1966 Chevy ll clutch linkage help..

[chopperloco]

I have a Super Stock Chevy ll,will be a street strip car for now
SBC with T10 crashbox
Has not been a stick car for many years-I purchased all new stock style reproduction pedal and linkage as a starting point since i had nothing or previous Chevy ll experience..
Car is not quite running yet.I have it all assembled and thought it looked super flimsy and has poor geometry.
It has a fairly stiff non-adjustable Ram clutch-I have only pushed the pedal half a dozen times-the pedal to bell crank bar has already bent!
I guess it would make good sense to replace the upper and lower rods with round tube with rod ends...but any other experience/thoughts?
Thanks
Dom

[Mark Ugrich]

I would look into an adjustable clutch.The operating pressure would be much lower and reduce the stress on the linkage.

[Mark Yacavone]

1st question here:

What bell housing are you using?

[Dirk Olson]

Originally Posted by chopperloco

I have a Super Stock Chevy ll,will be a street strip car for now
SBC with T10 crashbox
Has not been a stick car for many years-I purchased all new stock style reproduction pedal and linkage as a starting point since i had nothing or previous Chevy ll experience..
Car is not quite running yet.I have it all assembled and thought it looked super flimsy and has poor geometry.
It has a fairly stiff non-adjustable Ram clutch-I have only pushed the pedal half a dozen times-the pedal to bell crank bar has already bent!
I guess it would make good sense to replace the upper and lower rods with round tube with rod ends...but any other experience/thoughts?
Thanks
Dom

Unless you are using a Chevy11 block you need to modify the bell crank the get the geometry right. If you are using a non Chevy11 block you will need to make a plate for the pivot ball and start from there. heims are always better but a little more work. Good Luck

[Dave Casey]

Raced a 66 with a stick for years, it is all just ratios/geometry. The setup I used was, conventional bellhousing, a straight bellcrank, NOT a chevy II curved one, and a small plate that the pivot ball was bolted to that had a bolt that went into the factory pivot ball hole on a non chevy II block. Since you bent the rod from the pedal, I would start on the other end. First I would see if you can gain some at the clutch fork, get a longer one if that is possible to make things move easier. Then move to your lower arm of the bell crank, and make it a little shorter. These 2 moves or just one will take some tension off the upper end. All this must be done while making sure you still end up with enough throwout bearing range to operate the clutch.

I believe that the clucth fork will want to hit the floor on the end, an adjustable pivot ball in the bellhousing will help, also you may need to try different height throwout bearings

Chances are the clutch setup is fine, you just need to fix the geometry.

[chopperloco]

Originally Posted by Mark Yacavone

1st question here:

What bell housing are you using?

u

Chevy ll Lakewood scatter shield , the 7 o'clock one

[chopperloco]

Originally Posted by Dirk Olson

Unless you are using a Chevy11 block you need to modify the bell crank the get the geometry right. If you are using a non Chevy11 block you will need to make a plate for the pivot ball and start from there. heims are always better but a little more work. Good Luck

I do have the relocation bracket for the non Chevy ll block

[chopperloco]

Originally Posted by Dave Casey

Raced a 66 with a stick for years, it is all just ratios/geometry. The setup I used was, conventional bellhousing, a straight bellcrank, NOT a chevy II curved one, and a small plate that the pivot ball was bolted to that had a bolt that went into the factory pivot ball hole on a non chevy II block. Since you bent the rod from the pedal, I would start on the other end. First I would see if you can gain some at the clutch fork, get a longer one if that is possible to make things move easier. Then move to your lower arm of the bell crank, and make it a little shorter. These 2 moves or just one will take some tension off the upper end. All this must be done while making sure you still end up with enough throwout bearing range to operate the clutch.

I believe that the clucth fork will want to hit the floor on the end, an adjustable pivot ball in the bellhousing will help, also you may need to try different height throwout bearings

Chances are the clutch setup is fine, you just need to fix the geometry.

Thanks! Oddly enough it looks like that's how it had been done when it was a C/SM car!
Do you remember which bell crank you may have used?
Dom

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by chopperloco

u

Chevy ll Lakewood scatter shield , the 7 o'clock one

Okay , you'll need a 9 o'clock bell, if you want to get rid of that Z .bar contraption..

We built several stick Chevy II's in the 70's/
Our team mate, Joe Moon DeLorenzo designed the set up.
Duffy even sold a few sets in his catalog.

It's not real hard .You start with a 1st gen.Camaro cross shaft, and narrow it about an inch .
The afore-mentioned block bracket is from a a 69 C series truck.

I'll help you if you decide to go that route.

[Dave Casey]

Mark has it right, I never had the pivot ball bracket Mark showed. Mine was 3/8 or 1/2 " thick and only used the hole closest to the ball and it was made so it would rest against the boss in the block and not turn or move. I don't know what my bell crank started life as, but a camaro one should work once it is shortened.