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hyrdaulic or cable clutch for a conversion?


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picked up a 1996 Legacy LSi and i'm almost positive i'm going to convert it to FWD Manual. It's an automatic AWD right now.

 

comments on whether I should convert it to cable clutch or hydraulic?

 

does anyone know whether the pedal assemblies are interchangeable between those two? in other words does a hydraulic clutch have to use a "hydraulic clutch" pedal assembly?

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right on. i was curious if anyone knew whether either set up was easier to transplant than the other...parts, etc? not real familiar with hydraulic set up and what all it entails, but i do have a complete one available.

 

and i know everyone is going to say to just buy a manual, hey that's usually my response, but that's probably not going to happen in this case. it's got the new headgaskets on it too, so i may even keep the engine!

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right on. i was curious if anyone knew whether either set up was easier to transplant than the other...parts, etc? not real familiar with hydraulic set up and what all it entails, but i do have a complete one available.

 

and i know everyone is going to say to just buy a manual, hey that's usually my response, but that's probably not going to happen in this case. it's got the new headgaskets on it too, so i may even keep the engine!

 

Gary,

My understanding is that the 2.5 clutch is "beefier" with higher clamping force on the pressure plate. As far as I know, the 2.5 was never sold with a cable clutch (hydraulic only) and I supect there's a reason for that... the cable can't take the strain? Or perhaps there's a physical interference issue? The clutch cable loops way over the cylinder head and makes a slow arc back to the trans...perhaps the larger DOHC heads or the intake manifold interferes with the route of the cable? (Just guessing here.)

 

Nathan

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Gary,

My understanding is that the 2.5 clutch is "beefier" with higher clamping force on the pressure plate. As far as I know, the 2.5 was never sold with a cable clutch (hydraulic only) and I supect there's a reason for that... the cable can't take the strain? Or perhaps there's a physical interference issue? The clutch cable loops way over the cylinder head and makes a slow arc back to the trans...perhaps the larger DOHC heads or the intake manifold interferes with the route of the cable? (Just guessing here.)

 

Nathan

 

There are people who have ran staged clutch kits(stiffer than the stock 2.5) through cable system. The hydralics is just simply for smoother opperation, and less possible breaking of stuff. I personally wonder what too subaru so long to convert them all over to hydraulic, Honda for one has been cable free since 1994 through the entire line.

 

There isn't any issue with head clearance, or anything like that, the cable doesn't come close to the heads in all reality.

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There are people who have ran staged clutch kits(stiffer than the stock 2.5) through cable system. The hydralics is just simply for smoother opperation, and less possible breaking of stuff. I personally wonder what too subaru so long to convert them all over to hydraulic, Honda for one has been cable free since 1994 through the entire line.

 

There isn't any issue with head clearance, or anything like that, the cable doesn't come close to the heads in all reality.

 

Fair enough. I'm pretty sure the reason Subaru stuck with the cable clutch is the hill-holder mechanism. I'm sure the clutch cable can take the strain of a stronger pressure plate, but could it do so for 150K miles? I'm sure there are engineering reasons (cost/durability/ ease of manufacturing) for the clutch actuation design choices that neither of us are privvy to.

 

 

 

Nathan

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