Which clutch master cylinder ?

[dickyoldchap]

Hi, where does the clutch master cylinder come from ? it looks like something from a Dolomite I used to have. car is E reg 390SE.
cheers, Richard.

[shpub]

Over the years many cars have been quoted as replacements but as for the accuracy, not totally convinced.

The body of the cylinder is a standard ish Girling cylinder and has been used on a large number of cars.
That's the easy part...

The internal bore is either 0.65, 0.7 or in some cases 0.75 inches.
The pipe fitting may well be a TVR specific - they have used JIC-4 threaded connectors which are not exactly common.
The push rod also varied a bit.

The choice is either:

get one from a TVR source - which will be a straight replacement with less agro.

or

get a generic one with the correct bore size and be prepared to change the master-slave pipe and swap the push rod over.

[.Woody]

I got mine from TVR Carparts direct swap over, usually I heard the pushrod needs to come off your old one as the length is never right, but with TVR car parts it was spot on at £51.75+vat. I initially ordered one from Merlin, but the pipe fitting was a different size, so couldnt be used unless I changed the pipe size, the piston size is 0.7". If you need help in fitting it Ive got 3 continuing dummy guides in here from a couple of months back!

[dickyoldchap]

Am hoping to get a repair kit rather than buying the whole thing. has only done 40k, so the bore should be ok.

Will take the master cylinder off and take it to local auto-factor for checking

[Wedg1e]

dickyoldchap said:

Am hoping to get a repair kit rather than buying the whole thing. has only done 40k, so the bore should be ok.

Will take the master cylinder off and take it to local auto-factor for checking

Wouldn't count on it. TVR in their finite wisdom had the pushrod working at a funny angle that tends to push the piston off-centre and wears the bore oval. You can change the seals, it'll work for... oh, days, I daresay, then it'll leak again.
My car (E reg 390SE) m/cyl is marked with the casting number 64676310 and '70' which means it's a 0.7" bore. Cross-ref in the Girling catalogue suggests it was also used on the Lotus Cortina and some Lotus Esprits.
Seal kit (SP2102) was about a fiver last time I bought one. But before you do, pull the piston, whip the seals off it and drop the piston back in. Once it's about 1/4 to 1/2 inch in you may see vertical ovality of the bore.

[DerbyCountyMark]

I've just replaced mine, and went through just the same path as the one your are describing. I started by replacing the rubbers only for fluid to dribble out of the revamped cylinder almost as soon as I put it back in the car. I also found that the cylinder in the car had a different thread to the one sourced from TVR car parts, but that they were able to supply a replacement nut. In summary, the money spent on the kit was a complete waste...

[.Woody]

DerbyCountyMark said:

I also found that the cylinder in the car had a different thread to the one sourced from TVR car parts,

Interesting?
Mine was from them and it was a straight swap.

[tempus]

Go to Past Parts,they re-bore and sleeve old unit (with stainless steel)fit and forget.Tempus

[DerbyCountyMark]

I suspect that the cylinder which was in my car was a bodge from way back when, and that the replacement part was as it should be.