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Re: Clutch hydraulics (a wee bit long)

To: pplusb@northlink.com, spridgets@Autox.Team.Net
Subject: Re: Clutch hydraulics (a wee bit long)
From: "Editors, Molecular Vision" <jboatri@emory.edu>
Date: Mon, 24 Nov 1997 11:13:21 -0400
Reply-to: "Editors, Molecular Vision" <jboatri@emory.edu>
Sender: owner-spridgets@Autox.Team.Net
Bill,

I don't know if spridget clutch hydraulics are the same, but I went through
_exactly_ what you describe. For mine, it turned out that it was a bleeding
problem. I went through everything that you describe, then I finally built
my own ezebleed to provide pressure at the master cylinder. This is very
important. Supplying pressure at the slave cylinder with the MightyVac is
(IMO) exactly the wrong thing to do. When I did this, I lost what little
gains I'd achieved prior to the ezebleed. All of the operations you
describe (rebuilding slave cylinder, replacing master cylinder, etc)
introduce massive amounts of air into the system, and, because of the way
the clutch line runs (basically an "S"), getting rid of all the air is
difficult, IMO.

Making an ezebleed is really, really easy. The toughest part is gathering
the parts at the hardware store. Once I had the parts, I assembled it in 15
min. In less than 30 mins I had bled the slave cylinder and all four brake
cylinders and lines. Total cost was about 8 bucks.

Go to the URL below for complete instructions. One pointer though: put the
brake fluid resevoir in a cardboard box or some such. The first ezebleed I
made, I used a cheapo plastic bottle. It ruptured when I pressurized the
system and I lost a little paint in the engine compartment. Had no problems
with the second bottle, which was glass. Also note that mc caps are rough
thread. There are probably many bottles in your garage that will substitute
for the spare mc cap that will be required to build the ezebleed. I used a
cap from a bottle of Marvel Mystery Oil. I bought an O ring that fits
snuggly in it to keep pressure from releasing.

http://www.mgcars.org.uk/cambs.mgoc/tips.htm


Good luck and let me know how it works out.

Jeff

...
>Decided to get the B out of the way first - it has had marginal
>operation twice in the last month or so, which was improved by adding
>fluid to the reservoir, so a slave cylinder rebuild seemed in order.
>Did that, then a few other things, gravity bled the circuit.  Lowered
>the lift, started her up, and no clutch!
>My friend was there, so I climbed beneath while he played with the
>pedal - only marginal movement of the actuating rod, so we bled it
>the old fashioned way - and ended up with NO movement at the rod!
>Tried everything in the book, including backfeeding with the pressure
>side of my Mighty-Vac...
>Finally wrapped tie wire on the offending tube joint in
>th eMighty-Vac system and got just enough to barely use the clutch.
...The clutch worked all the way - marginally, but it
>worked!
...
>Anybody have any other theories -PLEASE?
>TIA,
>
>Bill

____________________________________________________________
Jeff Boatright          '65 Sprite Mk III           __@_\__
http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~jboatri/sprite/sprite.html



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