Hydraulic clutch conversion, McLeod

Discussion in 'U-shift em' started by afracer, Jan 8, 2017.

  1. afracer

    afracer Well-Known Member

    Just wanted to post a little information about the McLeod hydraulic clutch conversion for A bodies. Kinda pricey for what you get, and my biggest gripe is that the clutch master cylinder is PLASTIC! Well, hopefully it'll last. It comes with a new clutch pedal that you have to use, but it is meant for a Chevelle. I will post pics to show the difference tomorrow. I had a clutch and brake pedal assembly from a Olds 442, which looks to be the same as the Buicks and uses a bolt to hang the pedals whereas the Chevelle and McLeod uses a large rod as part of the clutch pedal that the brake pedal hangs on and uses a clip to hold it in place. So I had to buy a Chevelle clutch and brake pedal assembly to use the McLeod kit. The Chevelle setup looks like it'll bolt in but needs two holes drilled where it mounts to the body in one spot to be a perfect match...no big deal.

    So now I have a spare BOP/442 clutch and brake pedal setup I'll be selling soon and a loner Chevelle clutch pedal. Hopefully the rest of the install will go well. I wish someone would have shared this info sooner, so here it is to help others.
     
  2. ilikebmx999

    ilikebmx999 Well-Known Member

    Couldn't you just drill out the Buick mount for the Chevelle pedal? You'd probably need the Chevelle brake pedal too then.
     
  3. moleary

    moleary GOD Bless America

    1bad67 likes this.
  4. sriley531

    sriley531 Excommunicado

    Yep, I went with an American power train kit and it definitely took some on the fly fab-ing, but it works in the end.
     
  5. TrunkMonkey

    TrunkMonkey Well-Known Member

    I'll be doing the American Powertrain in a 1964 Skylark with 401 and T10, any "fab-ing" tips that would apply would be appreciated.:bglasses:

    Thanks.
     
  6. afracer

    afracer Well-Known Member

    The brake pedals are fully interchangeable between either, just the clutch pedal is different among the two. You could drill out the Buick mount but then you'd have to also add some spacers too. I just didn't want to hack up original pieces when there's correct type stuff already out there.
     
  7. sriley531

    sriley531 Excommunicado

    I'll see if I can find some pictures of my install. But the two things that stand out were that the kit didn't have any provisions for mounting to the Buick so I had to make a mounting plate that bolted up, and the geometry for the linkage to the pedal was no where close as it was made for a Chevelle and they had different pedals. So I bent up and welded on a bracket to the side of the clutch pedal. A word of caution so you don't make the mistake I did though, my geometry still isn't quite right as I have an extremely short and extremely stiff clutch pedal now. I need to raise the linkage mounting point closer to the fulcrum on the pedal, to make the throw longer and lighter via leverage.
     
  8. Robs455

    Robs455 Well-Known Member

    I had the problem by my automatic to T56 conversion.
    My pedal was rock solid, I can't press the clutch in. After some research I found the 6:1 ratio should be archived to a good pedal feel and movement.
    The factory hole in the clutch pedal was way to low and gave me a wrong ratio...


     
  9. TrunkMonkey

    TrunkMonkey Well-Known Member


    Thank you for the information. If I can add information after getting the setup in, I will post back here for others. It will be within the next few months.

    What started as an engine swap is turning out to be a frame on resto.

    Damned OCD... Parts just keep coming off this little beastie so easiliy. [​IMG]
     
  10. sriley531

    sriley531 Excommunicado

    Yeah, that's my issue as well. The problem is the current linkage setup interferes with the brake pedal when I move it up, so I've got get a bit creative. But I'll get it figured out.

    You're welcome. And I understand your pain, a simple transmission replacement resulted in my frame-off resto. Funny how that works...
     
  11. moleary

    moleary GOD Bless America

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