theTRUTH

[russelllowe]

Hi Guys,

Well, it works ... but put up a bit of a fight! Would have been easier if I actually knew how hydraulics worked.

The first thing I tried was simply welding on a "fitting" to the end nut that holds the reservoir on as well as guiding the end of the ram. It wasn't very nice steel to weld, but I got it by using a lot of heat and jambing the welding rod in there as fast as I could:



And all plumbed in;



But that didn't work, I could hear it leaking internally ... I welded up a hole that seemed designed to lube the top end of the shaft from the low pressure reservoir, which didn't help so I tried some plumbers thread tape and then some insulation tape where I figured it was squeezing through the threads:



Nope, it built some pressure which quickly dissipated. Then it occured to me I could put the ram back in to seal the high pressure cylinder but drill a hole right through the center and tap it to M10x1.25 to suite the banjo bolt ... no going back now!:



And after making and annealing some aluminium washers it's all sealed up and works pretty well (copper ones leaked even after annealing them). I've left the ram floating which actually helps to bleed the system ... which would be a real pain otherwise ... it just jams when it reaches its internal limit:



7 to 10 pumps and it fully releases the clutch ... which takes a bit less than 5 seconds. In the reverse direction it's pretty quick to engage, which might be too aggressive off the line ... so I'll keep all the existing mounts in place just in case I have to go back to the foot operated setup.

Next up is creating a new lever for the top that works with a normal cable operated clutch lever/cable and then a wee lever for the release. If that all works I'll mount this part up the front somewhere, and depending where that is I might weld on a -3AN fitting to replace this banjo setup.

Any thoughts/feedback much appreciated.

Cheers!

[Y.B.]

G' Day Russell,

[Y.B.]

Take 2 , G'Day Russell, you certainly have a unique situation going on there , but nothing you can't handle ! My only concern is that dash 3 fittings,(3/16 ths. hard line diam.) are normally used for brake applications, whilst clutch actuation uses dash 4, ( 4/16 ths. hard line diam. ) The hydraulic motion in brake application is one of sustained pressure, whilst the clutch is operated by the transfer of a far greater volume of fluid. Both systems can be fine tuned by different cylinder sizes, but the clutch will require more fluid relative to the two different applications.

[tyrant]

Hi,
Another idea, My mate has an old Boss Hoss running just a clutch like your setup. His runs a hand lever and vac assist foot lever, Foot lever and hand lever to disengage clutch and release's with hand lever. Seems more user friendly maybe.
Cheers,Al.

[russelllowe]

Hi Y.B.

Thanks for the info, I chose -3AN guided by the fitting that came with the hydraulic slave cylinder from Quartermaster. The advantage of my new hydraulic jack master cylinder is that it can move as much fluid as the jacks fluid reservoir can hold ... which is quite a bit more than usual ... just a bit at a time.

Hi Al,

Be great to take a look at it ... any chance of him taking a few pics? If you or he emails them to me i can upload them: russell.lowe@unsw.edu.au

Cheers!