Clutch bleed pipe and nipple nut sizes?

[Juddder]

Can anyone remember or help me out with what size spanners I should be using to loosen the clutch bleed pipe nipple from the clutch bleed pipe please?

For the nipple, 6mm is too small and 7mm is too big, which leaves me fearful of stripping the nut = world of pain

6mm



7mm



and the pipe nut has the same issue in that a 14mm is too small, and a 15mm too big which again could round off the nuts = more world of pain

14mm



15mm



I'm guessing that must mean they are imperial sizes, but that would seem strange on a car build in 1996 or so?

Thanks

[Juddder]

I'm going to hazard a guess that these nuts are imperial as

1/4 INCH = 6.35 MM

And

9/16 INCH = 14.29 MM

But if anyone can confirm that would be great

[Basil Brush]

Juddder said:

I'm guessing that must mean they are imperial sizes, but that would seem strange on a car build in 1996 or so?

There's a mixture of metric and imperial fasteners across all the later cars.

[notaping]

Just checked Alex - you're correct on both accounts. Tried sockets on both and they're a snug fit. Also thanks for making me look - it's time I replaced that bleed nipple before I really need to use it. Looks like it might snap at first twist.

[Byker28i]

Was about to say it's imperial, it's an AF Spanner fits mine

[Juddder]

notaping said:

Just checked Alex - you're correct on both accounts. Tried sockets on both and they're a snug fit. Also thanks for making me look - it's time I replaced that bleed nipple before I really need to use it. Looks like it might snap at first twist.

Great, thanks everyone for verifying for me and Gordon for physically checking.

I've ordered some imperial spanners as I only have imperial sockets and then my plan is to use a spanner on the larger bottom pipe lock nut to hold it in place, and a socket on the top bleed nut

I've been dousing the whole thing in penetration fluid for the last few days, so hopefully a very gentle twist of the socket on the top will allow it to come lose

My plan is to move the car to the garage before doing this, just in case the bleed nipple is anything like the brake ones (*which had to be sent away to be drilled out and rethreaded after two of the nipples sheared trying to bleed the brakes...)

[FarmyardPants]

I am amazed that there are any cerb owners (let alone two of them) that have never bled the clutch before

[itsallyellow]

I Just use a pair of mole grips on the bottom nut, then a socket on the actual bleed nut. Much easier that way

[Juddder]

itsallyellow said:

I Just use a pair of mole grips on the bottom nut, then a socket on the actual bleed nut. Much easier that way

Nice - thanks for the tip!

[Juddder]

[Notes for my future self...]

To be on the safe side I did multiple rounds of penetration fluid on the join between the bleed nipple and the clutch bleed pipe and left each one for a few days to soak in each time.

Using the ring end of a 9/16" spanner I held the bottom two nuts in place and used a 1/4" socket over the bleed nipple itself to get a good grip on that and then _very_ gently applied light pressure on the socket wrench to untwist the bleed nipple from it's pipe

The good news is all of this paid off and the bleed nipple came out all fine, so I unscrewed it all the way and applied it with copper grease to make it easier to undo the next time I want to do this job

Now I just need to bleed the clutch as per some really good suggestions on this forum, and then hopefully that will get my clutch back to working like normal again and not have it clunking the gears and proving difficult to change gear





One question I did have for those more knowledgeable with how TVR built these pipes is that if it did all go wrong and the bleed nipple snapped in situ, could you unbolt the small grey hose connector on the end of the braided hose and replace the top bleeding part with a replacement?

[FarmyardPants]

In theory you should be able to replace the entire bleed hose and all the fittings that come with it. The hose screws into the bell housing.

[Juddder]

FarmyardPants said:

In theory you should be able to replace the entire bleed hose and all the fittings that come with it. The hose screws into the bell housing.

Great - thanks for that and good to know

[FarmyardPants]

Juddder said:

FarmyardPants said:

In theory you should be able to replace the entire bleed hose and all the fittings that come with it. The hose screws into the bell housing.

Great - thanks for that and good to know

Out of stock at Motaclan, mind:

https://motaclan.com/product/hose-clutch-bleed-ce-...