Hand controlls For CJ2A

Stock CJ2A?

Edited by Stev - 01 Nov. 2017 at 10:59pm

Sorry guys,

Jannie - I am revising my first post.  I have the transfer case levers reversed.  The in and out of 4 wheel drive is the middle lever and the passenger side lever is the High and Low range.

Stev wrote: Jannie - I am revising my first post.  I have the transfer case levers reversed.  The in and out of 4 wheel drive is the middle lever and the passenger side lever is the High and Low range. Again, all the best to your and your friend. Stev

I was going to mention it but sometimes I just in my corner to watch the show.
I can't help you much with the hand throttle and choke as my MB and 3B aren't the same as a 2A.

Edited by Unkamonkey - 01 Nov. 2017 at 11:52pm

I agree that making a clutch work with some kind of hand control would be quite difficult.  It might be easier to convert to an automatic transmission--not that that would be exactly easy, but maybe easier.

Thank you for all the I'm put.  The whole idea is not to modify the Jeep at all for an able body driver. It is still stock standard down to the side valve engine.  I was thinking along the lines of using a Toyota Corollas hydraulic clutch system(which is nice and compact) and to assist that with a vacuum cylinder. The idea is to fit that parallel to the existing clutch system.  To enable him to keep both hands as long as possible on the wheel I want to fit a ring behind the steering wheel. for accelerator and brakes. The Clutch should operate from a trigger right underneath the gear knob. Please keep the think tank going.

Jannie, Back in the early 1970s VW came out with an "Automatic Stick Shift" in the bugs. it was essentially a vacuum operated clutch that was activated by moving the shift lever a little bit. You might research those. The vacuum came from the intake manifold. When the engine got tired, the vacuum also got tired & would not operate the clutch correctly. The fix was to either rebuild the engine, or to convert to a standard clutch. Most folks chose the latter.

I always thought that a vacuum pump would be another solution, but I could not find any back then that would fit an air cooled VW engine. Note: adding a vacuum pump to a Willys should not be too hard. Almost any diesel powered car will have a vacuum pump to operate the heater controls.

Oh yea, I just recalled, Rambler in 1962 had something similar. My dad had one & he hated it. So he had me convert it to a standard clutch. After he left my shop happy, I took the slave cylinder apart. The leather seal had a tear in it. Heck, I could have fixed it easier & cheaper if he had let me look into it.

Back in the 1950s both Dodge & Plymouth had stick shift cars that, while they had clutches, they also had torque converters between the flywheel & the transmission input shaft. I think that they were called "Fluid Drive". At one time I owned one Dodge & one Plymouth with this arrangement. I never had to fix anything on them, they just worked.

IIRC, One could start the rig in first or reverse gear while holding the brake, & then to drive away, you just let off on the brake. I up shifted & down shifted without using the clutch pedal. It would go into the proper gear with a little help from the syncros. To shift from first to reverse & visa versa, I came to a complete stop & quickly moved the shift lever to the desired gear. This worked every time for me. I could not speed shift, without using the clutch, but I guess your friend would not be too concerned about that. Again, no issues with the syncros failing prematurely.

I do not know if any of this helps, but it may be something to look into.

Linear actuators are easily available but finding one with the correct speed, torque and throw would take a little research. Basically an electric motor and a threaded rod. Making it work along with the stock setup would be a little challenging.

If you could setup the actuator to pull on the original linkage it would be relatively simple, we put a hand throttle lever on a tractor this way. Attach the actuator to the linkage with a short piece of chain, when it pulls it moves the clutch, when the clutch pedal is pushed the chain just goes slack and does not interfere, very simple and works great. With the piece of chain mounting the actuator does not have to be quite as fussy.