[400 4spd.]

So here is the deal. A few years ago I restored a 1968 Firebird for a customer. It is an original 400/4 speed car. Soon after completion, the owner had a medical condition that required removal of his lower left leg.
He wants to retain the 4 speed instead of going with an automatic. Can someone here offer an alternative situation? I'll be looking at hydraulic set ups as an option to a mechanical arrangement.

[einstein]

Originally Posted by 400 4spd.

So here is the deal. A few years ago I restored a 1968 Firebird for a customer. It is an original 400/4 speed car. Soon after completion, the owner had a medical condition that required removal of his lower left leg.
He wants to retain the 4 speed instead of going with an automatic. Can someone here offer an alternative situation? I'll be looking at hydraulic set ups as an option to a mechanical arrangement.

There's a guy, paraplegic, who last I met with him 15 or so years ago; he was living in New Smyrna Beach. He restored a couple 442's, I think at least one of them was featured in Muscle Car Review years back. I recall one having a four speed for which he built a set of hand controls. He had a ZR-1 Corvette (mid-80s, wide body?) that he also invented some sort of electronic shifter mechanism that he may have patented. Search for Bill Streeter.

[Sirrotica]

I found this on the net;

https://www.beneficialdesigns.com/pr...hand-controls/

I don't know if this is something that could help out, or not?

It says it requires good dexterity, and arm strength.

The only other thing I could think of is a switch on the shifter (maybe activated by something like a motorcycle clutch handle) and an electric motor, and pump to assist a hydraulic clutch. Would require a bunch of fabrication to get it all working though. A rheostat could make it apply at a variable rate? Just trying to brainstorm something.

[wbnapier]

Lower left leg - what prosthetic if any is he using? Maybe, with a good prosthetic and a hydraulic clutch, he can operate as normal?

[OG68]

Originally Posted by Sirrotica

The only other thing I could think of is a switch on the shifter (maybe activated by something like a motorcycle clutch handle) and an electric motor, and pump to assist a hydraulic clutch. Would require a bunch of fabrication to get it all working though. A rheostat could make it apply at a variable rate? Just trying to brainstorm something.

Along those lines look into what Volkswagen/Porsche had in the '60s with their semi-automatic. A slight pressure on the ball when shifting closed an internal switch located in the shifter. That switch would activate an electric vacuum valve above the bell housing which in turn operated the clutch linkage. IIRC this was developed by Porsche to assist disabled war veterans.

My wife had one in her Karmann Ghia which she loved to drive without the hassle of operating a clutch pedal.

[JLBIII]

Thanks for trying to help out your customer. I'm a BK amputee on my right leg so my problem is different than his. One of the biggest things I found was loss of ankle movement. My prostheses allows some ankle movement but not a lot. Couple things. What's his range of motion and strenth of left leg? Has your customer tried to work the clutch pedal to identify any problems or issues? That should give you a start point. Sounds like he has a positive attitude which is a big help. Please feel free to to PM me or pass my contact info to your customer.
John

["QUICK-SILVER"]

Originally Posted by JLBIII

Thanks for trying to help out your customer. I'm a BK amputee on my right leg so my problem is different than his. One of the biggest things I found was loss of ankle movement. My prostheses allows some ankle movement but not a lot. Couple things. What's his range of motion and strenth of left leg? Has your customer tried to work the clutch pedal to identify any problems or issues? That should give you a start point. Sounds like he has a positive attitude which is a big help. Please feel free to to PM me or pass my contact info to your customer.
John

Depending on what device, if any, and customers upper leg strength,,, might could use the factory clutch linkage by adding on to the clutch pedal. Like a heel shaped pedal extension that drops down and back towards the driver. That would make for less pedal effort applied by the heel of a prosthetic device.

Clay

[Elarson]

If he can work a pedal but needs lighter load, two possibilities come to mind:

1) switch to a dual disk clutch because they need less pedal effort to achieve the necessary torque capacity. Most of them need a deeper bellhousing but I think the McLeod will fit in a stock bellhousing.

2) I worked on a Ford 1-ton truck many years ago that had an over-center spring arrangement on the clutch pedal. When the pedal was up, the spring was pushing the pedal up. Part way thru the pedal travel, the spring went past center and started assisting in pushing the pedal down. That would take a bunch of fabrication to recreate that, but it's good to put all ideas on the table.

Hope this helps,
Eric

[400 4spd.]

Thanks for all of the responses, they are all helpful. And I realize I should have given more information in my first post. My customer does wear a prosthetic leg, but I can't describe the design/type that it is. He called me last week to say he had finally driven the car (on his farm property) for the first time since the surgery, and that it was a bit painful to operate the clutch because of the pressure it required. Without going through the receipts I'm pretty sure I put a Ram brand diaphragm clutch in it.
Because he lives an hour and a half away, I think I'll go and visit him to see what his limitations are and talk about some possibilities.

[Goatracer1]

How about a hydraulic clutch and a power brake booster. A very small booster could be modified to accept a clutch master cylinder making it very easy to apply.

[JLBIII]

Originally Posted by 400 4spd.

Thanks for all of the responses, they are all helpful. And I realize I should have given more information in my first post. My customer does wear a prosthetic leg, but I can't describe the design/type that it is. He called me last week to say he had finally driven the car (on his farm property) for the first time since the surgery, and that it was a bit painful to operate the clutch because of the pressure it required. Without going through the receipts I'm pretty sure I put a Ram brand diaphragm clutch in it.
Because he lives an hour and a half away, I think I'll go and visit him to see what his limitations are and talk about some possibilities.

Sounds like this is a fairly recent amputation. The end of the stump will take some time to heal depending on his health and the skill of the surgeon who did the amputation and sewed the flap on. There are a lot of nerve endings looking for something that isn't there anymore. I can tell you mine took a little while to heal and "toughen up". Find out if this is a temporary prosthetic or his permanent one. If it's his permanent one he should fit into the socket without any discomfort. If it's his permanent one he may need an adjustment or two to the socket especially if it's his first one. His stump will change a lot the first year or two. If it's causing him pain to work the clutch he should talk to his prothetist also. We made a lot of adjustments to my 1st one so it would be more comfortable to me to walk, hike, ride a bike, etc. On my 3rd one now. My amputation happened 7 years ago on Dec 22. I'm 67 now and don't let it slow me down. Best of luck to your customer!

[400 4spd.]

Originally Posted by Goatracer1

How about a hydraulic clutch and a power brake booster. A very small booster could be modified to accept a clutch master cylinder making it very easy to apply.

Tight quarters for an added booster. I've used hydraulic clutch set ups on Tremec conversions where an automatic was pulled out, so I don't have any "same car" mechanical vs. hydraulic comparisons to rely on. Does swapping mechanical to hydraulic reduce pedal effort?

[Sirrotica]

Pedal effort can be reduced by sizing different bores on the master and slave, but it's a tradeoff. Reducing the pedal effort also increases the stroke, no free lunch when you're doing a certain job requiring X amount of lbs to move, requires Y amount of energy.

It just gets there by either a long stroke with less effort, or a short stroke with more effort. The same amount of energy is required either way. It's just simple physics.

The assisted power from say a power steering pump, or as I first posted an electric pump. There is also a way to pulse an electric over hydraulic valve electronically causing a dwell reading, or so much time open that can slow down, or speed up a hydraulic action.

It can be done, but depending upon how much time and money the customer, and you is willing to expend. I guess it boils down to how much assist he's going to need with his condition. The equipment needed is going to vary upon how much physical effort he can put into each clutch disengagement/engagement continually. Stop and go could be a nightmare in this situation, and require much more assist than just a leisurely drive in the country.

One other thing is if he float shifts after getting the car moving he's going to do a lot less clutching. Having driven big trucks for a few years, it takes some getting used to, to float shift, but of the 2 trucks I own with manual transmissions, I only use the clutch to start and stop, if he gets fairly proficient at float shifting you can kick the vehicle into neutral when stopping saving some more clutch effort.

The electric hydraulic pump used in outboard boats to raise and lower the engine/drive unit would be plenty to run a hydraulic clutch.

[padgett]

Saxomat used an automagic clutch that disengaged when the shift lever was pressed. Was quite sensitive. How could anything used in the Trabant go rong ?

[Mr Anonymous]

hydraulic clutch slave cylinder with a variable speed hydraulic pump with a constant, small diameter bleed orifice. I would think that speeding up and slowing down the pump would work with the "bypass" bleed orifice to give the sensitivity needed.

Just spitballin' here.

[Sirrotica]

Originally Posted by Mr Anonymous

hydraulic clutch slave cylinder with a variable speed hydraulic pump with a constant, small diameter bleed orifice. I would think that speeding up and slowing down the pump would work with the "bypass" bleed orifice to give the sensitivity needed.

Just spitballin' here.

Dave, that was one of my theories too, a constant bleed off orifice, and a variable speed pump, ( reason I mentioned a rheostat in the previous post) or a modulated dump valve, either could work. Either way the volume would need to be varied to apply and slowly retract an assisted cylinder for clutch operation.

Take both ideas, and decide which would be simpler/cheaper to institute based upon the needs of the customer, space considerations, parts availability, etc. etc.

FWIW, I mentioned this post to my wife, who is an RN, and a patient advocate for Medicare and insurance patients. She had some ideas of who could assist the customer as far as agencies. I'm sure she would be happy to reach out as far as, who might be able to assist in making the customers idea a reality.

[jhein]

I would think that working with a good prosthetist and Occupational Therapist would be at least as important, if not more so, than anything else.

[SRR]

What about a TH400 with a full manual valve body, still needs to be shifted but no clutch to deal with.

[tom s]

I have had two cars with hyd bearing clutch setup.Never found them more EZ to push in.Still driving one of them today.FWIW,Tom

[A Shift Too Far]

Originally Posted by 400 4spd.

So here is the deal. A few years ago I restored a 1968 Firebird for a customer. It is an original 400/4 speed car. Soon after completion, the owner had a medical condition that required removal of his lower left leg.
He wants to retain the 4 speed instead of going with an automatic. Can someone here offer an alternative situation? I'll be looking at hydraulic set ups as an option to a mechanical arrangement.

A good friend of mine brought this thread to my attention.
First I want to compliment the guys posting on this thread for the creative ideas they have provided. In one form or another I have explored most of them.

We are currently working on a fourth generation of a hand operated clutch to operate a clutch as normal. In other words smooth operation with easy lift off or to power shift. I achieved this in a 1990 ZR-1 using a modified hydra boost unit backed up to the factory master cylinder with some fabricated additional leverage. That unit sat in place of the battery which was moved onboard into a storage compartment behind the seat similar to the older Vettes. This system worked well and the car was driven 17,000 miles.
Next was a 2006 Z06. The power assist used was a vacuum booster (modified) backed up to the OE master cylinder. I removed the windshield washer jar which is located inside the fender liner behind the front left tire. This system was a much easier and cleaner install and took advantage of the extra space. 27,000 miles driven. It worked so nice that I repeated it in a 2013 427 with another 4,000 miles driven.
Some general information. On the ZR-1 it uses a slave cylinder. Pressure on the clutch pedal is 35 to 38 pounds. The Z06 uses a hydraulic release bearing and the pedal effort is 22 to 24 pounds at the pedal. Ultimately using a hand clutch you need to bring this down to just a few pounds of squeezing your fingers just a couple of inches or less. Remember that even at 22-24 at the pedal there is another eleven inches or so of leverage with that pedal going to the master cylinder.
My goals of installation have always been minimally or non invasive to the cars using existing bolt holes and cavities under the hood/ body and the same for inside the car. I wanted as little seen as possible no matter where it was. Keeping the cars with a normal clean look.
Recently I picked up a 1969 427 roadster and there is a new set of space constraints. I have been very fortunate as another good friend of mine an accomplished engineer is helping with a new design set up. Being a finance guy myself he has gone way over my head with whiz bang technology. Our project is currently held up like everything else waiting on shipments. Once perfected in the next couple of months we are hoping to be able to provide a kit for installation. This unit will be electro hydraulic and take up minimal space.
Lastly these are not cheap installations to achieve. The materials cost alone in each of these cases approaches $2k depending on needs, this does not include labor. Each of the units I have built allowed the option of driving the car normally or driving the car with the hand clutch, requiring two onboard OE master cylinders.
So far I have only built these for myself. If we are successful in putting a kit together in this latest gen build then we would have them for outside interest.
Please feel free to private message if I can help further.
Bill