[jeffmort]

Jim-
If I understood correctly, is that a picture of Phil after winning a burnout contest with his new Tremec TKO?

Gearbanger-
As I promised Jim and some others, I will be making a crossmember for the GTO/Chevelle application (both convertible and hardtop). In fact, I have my first protoype made up - it was actually made for the 64-67 Chevelle hardtop. I have compared it to a 64-67 GTO xmemberr and it seems to be basically the same (same bends, same width, etc.). Would you be interested in doing a test fit for me? If so, you would need to do your install soon as well as provide pictures and detailed feedback to let me know if it works as is, if it needs a few tweaks, or if it doesn't fit at all (which is not likely but possible). Let me know if you are interseted.

Phil/Mr_GTO-
The challenges with the Hydraulic clutch option are these:
1) Mounting the master cylinder. If you have power brakes (power brake booster) it is very difficult to find a place to mount your clutch master cylinder as the power booster is in the way.

2) If you go the Hyd TO bearing route, these bearings tend to develop leaks if they are not frequently used. A lot of guys don't drive their muscle cars regularly. If you get a leak, that means pulling your trans to replace the damaged parts (clutch disc, bearing, etc.). I have heard of leaking TO bearings to many times already.

3) If you go the slave cylinder route (instead of Hyd. TO bearing). You will need to fabricate and weld a simple bracket to your bellhousing to mount your slave cylinder. You can't weld to a stcok GM bell but you can weld to a steel scattershield, so if you have a stock bell you will need to develop a more involved mounting system.

4) Geometery and alignment issues can be a pain in the neck. You need to properly align your master cylinder push rod between the mc and your clutch pedal - often times it is neccessary to relocate (drill) a new hole in your clutch pedal to reposition the push rod. The same concern applies to the slave cylinder alignment. An improperly installed hyd set up will have a harder pedal effort than a standard mech linkage set up.

5) A properly working mechanical linkage set up is not much harder on thepedal effort than a hyd set up and a lot of people prefer the "feel" of the mechanical set up.

6) If it matters, mecahincal linkage is least expensive, master/slave is in the midle, and master/Hyd TO bearing is most expensvie.

It is for these reasons, that my personal preference is for mechanical linkage but if I did go hydraulic I would go the master/slave route. Just take the time to learn as much as you can about how to install one of these set-ups and be prepared to run into issues during the install.