Club 80-90 Forums

Hi, I am thinking about swapping my cable clutch to hydraulic. Is it worth doing and trying to source all the parts. I have the chance to buy a good 2litre bellhousing and hydraulic brake servo booster and pedal assembly. Any advice would be much appreciated.

I did the same some time ago.
I wouldn't have bothered if I hadn't been changing the engine and in hindsight I don't think it was worth the effort and expense.
Cable operated clutch was equally problem free.

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Hi,The reason I am thinking about converting from cable to hydraulic is that the first time we took the van out we had a major problem with the pedal assembly clevis pin and the bracket that the cable hooks into practically exploding and snapping ,this bracket is an obsolete part now but luckily we found one and got everything repaired and seems ok at the moment even though we haven't managed to get out yet. The problem is my wife drives it mostly and she is paranoid about the same thing happening again and is very weary about driving it . Also she has a knee problem and find the pedal very stiff to push completely to the floor to change gear. Would going hydraulic solve some of these issues. I have already got some of the parts to do this conversion.

Forgot to say it was originally a 1.6 ct but the previous owner swapped to a 2 litre cu engine but kept the bellhousing and cable clutch arrangements.

As you already have the CU engine then you wouldn’t have that much hasle converting it I don’t think .
it is a lot of work , and you may need to change the clutch , I saw many years ago a van where the engine had been changed from CT to CU and the cable clutch retained and when it came to hanger a clutch is had the smaller diameter clutch still . 
that is maybe something you wouldn’t know until you got it all to bits, but you wouldn’t be doing the job in one day 
it will involve taking the petrol tank down. 

Are you saying that because it still has the ct bellhousing and clutch cable that it might need a different size clutch, so are they different sizes. Also would the dash need to come out to fit the servo ,anything else to consider as I am starting to source the parts.

Yes it is possible it has the CT clutch still . 
I think you can change the pedal box and add the servo with out completely removing the dash, although it may prove quicker and easier to actually take it out to do it , as you will need to undo the steering column, clocks binicle and cowlings anyway . 

evertthing should bolt in ok, all the actual bodies are the same ( except turbo diesel which has a different cab floor , but that won’t affect you)

The ,gearbox is a DK code I think which has had a previous £1000 rebuild done by a reputable company Bears. I have the bill of work carr out. Could you tell from that what clutch is in the box.

Well if they were any good, they would have fitted a new clutch when they fitted the box so it should be on the bill what diameter it was , other than that , you would have to look and see when you drop the box to fit the bellhousing 

Would anything else need changing in the box, should the clutch be the larger 228mm type as I think I read that a 1.6 ct one is 215 mm.

Yes I think so , but don’t quote me , it’s years since I had anything to do with that van .
pretty sure brickwerks site will give you the info for each clutch and which is standard to what . 

 

Just like to say thanks for all your help and advice on this subject , hopefully last few questions ,Can the bellhousing and clutch be replaced with the gearbox in place or does it need to be removed and would the engine need to be dropped out aswell. The van will probably be going into my guy at the garage to get this done but just would like to know the amount of work involved. Thanks again.

You need to either drop the box or the engine , if it were me I would drop the box , but one or the other . It’s about probably less work to drop a air cooled engine than the box , because the drive shaft bolts , but you will need to disconnect the gear linkages no matter which you drop , as they will get damaged if you drop the engine with the linkages connected , and honestly it’ll be easier to change the bell housing and do the plumbing for the clutch with the gearbox out in my opinion . 

you would normally look at 4 hours labour to just change a clutch ( box out , change clutch box back in ) and you will also have the plumbing , and pedal box , res ect . 
 

Many Thanks.

YOU dont need to change the bellhousing, they are the same for cable and hydraulic, its just the lever stuff on the outside of the gearbox that gets changed, if its had got a 2ltr engine and DK gearbox the clutch should be the correct bigger one . You also dont need to take the petrol tank out. I changed an auto to manual and its just the dasboard that has to be removed.