66 stang T5 conversion

1979 Camaro

New Member
May 18, 2005
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I am trying to finish the clutch linkage on my 66.

Here's what I am using so far.

5.0 motor,bell housing and T5. 91 vintage.

Hedman Elite long tube headers.

I mocked up the engine and tranny in the car. The headers seem to interfere with a stock cable at the shock tower and the header tube near the bell housing cable mount. I spoke with Modern driveline and even though their cable is longer to help with the shock tower they say the tight header tube near the bell housing mount is a problem.

If I use the stock 66 linkage do I use the 66 throw out bearing and clutch fork?

I know I have to relocate the clutch pivot point on the bell housing and add the pivot point bracket to the engine

Does stock linkage from the equalizer bar clear the headers and the 5.0 bell housing? I have to cut off the cable mounting ear on the bell housing.

Thanks in advance for any help.
 
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66 T5 conversion

Looked at the hydralic setup.

It will be my third choice. I've got all the other parts for the cable or stock setup.

The body is in the paint shop. Going to paint it Chevy victory red!

The front brakes are C5 Corvette and the rear 94-97 Camaro. Same stuff I used on other projects.

Don't hold it against me, I'm a GM guy from day one but I've always had a soft spot for Mustang fastbacks. They are a great looking cars. This car came along at the right time.

Take a peek at my 79 Camaro in Car Craft April 2005.
 
cable + headers = broken cable...I vote hydraulic :D Hydro or MustangSteve cable clutch. MustangSteve's is the only cable one I'd consider since it uses a 5.0 cable and operates like the factory 5.0 setup, instead of some of the other kits.

For instance, the Ron Morris kit moves the sheathing and not the cable itself, which in turn limits how far you can bend it and where you can route it. If you can't route it well, you'll burn the cable, then Ron Morris will burn you to the tune of $250 for a special replacement cable :eek:

MustangSteve's kit seems to be verry flexible in its routing since it works like the stock 5.0 setup and you can use the longer 94-95 cable for even more room. :D

How the h@ll did you get C5 & camaro brakes to fit? Do you own a machine shop or something?

If you're that handy with fabrication, you can either clone the JMC Hyd clutch setup or skip making it a straight no-hack bolt in, still use the same parts and do it even cheaper :D http://midnightdsigns.com/Mustang/HYD Clutch.htm
To make that a bolt in, you have to relocate the mounting tabs on the clutch MC and it'll plop right in the factory clutch rod hole.
HTH
--kyle
 
5.0ina66 said:
...For instance, the Ron Morris kit moves the sheathing and not the cable itself, which in turn limits how far you can bend it and where you can route it. If you can't route it well, you'll burn the cable...
--kyle
That's what I have and it works extremely well. The cable is routed between header primaries near the collector. It doesn't get burned because of a peice of fiberglass cloth wrapped around it.
 
1979 Camaro said:
If I use the stock 66 linkage do I use the 66 throw out bearing and clutch fork?

I know I have to relocate the clutch pivot point on the bell housing and add the pivot point bracket to the engine

To answer this: yes, because the 5.0 fork expects to be pivoted from the passenger side. When you change the pivot to the driver's side, you have to change the fork to an early fork because there's no provision on the 5.0 fork to pivot from there. Not sure about the throwout bearing; might have to change it because of the way it attaches to the fork.
 
Clutch cable

Thanks for all the help.

I'm going to try the 94-95 cable. I like the idea of using stock parts that are available across the NAPA parts counter.

In regards to the C5 brakes, I got the idea from my 79 Camaro. You can buy brackets that mount C5 brakes on a Camaro spindle. Similar to the upgraded Baer kit only much cheaper.

I started with 1970 Mustang spindles and drum brake hubs. The C5 rotor ID that goes over the hub is bigger than the hub OD. No I don't have machine shop but I have friend who does. They made me a "centering ring" to center the rotor on the hub. Once that was done I redrilled the bolt pattern 4.5" on five to match the hub.

The caliper bracket is similar to the JMC bracket in that it uses the four 3/8" drum brake backing plate holes to mount to the spindle. Trial and error to figure out how far to mount the caliper over the rotor centerline and how far from the spindle center line. I will post some pics here shortly.

The rear calipers are 94-97 Camaro and similar to the Cobra calipers.I used 92 Camaro rear rotors again because I had them. They happened to have the same ID as the OD of the 9" axle hub. I believe 2.770". So the rotors just work with no hub centering ring.

The rear caliper brackets are also the bearing retainers. I bought the Currie disc brake bearing retainers and used them to measure the depth and diameter for the bearing retainer. Made them out of 3/8" x 5" CRS with a step milled .125" to center the caliper over the rotor. Again I will post pics after all of the parts are back from plating this week.

First time I've done the 9" so I hope it works.

Please keep in mind all this stuff is project stuff and should be used at your own risk. No warranty and for racing only. Not DOT approved. Not UL approved. Women and small children take shelter.Take it with a grain salt from a "GM" guy.

Thanks again for all the help.

It's been a fun project.