I have a setup like this on my 67 with a T5 that I did back in 2009 from a company called JMC Motorsports, It works the same way and I love it, FYI - Had to rebuild the master cylinder 2 years ago and used a 3/4 Harley rear brake rebuild kit for $18. The slave mount is different but same purpose, to push the clutch fork without any effort.
I'm setting up to get the rest of the MDL kit to complete my T5 swap, and this has been the most informative video I've seen on how to install the master and slave! This has helped take out some of the hesitation I've had over doing this myself.....Thank you!
Awesome, this is great to hear. That's a big part of why I make these videos, hoping someone out there can use some of the info I have put together to make it easier for them. :)
These videos are super helpful Andy. I’m at the same restomod stage with my mustang. Thanks for sharing! You’re doing a great job on editing/production
@@AndyKruseChannel Yep, I have to save money to swap.When ordering all those items needed to Finland I have to pay over double of money than fellow USA Mustangers. So no cable or hydraulic clutch setup yet.
The clutch cable is still a great solution to those that can't or don't want to do the Z-bar. How ever, regardless of the header design on anyone's car, the Hydraulic option will always work. :)
i can’t even tell you how many times i’ve watched this video, and i just wanted to say i super appreciate all your work to make these for us. currently over halfway through being done with this once and for all. i went through 3 cables and 2 sets of headers all to finally cave and go hydraulic🥲
@@Kylie.Rose. At a slight angle because the assembly that is inside the car and connects to your clutch pedal is mounted vertically. My setup has the spacer mounted with the mounting holes of the spacer at roughly the 11:00 and 5:00 position. This puts the clutch master cylinder at a subtle angle, tilted towards the engine.
very nice. gorgeous car btw. great work on the video. very informative and helpful. swapping from cable to hydraulic was one of the best decisions i've made for the ole stang.. that and swap to a T5 lol.
You need to get that fuel line re-routed off and away from the header tube . Use some of that heat wrap on the fuel line where it comes close to the header tube .
So Andy - I’m looking at a T5 swap kit right now with MDL for my ‘65 i6. One of the things I’d love to have is easier clutch actuation. Should I just spend the extra $$$ now and buy the hydraulic clutch kit too? It seems like the installs go hand in hand. My only concern is my distribution block for the brake lines is right where the master cylinder would go for the clutch and where I could relocate that to. Thanks again, as always, for a great video!
Yes, if it's in the budget, you won't regret the upgrade. There's about a $200 diff in price between their cable kit and hydro kit, so that's really the only part of the dollar equation you need to look at between these two actuation devices. I'm debating about switching my current car over to hydraulic, just like I did to the car in this video, except this time my exhaust is not melting my cable. For the brake distro block, I think you can just move in downward on the fender wall and everything would be fine. When you get into the installation of the firewall mounted master cylinder, there is a very small window in where it will fit. Take you time and triple check the location on both sides of the firewall. You may have do what I did and grind down some of the surface on that firewall spacer. This is ok, it won't hurt anything, just a heads up. :)
I forgot to ask prior to your clutch cable burning how did you like the MDL cable kit? Did you consider the Mustang Steve cable kit? I have shorty headers and was on the fence on hydraulic or cable system. Thanks!
If you're looking for a Cable Kit, the kit from MDL is fantastic. My knee can't easily do the cable option anymore, so I've switched to the MDL hydraulic kit. I did not explore the Mustang Steve kit, so I don't have any info on that setup. The kit in this video was on my Coupe, where I had long tube headers and the cable kit did not jive with that kit. I have since purchased another Mustang where I installed shorty headers and the kit fit without any issues. When I upgraded to the hydraulic kit, it fit easily and there are no issues with that either. :)
Yes, when I did the clutch cable install earlier, that spring connected at the top of the clutch pedal gets removed as it was not needed for the type of clutch actuation that I have for the T5 swap. That spring was needed more for the original style of clutch actuation where the clutch fork pulls on the throw-out bearing and that spring you mentioned helps pull that clutch fork back to the "normal" position.
Couple reasons. Due to the difficulty in removing and installing the T5, I didn't want to do that bunch to get the spacing and clearance right with the internal slave cylinder. Another reason is serviceability, if that system fails, it means the T5 is coming out again. With the slave cylinder on the side of the bellhousing, I can just unbolt it and swap it, very simple. If I had a lift, or others helping all the time, I might have looked in the internal cylinder a little more. :)
@AndyKruseChannel Totally makes more sense. Thank you for responding. I asked because I am in the middle of a T5 swap and did the Malwood under dash system. I have yet to get the C4 out so started to mini panic that maybe I'm going the wrong route. Love your videos and have helped me do so much.
Thinking of doing the same MDL Hydraulic Clutch in my 1966 Mustang Fastback. I have the cable Clutch kit but after seeing you install the Hydraulic Clutch and the fact it is External. I like your setup better.. In Lieu of the clutch cable melting. How was the feel, downshift, and the reaction time on the clutch?
The clutch felt effortless for each shift. I did not do a good enough job of comparing the shifts with the cable vs the hydraulic setup, but the hydraulic is much easy to do. However, the hydraulic clutch costs more, requires more effort to install, and bleeding the system can be a pain. I prefer the guaranteed connection of the cable clutch and if I would not have melted the cable (mostly because I chose the wrong headers) I would have stayed with the cable. I plan to do the T5 on my new project, this time I'll go with a cable clutch and do it right. :)
@@AndyKruseChannel Thanks for the information. I appreciate you honest opinion. I was concern about the results from a soft Hydraulic pedal which has different fell from a mechanical setup little the Cable. I just installed my new built 302/347 5.0 and T-5 with all the goodies and want to be able to feel the raw power. I was worried about Hydraulic failure. I used DBA Midlength Headers. Something to think about now. Thanks
Well Andy. I put in the Malwood Hydraulic Clutch Pedal with the Internal Tilton 6000 Clutch Release. Works great! Very clean setup and smooth shifting. One hydraulic tube out the firewall. No issues with headers or heat.
It's more towards the beginning of the pedal, it seemed that there wasn't much use going beyond 1/2 or 2/3 of the pedal movement as the clutch was fully disengaged or engaged by then. It took hardly any effort to actuate the pedal. If it's in the budget, I recommend the Hydraulic setup of the cable conversion or the factory style mechanical "z-bar" option. :)
@@AndyKruseChannel The z-bar or cable version is no option.. the last Ford ranger I built using an external slave and a 99 f550 master.. it "worked" but hard as hell and engagement was right off the floor. I didn't like it one bit
@@AndyKruseChannel I’m kind of in the same boat with my 69 mustang. I have the T5 with the Z bar and it works great. I’m going to change the engine out with a blueprint 302 or 347. I have the same JBA shorty headers for the swap. I bought the T5 bell housing and clutch set up. So Im leaning towards cable clutch but I like the idea of having extra clearance with hydraulic kit. I don’t want to do it twice. Thanks for the video and information!
Hey Andy what was the total cost of this upgrade? I know you told me before but I don’t remember I emailed mdl but I think it’s like half the price what you had told me…
At the time I made this video, I paid about $540 for the parts needed for the hydraulic clutch (which is the Master Cylinder and the Slave Cylinder) from MDL. The part numbers are MD-910-0002 and MD-910-1002. :)
@@AndyKruseChannel ah thanks I got that quote back from them and I was like wait I thought it was around $1000 overall is it worth it or would you have done a better route? I’m going to switch mine over to hydraulic also but since you’ve been through it is it worth it or any other advice or tips?
@@lucianohernandez3468 If there is a list of benefits of the cable clutch over the hydraulic clutch, it has to be a very short list. I've done the cable clutch twice now on my last two Mustangs and both times the car ended up with a hydraulic clutch, albeit for different reasons. While the puck-style slave cylinder that sits over the input shaft on the trans is popular, you have to remove the trans to install it and remove the trans again if you ever needed to service it or replace it. The style I have mounts to the side of the bell housing and not only allows you to install all of it while the trans is in the car, but if you ever needed to service or replace it, it's on the outside so it's easy to get to. When installing the master cylinder for this setup, just take your time and measure twice, it will pay off later in the install. Another hurdle I had with my pathway was I purchased the cable kit and then purchased the hydraulic kit. If I would have just purchased the hydraulic kit first, each time, it would have saved me over $250 each time I went through that process. If I was in a position to do it all over again, I'd just start with the hydraulic kit and be done with it. 😃
How do you like the hydraulic clutch so far? I'm at the point where I'm about to drop the 306 in my 66 mustang and can decide to either buy the zbar clutch linkage, or buy the hydraulic clutch conversion kit.
I like the hydraulic clutch because of how smooth and effortless it is, but there's something awesome about the direct connection with the Z-bar. On a side note, the z-bar would not work with the clutch lever I went with (the reason I went down this path is a long story), so just a heads up that the hydraulic setup I have now and the Z-bar are not swappable as the way the z-bar disengages the clutch is "opposite" than how the hydraulic setup works. I'm sure there is a kit to swap out the z-bar setup to a hydraulic setup without replacing the clutch lever, but I don't know where a guy could get that. If that was confusing, I could email you a more thorough explanation, just send me a message, my email contact is on the About tab of my TH-cam home page.
@@AndyKruseChannel Oh I see, I have a basic understanding of how the clutch linkage works on the zbar setup vs the cable setup. With the zbar setup, you retain the original 3/4 speed bellhousing and use an adapter plate to mate it to the T5, (in my case, it's the 3 speed bell) With a cable clutch kit, you need to use the fox body or SN95 bellhousing, with the pivot stud and pull style clutch fork for cable actuation. Your setup has the external slave cylinder that attaches on the outside of the bellhousing which it pushes on the clutch fork. I believe to convert an early model zbar bellhousing over to hydraulic, you'd have to use an internal slave cylinder which removes and replaces the throwout bearing and clutch fork. I think Tilton Engineering or McLeod makes a internal slave cylinder for the T5 transmission. My main concern with going hydraulic is having the slave cylinder fail. Especially on an internal mounted one. Which would require removal of the transmission to service.
@@GlitchMaster0001 I forgot about the internal slave unit, I was only thinking external to reduce the need to remove the bellhousing and possibly replace some of those parts. Your fear of the internal unit failing is high on my list too. In fact, before I contacted MDL about my scenario, I thought I was going to have to do the internal unit and I wasn't wild about it for the same reasons you're not wild about it either. Most people won't put the mileage on these cars like we do with our daily drivers, so the odds of the unit failing are way lower. However, reducing moving parts and pieces that have seals will always be better in the long run. Knowing everything I know now about the T5 swap and my car, I would have gone with the Z-bar. I prefer that type of engagement and it is less likely to fail. I was headed down a slightly different path when I started to assemble the parts for this project, but in the end I could have kept the Z-bar, I just didn't know it yet.
@@AndyKruseChannel Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. I drove my car with the zbar setup and 3 speed for a while, then swapped it out for a T5z and kept the zbar. It worked fine, until I broke the fulcrum inside the bellhousing from not removing the heavy spring under the dash in the pedal box. Removing the giant spring and replacing the fulcrum inside the bellhousing, the pedal effort isn't as light as the pedal on a hydraulic clutch, but it still easy to operate the pedal. Going hydraulic would be nice if I wanted to run long tube headers, but I'm just running some $100 eBay tri-y headers on this engine. I do have some concerns on the zbar not working with the tri-ys, but for $100 I don't mind using the 4lb sledgehammer, angle grinder, and MIG welder if needed.
Great video Andy. I would love to see a follow up with video of you driving the car and discussing the comments below. Your thoughts on the feel of the hydraulic clutch now vs the cable vs a z-bar set up would be of great interest to those weighing out options. Anyway, thanks for the video and engaging in the questions and comments here. Well done and thank you!
Hey Andy, since this install have you been having any issues with this system? I’ve installed it, followed every direction to a T and for whatever reason it’s failed on me twice. The clutch pedal feels good, after a day or two the clutch gets really hard and stiff then pops the insides of the slave cylinder out, I had MDL send me new guts for it, installed it AGAIN and literally 10 minutes ago the slave cylinder did the EXACT same thing just before a test drive AGAIN?!… I have NO IDEA why it’s doing this???
I never had any issues with the MDL Hydraulic Clutch setup. However, I only had it on the car for a few months before I sold that car. I have heard others complain about the MDL kit, but I chalked it up to "we only hear bad reviews" and figured that it was fine for most people. If your clutch (and supporting components) are tearing up multiple hydraulic kits, is it possible there's something wrong with the clutch or the clutch lever? I have talked with the guys at MDL on a few different occasions and every time they were super helpful. Did they offer any guidance on rebuilding the slave unit? Or maybe helping you confirm the whole system was installed correctly? Sorry boss, I wish I was more help.
@@AndyKruseChannel Yeah like I said they sent me replacement rubber and I cleaned everything and reinstalled it but it just keeps doing the same thing, works on day one, day two it’s hard as a rock going into second then pops forward all of a sudden… Clutch pedal is a limp noodle but there’s a TON of pressure built up in the slave cylinder when I go down to take it off… I just emailed them hopefully it gets sorted out. Thank you for responding at least…
Sorry Boss, I'm not sure I understand what you're asking. There are certain headers out there that are routed in a way that would allow the cable to not need to rest against the primaries (MDL has them listed on their site), but these headers are definitely not one of them. :) I've also heard some people were doing additional wrapping on the headers and the cable itself, but I don't know if they had the same headers as what I've got installed.
@@chevroletbelair1 Correct, buying the headers that MDL lists on their site would definitely help with not melting the cable. You may have better luck with Tri-Y headers as there are only 2 primary tubes in that area where the cable will be versus all four primary tubes in 4-1 header styles (like what I have). Shorty Headers would provide the best chance of proper clearance with the cable, and knowing what I know how, I would have been better off getting Shorty headers instead of what I have. Most of my driving style is low-end to midrange RPMs, I don't need the benefits of high RPM gain that the 4-1 headers provide, so I should have just purchased Shorties. Then I would not have needed to pay the extra money to get the hydraulic setup. :)
Hydraulic clutch is more expensive but you have more comfort. buying a new cable and new headers to fit Will be more expensive than hydraulic set i think 🤔.
@@chevroletbelair1 You're correct, it is easier to use and the Hydraulic option is more expensive than the Cable, but my issue was buying both. I didn't plan on getting new headers when I was putting this T5 swap together and I think the Tri-Y headers I had would have worked with the Cable. I should have returned the Cable kit before installing it because I was warned it wouldn't work with the headers I purchased. This would have save me some money. Oh well, it's only money, you can't take it with you. :)
I’m glad to see I’m not the only person messing with a mustang that has to do essentially the same job at least twice. I have the American Powertrain hydraulic set up in mine and think I’m going to like it. I didn’t like the look of the cable running all over the engine compartment
I have a setup like this on my 67 with a T5 that I did back in 2009 from a company called JMC Motorsports, It works the same way and I love it, FYI - Had to rebuild the master cylinder 2 years ago and used a 3/4 Harley rear brake rebuild kit for $18. The slave mount is different but same purpose, to push the clutch fork without any effort.
Yeah, I would have saved myself the hassle and some money if I stuck to the instructions. Oh well, we learn best from our mistakes. :)
I'm setting up to get the rest of the MDL kit to complete my T5 swap, and this has been the most informative video I've seen on how to install the master and slave! This has helped take out some of the hesitation I've had over doing this myself.....Thank you!
Awesome, this is great to hear. That's a big part of why I make these videos, hoping someone out there can use some of the info I have put together to make it easier for them. :)
These videos are super helpful Andy. I’m at the same restomod stage with my mustang. Thanks for sharing! You’re doing a great job on editing/production
Glad to help! :)
I know right? Andy is a true Renaissance man.
you and Alfs mustang garage are the best 65 mustang channels on youtube!
Haha, Thanks!! Yeah, Alex does pretty good work, I referenced his videos a lot back in the day. 😁
That’s a huge amount of work. If I change T5 someday I’ll stick original z-bar with opentracker roller bits.
It can be, but my knees are thanking me every day for it. :)
@@AndyKruseChannel Yep, I have to save money to swap.When ordering all those items needed to Finland I have to pay over double of money than fellow USA Mustangers. So no cable or hydraulic clutch setup yet.
unfortunately some of us had to make the switch from a c4, which has given me so much hell lol. count your lucky stars
Glad I watched your video as it saved me from even trying the cable clutch.
The clutch cable is still a great solution to those that can't or don't want to do the Z-bar. How ever, regardless of the header design on anyone's car, the Hydraulic option will always work. :)
I am amazed at how much you figure out about how your 66 Ford Mustang works. That clutch pedal is working so well now.
Haha, I'm amazed too. I did this video several weeks ago and I've put some mile on the new setup and it works great. :)
i can’t even tell you how many times i’ve watched this video, and i just wanted to say i super appreciate all your work to make these for us. currently over halfway through being done with this once and for all. i went through 3 cables and 2 sets of headers all to finally cave and go hydraulic🥲
While the hydraulic conversion can be a pain to install, it really is slick and frees up some space for activities. :)
@@AndyKruseChannelhey, i’m struggling like crazy with this. Is your spacer mounted straight up and down, or did you have to mount it at an angle?
@@Kylie.Rose. At a slight angle because the assembly that is inside the car and connects to your clutch pedal is mounted vertically. My setup has the spacer mounted with the mounting holes of the spacer at roughly the 11:00 and 5:00 position. This puts the clutch master cylinder at a subtle angle, tilted towards the engine.
Great video. Im about to do this on my 66 and this is probably the best video out there. Thanks!
Awesome! Thank you! Good luck, hopefully all the info you need is in the video. :)
Andy,
Thank you for this video. I am doing this right now. This is the only video I have found with in car install.
Glad it helped. While this video was done in my previous Mustang, I have since upgraded to this same Hydraulic Clutch on my current Mustang.
Lining up the template for the master is a pain. Mine was off a little had to elongate holes to rotate master bracket.
Andy , great upgrades great video placement thanks. Mike
Glad you enjoyed it
very nice. gorgeous car btw. great work on the video. very informative and helpful. swapping from cable to hydraulic was one of the best decisions i've made for the ole stang.. that and swap to a T5 lol.
Glad you liked it!
You need to get that fuel line re-routed off and away from the header tube . Use some of that heat wrap on the fuel line where it comes close to the header tube .
Not a bad idea. I was also thinking about routing it around the other side of the valve cover, towards the shock tower.
Any more details on how to adjust the nut(s) on the slave cylinder?
Sorry Boss, I'm not sure what you mean, which adjustment nuts?
Many thanks and greetings from Germany, which oil do you use in the hydraulic clutch?
Thanks. Just standard hydraulic fluid.
Awesome work and conversion-Very informative!!! A+++++++++++
Thank you kindly!
So Andy - I’m looking at a T5 swap kit right now with MDL for my ‘65 i6. One of the things I’d love to have is easier clutch actuation. Should I just spend the extra $$$ now and buy the hydraulic clutch kit too? It seems like the installs go hand in hand. My only concern is my distribution block for the brake lines is right where the master cylinder would go for the clutch and where I could relocate that to. Thanks again, as always, for a great video!
Yes, if it's in the budget, you won't regret the upgrade. There's about a $200 diff in price between their cable kit and hydro kit, so that's really the only part of the dollar equation you need to look at between these two actuation devices. I'm debating about switching my current car over to hydraulic, just like I did to the car in this video, except this time my exhaust is not melting my cable.
For the brake distro block, I think you can just move in downward on the fender wall and everything would be fine. When you get into the installation of the firewall mounted master cylinder, there is a very small window in where it will fit. Take you time and triple check the location on both sides of the firewall. You may have do what I did and grind down some of the surface on that firewall spacer. This is ok, it won't hurt anything, just a heads up. :)
I forgot to ask prior to your clutch cable burning how did you like the MDL cable kit? Did you consider the Mustang Steve cable kit? I have shorty headers and was on the fence on hydraulic or cable system. Thanks!
If you're looking for a Cable Kit, the kit from MDL is fantastic. My knee can't easily do the cable option anymore, so I've switched to the MDL hydraulic kit.
I did not explore the Mustang Steve kit, so I don't have any info on that setup.
The kit in this video was on my Coupe, where I had long tube headers and the cable kit did not jive with that kit. I have since purchased another Mustang where I installed shorty headers and the kit fit without any issues. When I upgraded to the hydraulic kit, it fit easily and there are no issues with that either. :)
Thank you, I will install it too, same problem with the header. One question, do I need the original clutch pedal spring?
Nope, you can either remove it from your car, or skip that part when putting everything together for the swap. :)
Great video. Did you have to take the spring off of the clutch mechanism inside?
Yes, when I did the clutch cable install earlier, that spring connected at the top of the clutch pedal gets removed as it was not needed for the type of clutch actuation that I have for the T5 swap. That spring was needed more for the original style of clutch actuation where the clutch fork pulls on the throw-out bearing and that spring you mentioned helps pull that clutch fork back to the "normal" position.
Maybe I missed it, but was there a reason you didn't go with a hydraulic throwout bearing instead?
Couple reasons. Due to the difficulty in removing and installing the T5, I didn't want to do that bunch to get the spacing and clearance right with the internal slave cylinder. Another reason is serviceability, if that system fails, it means the T5 is coming out again. With the slave cylinder on the side of the bellhousing, I can just unbolt it and swap it, very simple. If I had a lift, or others helping all the time, I might have looked in the internal cylinder a little more. :)
@AndyKruseChannel Totally makes more sense. Thank you for responding. I asked because I am in the middle of a T5 swap and did the Malwood under dash system. I have yet to get the C4 out so started to mini panic that maybe I'm going the wrong route. Love your videos and have helped me do so much.
Thinking of doing the same MDL Hydraulic Clutch in my 1966 Mustang Fastback. I have the cable Clutch kit but after seeing you install the Hydraulic Clutch and the fact it is External. I like your setup better.. In Lieu of the clutch cable melting. How was the feel, downshift, and the reaction time on the clutch?
The clutch felt effortless for each shift. I did not do a good enough job of comparing the shifts with the cable vs the hydraulic setup, but the hydraulic is much easy to do. However, the hydraulic clutch costs more, requires more effort to install, and bleeding the system can be a pain. I prefer the guaranteed connection of the cable clutch and if I would not have melted the cable (mostly because I chose the wrong headers) I would have stayed with the cable. I plan to do the T5 on my new project, this time I'll go with a cable clutch and do it right. :)
@@AndyKruseChannel Thanks for the information. I appreciate you honest opinion. I was concern about the results from a soft Hydraulic pedal which has different fell from a mechanical setup little the Cable. I just installed my new built 302/347 5.0 and T-5 with all the goodies and want to be able to feel the raw power. I was worried about Hydraulic failure. I used DBA Midlength Headers. Something to think about now. Thanks
The external set up was also used on the Ford can over trucks & work great.
Well Andy. I put in the Malwood Hydraulic Clutch Pedal with the Internal Tilton 6000 Clutch Release. Works great! Very clean setup and smooth shifting. One hydraulic tube out the firewall. No issues with headers or heat.
@@Tapster1924 Nice! Now it's time to drive!
Where does the clutch engage letting off the clutch peddle? How does the clutch peddle feel as far hard or soft?
It's more towards the beginning of the pedal, it seemed that there wasn't much use going beyond 1/2 or 2/3 of the pedal movement as the clutch was fully disengaged or engaged by then. It took hardly any effort to actuate the pedal. If it's in the budget, I recommend the Hydraulic setup of the cable conversion or the factory style mechanical "z-bar" option. :)
@@AndyKruseChannel The z-bar or cable version is no option.. the last Ford ranger I built using an external slave and a 99 f550 master.. it "worked" but hard as hell and engagement was right off the floor. I didn't like it one bit
How did the bleeding of the system go?
Incredibly easy. In the clutch kit they include the parts required to bleed the system by yourself.
@@AndyKruseChannel I’m kind of in the same boat with my 69 mustang. I have the T5 with the Z bar and it works great. I’m going to change the engine out with a blueprint 302 or 347. I have the same JBA shorty headers for the swap. I bought the T5 bell housing and clutch set up. So Im leaning towards cable clutch but I like the idea of having extra clearance with hydraulic kit. I don’t want to do it twice. Thanks for the video and information!
Hey Andy what was the total cost of this upgrade? I know you told me before but I don’t remember I emailed mdl but I think it’s like half the price what you had told me…
At the time I made this video, I paid about $540 for the parts needed for the hydraulic clutch (which is the Master Cylinder and the Slave Cylinder) from MDL. The part numbers are MD-910-0002 and MD-910-1002. :)
@@AndyKruseChannel ah thanks I got that quote back from them and I was like wait I thought it was around $1000 overall is it worth it or would you have done a better route? I’m going to switch mine over to hydraulic also but since you’ve been through it is it worth it or any other advice or tips?
@@lucianohernandez3468 If there is a list of benefits of the cable clutch over the hydraulic clutch, it has to be a very short list. I've done the cable clutch twice now on my last two Mustangs and both times the car ended up with a hydraulic clutch, albeit for different reasons. While the puck-style slave cylinder that sits over the input shaft on the trans is popular, you have to remove the trans to install it and remove the trans again if you ever needed to service it or replace it. The style I have mounts to the side of the bell housing and not only allows you to install all of it while the trans is in the car, but if you ever needed to service or replace it, it's on the outside so it's easy to get to. When installing the master cylinder for this setup, just take your time and measure twice, it will pay off later in the install. Another hurdle I had with my pathway was I purchased the cable kit and then purchased the hydraulic kit. If I would have just purchased the hydraulic kit first, each time, it would have saved me over $250 each time I went through that process. If I was in a position to do it all over again, I'd just start with the hydraulic kit and be done with it. 😃
@@AndyKruseChannel thanks for the advice and the reply love the channel by the way!
How do you like the hydraulic clutch so far? I'm at the point where I'm about to drop the 306 in my 66 mustang and can decide to either buy the zbar clutch linkage, or buy the hydraulic clutch conversion kit.
I like the hydraulic clutch because of how smooth and effortless it is, but there's something awesome about the direct connection with the Z-bar.
On a side note, the z-bar would not work with the clutch lever I went with (the reason I went down this path is a long story), so just a heads up that the hydraulic setup I have now and the Z-bar are not swappable as the way the z-bar disengages the clutch is "opposite" than how the hydraulic setup works. I'm sure there is a kit to swap out the z-bar setup to a hydraulic setup without replacing the clutch lever, but I don't know where a guy could get that.
If that was confusing, I could email you a more thorough explanation, just send me a message, my email contact is on the About tab of my TH-cam home page.
@@AndyKruseChannel Oh I see, I have a basic understanding of how the clutch linkage works on the zbar setup vs the cable setup. With the zbar setup, you retain the original 3/4 speed bellhousing and use an adapter plate to mate it to the T5, (in my case, it's the 3 speed bell) With a cable clutch kit, you need to use the fox body or SN95 bellhousing, with the pivot stud and pull style clutch fork for cable actuation. Your setup has the external slave cylinder that attaches on the outside of the bellhousing which it pushes on the clutch fork.
I believe to convert an early model zbar bellhousing over to hydraulic, you'd have to use an internal slave cylinder which removes and replaces the throwout bearing and clutch fork. I think Tilton Engineering or McLeod makes a internal slave cylinder for the T5 transmission.
My main concern with going hydraulic is having the slave cylinder fail. Especially on an internal mounted one. Which would require removal of the transmission to service.
@@GlitchMaster0001 I forgot about the internal slave unit, I was only thinking external to reduce the need to remove the bellhousing and possibly replace some of those parts. Your fear of the internal unit failing is high on my list too. In fact, before I contacted MDL about my scenario, I thought I was going to have to do the internal unit and I wasn't wild about it for the same reasons you're not wild about it either.
Most people won't put the mileage on these cars like we do with our daily drivers, so the odds of the unit failing are way lower. However, reducing moving parts and pieces that have seals will always be better in the long run. Knowing everything I know now about the T5 swap and my car, I would have gone with the Z-bar. I prefer that type of engagement and it is less likely to fail. I was headed down a slightly different path when I started to assemble the parts for this project, but in the end I could have kept the Z-bar, I just didn't know it yet.
@@AndyKruseChannel Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. I drove my car with the zbar setup and 3 speed for a while, then swapped it out for a T5z and kept the zbar.
It worked fine, until I broke the fulcrum inside the bellhousing from not removing the heavy spring under the dash in the pedal box. Removing the giant spring and replacing the fulcrum inside the bellhousing, the pedal effort isn't as light as the pedal on a hydraulic clutch, but it still easy to operate the pedal.
Going hydraulic would be nice if I wanted to run long tube headers, but I'm just running some $100 eBay tri-y headers on this engine. I do have some concerns on the zbar not working with the tri-ys, but for $100 I don't mind using the 4lb sledgehammer, angle grinder, and MIG welder if needed.
Great video Andy. I would love to see a follow up with video of you driving the car and discussing the comments below. Your thoughts on the feel of the hydraulic clutch now vs the cable vs a z-bar set up would be of great interest to those weighing out options. Anyway, thanks for the video and engaging in the questions and comments here. Well done and thank you!
Hey Andy, since this install have you been having any issues with this system? I’ve installed it, followed every direction to a T and for whatever reason it’s failed on me twice.
The clutch pedal feels good, after a day or two the clutch gets really hard and stiff then pops the insides of the slave cylinder out, I had MDL send me new guts for it, installed it AGAIN and literally 10 minutes ago the slave cylinder did the EXACT same thing just before a test drive AGAIN?!… I have NO IDEA why it’s doing this???
I never had any issues with the MDL Hydraulic Clutch setup. However, I only had it on the car for a few months before I sold that car. I have heard others complain about the MDL kit, but I chalked it up to "we only hear bad reviews" and figured that it was fine for most people. If your clutch (and supporting components) are tearing up multiple hydraulic kits, is it possible there's something wrong with the clutch or the clutch lever?
I have talked with the guys at MDL on a few different occasions and every time they were super helpful. Did they offer any guidance on rebuilding the slave unit? Or maybe helping you confirm the whole system was installed correctly? Sorry boss, I wish I was more help.
@@AndyKruseChannel Yeah like I said they sent me replacement rubber and I cleaned everything and reinstalled it but it just keeps doing the same thing, works on day one, day two it’s hard as a rock going into second then pops forward all of a sudden… Clutch pedal is a limp noodle but there’s a TON of pressure built up in the slave cylinder when I go down to take it off… I just emailed them hopefully it gets sorted out.
Thank you for responding at least…
@@AndyKruseChannel Also… YOU SOLD IT?! Whyyy? 😭
I've had good results with MDL, I hope they pull through for you, they seem to care more than other companies in our hobby. :)
For a Fastback! I'm guessing you haven't been watching the channel for the last 9 months? :)
how can you protect the cable with headers?
Sorry Boss, I'm not sure I understand what you're asking.
There are certain headers out there that are routed in a way that would allow the cable to not need to rest against the primaries (MDL has them listed on their site), but these headers are definitely not one of them. :)
I've also heard some people were doing additional wrapping on the headers and the cable itself, but I don't know if they had the same headers as what I've got installed.
Ok . You cant protect Them only buy the right headers?😀do you know if try y would fit with this cable ?
@@chevroletbelair1 Correct, buying the headers that MDL lists on their site would definitely help with not melting the cable. You may have better luck with Tri-Y headers as there are only 2 primary tubes in that area where the cable will be versus all four primary tubes in 4-1 header styles (like what I have).
Shorty Headers would provide the best chance of proper clearance with the cable, and knowing what I know how, I would have been better off getting Shorty headers instead of what I have. Most of my driving style is low-end to midrange RPMs, I don't need the benefits of high RPM gain that the 4-1 headers provide, so I should have just purchased Shorties. Then I would not have needed to pay the extra money to get the hydraulic setup. :)
Hydraulic clutch is more expensive but you have more comfort.
buying a new cable and new headers to fit Will be more expensive than hydraulic set i think 🤔.
@@chevroletbelair1 You're correct, it is easier to use and the Hydraulic option is more expensive than the Cable, but my issue was buying both. I didn't plan on getting new headers when I was putting this T5 swap together and I think the Tri-Y headers I had would have worked with the Cable. I should have returned the Cable kit before installing it because I was warned it wouldn't work with the headers I purchased. This would have save me some money. Oh well, it's only money, you can't take it with you. :)
This did not seem to be one of those fun projects.
Ha, I hated the expense of my poor choice over the work I had to do. :)
@@AndyKruseChannel you put it perfectly. It is what it is😂
I’m glad to see I’m not the only person messing with a mustang that has to do essentially the same job at least twice. I have the American Powertrain hydraulic set up in mine and think I’m going to like it. I didn’t like the look of the cable running all over the engine compartment