gwheeler

It works! Woohoo! I finally drove my 500Z down the street and back into the garage under its own power. Phew. Here's what I did: I used a Datsun pickup (mid 70's) slave cylinder, which was 3/4" bore, not 13/16" as I posted earlier. That combined with the 5/8" master cylinder did not give me enough travel to completely disengage the clutch. Besides, the clutch pedal was WAY too light. So I bought a Wilwood 1" m/c from Summit for $50. The reason I went with 1": I measured the m/c pushrod travel as 3/4". My slave has an available travel of about 1". So using a 1" m/c that is traveling 3/4" should give me at least 1" of travel at the 3/4" slave (1.3 inches if there were no free-play or air in the line). When I first tried the clutch after installing the m/c, it still wouldn't go into gear. That was a bad feeling. I measured the slave travel again, and I was only getting 7/8". So I bled the slave some more, and it finally worked! Now the clutch is nice and heavy (not too heavy), with a snap-over feeling and everything! Sold the clutch cable kit on Ebay...

Mike, which motor mounts are you using? Did you have to put an extra u-joint in the steering shaft?

Uhm, which Ford? Of course the Mustang used a cable... I'm going to see if I can move the slave cylinder rod end closer inboard to the tranny, to get a little more leverage out of it. If that doesn't work, I'll go with a bigger master cylinder. If that still doesn't work, I'll go with a smaller slave. Sheesh. Anyone know how much travel the clutch fork (T5) needs to completely disengage?

Well, I installed a slave cylinder. I made an angle bracket and bolted it to the back of the bell housing. I bought the slave (Datsun pickup truck) from Napa, because it was compact and the ports are on the rear. I wanted to save as much room as possible for exhaust. But... I don't have enough throw to completely disengage the clutch. The slave is 13/16ths and the stock master is 5/8ths, so I must not be pushing enough fluid. I'm thinking about going with a 13/16ths Tilton master cylinder for $70. Any thoughts? Photos are up. Check my profile for the URL.

How do you set a 240Z clock? It's bugging me. Not important, just one of those things. I hate to be defeated by a clock. The previous owner said he replaced it, and it does look new. Maybe it's not the original design...

Hi guys. I put up some photos of my project. http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/g_wheeler2001/album?.dir=/Project+500Z It's a 1972 240Z, with a 91 Mustang 5.0 HO, with EFI, and a T5. I've been working on it for about 18 months, and I just fired it up this week. I made my own engine mount cross-member similar to others out there. It's pretty rough, but I consider it a first prototype. I made the tranny mount in the same fashion as the Chevy conversion manual, with a rubber bushing from McMaster-Carr bolted to a chunk of aluminum machined to mate to the T5. I haven't figured out exhaust yet. You can see the stock Mustang headers in the photos, but they're just sitting loosely so I don't fry my wiring harness when I fire it up. They don't exactly clear everything. Other mods: Toyota 2-piston front calipers Cross-drilled front rotors Stainless steel brake lines Wheel spacers 16x7 Mille Miglia wheels Yokohama 225/50R16 A520 tires Motorsport front and rear anti-roll bars Stiffer steering coupler Stiffer steering rack bushings Grant steering wheel (better than you'd think) Mustang Cobra leather shift knob I'm working on a clutch slave cylinder now. Then I have to get a drive shaft made. Then I have to do something about exhaust. After installing the radiator (280Z) and dual electric fans, it should be driveable, though I won't have any gauges.

I like that route. I already assembled the engine/clutch/tranny and installed it in the car, so I'd rather not do the hydraulic throwout bearing now. I can make the angle bracket, and if I knew what car that slave cylinder was from, I'd look at the junk yards... I do have some photos (and a movie) of my 500Z. I'm working on getting them up somewhere...

Hello fellow Ford shoehorners! This is my first post, but I've been lurking for quite some time. For the last year and a half I've been working on getting a 1991 Mustang 5.0 HO motor (with EFI) and T5 in my 1972 240Z. I finally fired it up this week, and boy was that a good feeling. I still have to do exhaust and cooling system, but first the clutch. Should I use a cable linkage or slave cylinder? I bought a cable and adjustable quadrant when I put the clutch in (Ford Motorsport), and I sold the stock slave cylinder along with my Z's engine/tranny. But now I'm not sure which route would be easiest and yield the best results. Comments, suggestions?