Cable or hydraulic clutch?

[rkl20678]

I’m just just getting started and received the whole deal yesterday. I have a 351 stroked to 408. Horsepower aplenty and a clutch and pressure plate sized for that. I ordered a mechanical set up before I found the engine. I am 70. Should I reconsider and switch to hydraulic before I start? I like to know where I am headed.

[edwardb]

You'll get lots of opinions on this. Most reflecting their personal experiences. I've had both cable and hydraulic. I can't say there was any noticeable difference in the effort. That's with a couple of caveats: (1) Use a genuine Ford clutch cable. Not the one from the kit. You'll get lower effort and a longer life. (2) Having the right size master cylinder for hydraulic. It's not necessarily one size fits all. You should be nearly to the floor when the clutch is fully disengaged. That will give the lowest effort. The clutch cable has to be smoothly routed and as far as possible from heat sources like the headers. High heat will kill them quickly. For some installations, this alone is a reason to go hydraulic. Have to say it -- there are two versions of hydraulic. The most common is an external slave that acts upon the same clutch lever as a cable setup. Another option is an internal throw-out bearing. I have a Tilton HRB in my current Gen 3 Coupe. Love it. It's smooth and noticeably lower effort. Plus adjusts automatically (like disk brakes). But those don't get a lot of love on here. I'll leave it at that. No reason to start that debate again. Just full disclosure of the options.

[Blitzboy54]

I would.

[GoDadGo]

I would.

I did.

[Mike.Bray]

I have a Tilton 6100 series hydraulic throwout bearing combined with a Tilton 13/16" master cylinder and I'm not sure I can really express how much I love it. Pedal effort is low and it is sooooo smooth to operate. I don't think about actuating a clutch unless it's really stiff or something bad but every time I drive my car I marvel at how smooth the clutch is and how much I love it. I've had cable actuated clutches before and they were okay but nothing like this.

[JMD]

I have the external hydraulic slave cylinder from Mike Forte, and absolutely love it. Perfectly weighted, not too heavy or too light. Feels like a modern sports car clutch. Super smooth, can modulate engagement well, etc. I haven't used a cable clutch in over 20 years and don't plan to.

[rthomas98]

I went cable and once I used the ford oem cable like Paul stated it is hard to tell the difference between it and a hydraulic.

[maginter]

I went cable and once I used the ford oem cable like Paul stated it is hard to tell the difference between it and a hydraulic.

What is the part number you ordered for your cable? I have an MK1 that is very high effort and I am sure it is the kit cable.

[rthomas98]

What is the part number you ordered for your cable? I have an MK1 that is very high effort and I am sure it is the kit cable.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here you go. When I was using the F5 cable it was extremely stiff made for a heck of a leg work out. The ford one got rid of all of that

[Jacob McCrea]

I have no opinion on cable vs. hydraulic but I liked being able to route the hydraulic line where it made the most sense.

[rkl20678]

You'll get lots of opinions on this. Most reflecting their personal experiences. I've had both cable and hydraulic. I can't say there was any noticeable difference in the effort. That's with a couple of caveats: (1) Use a genuine Ford clutch cable. Not the one from the kit. You'll get lower effort and a longer life. (2) Having the right size master cylinder for hydraulic. It's not necessarily one size fits all. You should be nearly to the floor when the clutch is fully disengaged. That will give the lowest effort. The clutch cable has to be smoothly routed and as far as possible from heat sources like the headers. High heat will kill them quickly. For some installations, this alone is a reason to go hydraulic. Have to say it -- there are two versions of hydraulic. The most common is an external slave that acts upon the same clutch lever as a cable setup. Another option is an internal throw-out bearing. I have a Tilton HRB in my current Gen 3 Coupe. Love it. It's smooth and noticeably lower effort. Plus adjusts automatically (like disk brakes). But those don't get a lot of love on here. I'll leave it at that. No reason to start that debate again. Just full disclosure of the options.

Lots of excellent experience shows in this response with options and why. Very helpful. Thanks!

[rkl20678]

Based on the responses I am planning on pursuing the Tilton design solution. Anyone want a FF cable assembly, cheap?

[MPTech]

I just replaced mine with adjustable clutch cable (when I installed a new clutch and pressure plate, the old one was adjusted to the max, but I needed just a LITTLE bit more).
Ford Performance Parts Clutch Cable M-7553-C302

(you can remove that big bracket that comes on the cable, I don't think it can be used on our cars and just hangs inconveniently).
Looks like the amazon version is about $10 cheaper.

[rkl20678]

Thanks for your reply. I’m sold on the Tilton. It looks like if anything goes wrong with it an engine/trans removal will be necessary to fix/replace. Not yet sure of access to pull the transmission alone.

[edwardb]

Thanks for your reply. I’m sold on the Tilton. It looks like if anything goes wrong with it an engine/trans removal will be necessary to fix/replace. Not yet sure of access to pull the transmission alone.

I couldn't happier with the Tilton 6000-Series Hydraulic Release Bearing 60-6104 in my Coupe. It's a high quality part. In it's fourth driving season and it's been flawless. Just did a couple hundred mile cruise today. Minimize chance of problems by following Tilton's installation instructions exactly (they're very clear) including the proper master cylinder sizing. Also make sure the hydraulic lines are properly routed and out of harms way. The TKO can be removed from a Roadster without pulling the engine. I've helped a friend do it and it's been documented on here multiple times. The newer/more compact TKX is maybe a little easier? A clutch R&R would also require the transmission to be dropped, I don't consider the risk of the HRB to be any worse. Maybe less.

[maginter]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here you go. When I was using the F5 cable it was extremely stiff made for a heck of a leg work out. The ford one got rid of all of that

Thanks! This helps!

[PMD24]

I've just ordered my MK4 kit and a Blueprint 347 with hydraulic throwout bearing. I'm new to all of this and reading here convinces me I made the right choice on hydraulic. But, how do I know that the clutch master cylinder kit from FFR is the right size for the Blueprint supplied bearing?

[JJK]

I have a BPE 347 with the FFR supplied hydraulic clutch MC and all works fine. It is a bit of a heavy clutch compared to modern cars but I am used to it now that my left calf is a bit larger. There have been quite some quality issues lately with the Wilwood MC's failing reported on the forum. If I were to go back in time I would replace them with Tilton MCs, but thankfully mine are fine thus far so hopefully mine were not part of any QC issues that Wilwood had. But to answer your question, the MC sizing was fine for the ITOB from the BPE supplied clutch on my TKX.

[Mike.Bray]

Do you know which HTB you're getting? Hopefully it's a Tilton in which case you need a 13/16" bore MC.