Convert manualgearbox to auto operation without removing gearbox
Submitted: Monday, Jul 18, 2005 at 16:03
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Willem
Some time ago I found a company in
Perth who imported a device which would depress the clutch via a switch on the gear stick so that you did not have to use your left foot. I received some paperwork through the mail but have misplaced it(read thrown out with other rubbish).
Question 1 Does anyone know of such a company and what their name is?
Question 2 Can anyone suggest a method to fascilitate something like this.
This would be the easier option than to convert to an automatic gearbox
Reply By: fatz - Monday, Jul 18, 2005 at 18:03
Monday, Jul 18, 2005 at 18:03
Willem, I did this about twenty years ago on a mates car and it was fairly crude. He was injured in an accident and we set it up to do him for a couple of weeks while he recovered. we discovered afterwards that he used if for about two years.
I'm not sure how it would go off road, but reckon if it was installed properly it would be allright.
We used a "throw out" solanoid off a starter motor to operate the clutch, connected through a relay to a pushbutton on the top of the gearstick. Fitting it was trickey as we had to make up a couple of brackets and get it in the right place to throw out far enough. Mind you we did all this in a night with a slab of cans under our belt.
Might work for you, and is a cheap option if you know someone who is handy with a welder.
Mick
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Follow Up By: Willem - Monday, Jul 18, 2005 at 18:24
Monday, Jul 18, 2005 at 18:24
Thanks Mick. I have heard of that method. It is definitely an option to look at.
Yes I always make sure I know someone with a Stick or Mig welder :o)
And I butter them up regularly!
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Reply By: Michael Carey - Monday, Jul 18, 2005 at 19:27
Monday, Jul 18, 2005 at 19:27
I used to go out with an amputee a while ago. She used to change gears in my old Hilux without the clutch! She had a real knack of sliding them in smoothly, adjusting the engine revs to match, but the starts and stops were a bit scary!
Her father made a clutch lever for an
old car that was on the gear shift. She handled this quite
well too, but bought an auto when she got a
well paying job.
AnswerID:
120987
Reply By: imr700x - Tuesday, Jul 19, 2005 at 14:29
Tuesday, Jul 19, 2005 at 14:29
G'day Willem
I know that this is a little late but I used to do those sort of conversions years ago in NZ for para's when auto's were really thin on the ground and extremely expensive. I used to convert the clutch throw out to an hydraulic slave cylinder, ifn it wasn't already , then used a VH 40 remote brake booster connected to the slave cylinder to operate the clutch throwout. A starter solenoid connected to the input side of the master cylinder then had enough power to operate even the heaviest of clutchs. The solenoid was operated from a switch on the top of the gear lever, just a simple push button that disengaged the clutch as soon as you put your hand on it. Also, sometimes , depending on the usage I used to incorporate a flow control constrictor to regulate how fast the the clutch engaged, good for start ups . All this work can be done with the average
tools in most 4x4 owners sheds. Hope this can be of some help
Dennis
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121111
Follow Up By: Willem - Tuesday, Jul 19, 2005 at 18:48
Tuesday, Jul 19, 2005 at 18:48
Thanks for your imput, Dennis. I am taking everything on board and will look at the options and ideas soon. The good thing about your system is that you can still operate the clutch manually
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