Sandy said:
BillD-
What do the Pantera folks use? Worth a call to the local Pantera shops in SoCal they may have just what you need.
Sandy
Almost all the Pantera shops HATE the internal hydraulic throwout bearing; they have all gone over to stock-replacement, longer-throw external slave cylinders, after having repeated failures of the internal style. The only current proponent (and the original proponent) is Dennis Quella of Pantera Performance Center.
I have one in my Pantera, and it has functioned well enough over the years (although admittely my project car has only seen about 500 miles of driving in the past 12 years). Dennis' bearing has gone through at least two design changes/improvements since he first introduced them to the Pantera marketplace about 15-20 years ago. The first two styles were plagued with design defects that led to failure (in some cases, speedy failure); the latest-generation piece has been in service for at least 12-14 years, apparently with much improved reliability.
I believe, but am not sure, that he uses Mcleod (sp). I also have a Tilton in my Cobra replica. The original one (manufacturer unknown) blew up big-time, apparently due to being over-extended (that is, the bearing was mismatched with the clutch, which required more throw than the bearing could safely deliver). I wound up replacing the clutch and got a new bearing at the same time; it involved a fair bit of conversation with the Tilton tech line to ensure I got the right one for the job. It, too, has been working perfectly now for about seven years.
Do all the GT40 replicas out there rely on these things, or do some of them use an external slave system? For that matter, what did the originals use?