that was mounted on an angle and ran a linage arm from the clutch pedal to the bar.
This is not very efficient and I have had to replace the rubber and brass bushing about every 6-9 months. The pedal force is considerable and the bushing just does not hold up well.
I had a '53 Commander Coupe for a while that had a 327 Chevy installed. It was running a stock Studebaker brake master cylinder for a clutch master and had a bolt on, external slave cylinder. The clutch pedal was easy to push and very pleasant to drive with.
I would love to eliminate the poor manual linkage once and for all, and can fabricate brackets and such, but I thought that before I re- invented the wheel relative to the application of hydraulics, I would ask if anyone has done it before. As I recall, I need a smaller diameter master cylinder than the slave cylinder. Anyone have recommendations on the diameters of both.
Can anyone help? My 62 year-old knee is not as strong as it once was, and since I plan on driving the truck till I drop dead, I thought a nice conversion might hold of the eventual switch to an automatic.......
Wouldn't it be nice if I could just go online and buy a conversion kit like you can for other brand X vintage trucks?
Thanks in advance for your help..... Allen
Use allen at ebold dot com if you want to send me an email directly.