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MG MGA - Master cylinder cap

I've been looking on Ebay for a decent original cap for five or six years. The last decent one that came up went for £80!

But I can now stop looking because Cecelia (Scarborough Faire) has just taken delivery of a reproduction cap which she had arranged for a British company to manufacture.

I received one this morning and I have to say that it is superb! What a delight it is now to get rid of that offensive white plastic cap I had on mine.

They have the cone shape underneath complete with split pin in the vent hole and fibre washer and , of course, they fit!

If you want one I wouldn't delay because according to Cecelia she has sold over half the batch already. For a fiver it is a really good buy.

One thing though - it really shows up a grubby master cylinder!....................Mike





m.j. moore

Good spot Mike. I had always kept an eye out for those caps in scrap yards and autojumbles. I won't bother in future! The same thing has happened with the Lucas 494 rear light.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Hi just my nice original one complete with master cylinder top on ebay for £25


Gordon ps still got stuff on there and a bit more to come
g c pugh

Hi,

Question for mj moore, uk: Can you please tell me how to contact Cecilia at S. F. What is their email address and also their phone number. I'm after a master cylinder cap like the one you bought from them.

Tks

Frank
F. Camilleri


http://www.scarboroughfaire.4mg.com/index.htm

Siggi
Siggi

Frank, You could also get through direct at:-

cecelia@scarboroughfaire.com

I've never bothered to phone as she has always replied to e-mails within a couple of days .........................................Mike
m.j. moore


Quote: We have just recd our first shipment of caps, we had 1000 pcs made, had 100 come in last week via air and have already sold 73 of the 100 pcs. They are identical to the original with the cone pressing inside including the cotter pin and we have also included the internal fiber washer that is fitted to the inside of the cap. They are plated as well and we are selling them for $7.95 plus shipping & handling.
dominic clancy

Hi Mike

I managed to pick an NOS cap up on ebay two years ago. The caps were fitted to mini cooper master cylinders as well. I bought a complete NOS mini master cylinder and put a plastic cap on it and then re-sold it on Ebay and made a profit! So I am feeling a bit smug. It's a funny world sometimes.

Celia did have some earlier caps but they were not as good and were slightly too short.

Very good find for you though. I will feel more relaxed about leaving my cap on now. I usually put a plastic one on!

My only comment is that the original ones were not so shiny as Cecilia's so they blend in with grubby master cyclinders.

John
John Francis

I have white plastic caps on my 1600's. Not original?
Barry Bahnisch

John, It will be interesting to see if the release of these good reproductions will affect the going rate of original caps. I think if there are enough features on a reproduction to set it apart from an original part then the market price of the original will hold up. Apart from the shinyness of Cecelia's the slot on top appears different. I always thought the slot was to assist removal of a stuck cap by using a coin or a bar as a screwdriver but the slot on the repro. has sloping sides and couldn't possibly be used for this purpose.
Perhaps it was thought that with zinc plating a cap will always be easy to remove so the function of the slot is not important. From memory I think the original ones were unplated weren't they?

I suppose anyone bothered with the cap's shiny plating could always dunk it in phosphoric acid for a few minutes!

Barry, I don't think the white plastic was available in the 50s. I'm sure if it had been then BMC would have used it especially if it had been cheaper!............................Mike
So maybe original caps will still be sought after
m.j. moore

Barry, the plastic caps were original on the later cars.
M Wellard

Clausager seems to show the Twin Cam and de Luxe with the different style single MC with a black plastic cap. Difficult to be certain from the photo and no specific mention in the text. A TC owner will put us right. It would appear that our twin MCs all had metal caps.

I agree with Mike that the slot looks a bit broad. The side vent hole is larger than the original, I can just about get 2mm of a tapered pin head into mine. Does it have the second vent hole in the channel as shown in my photo? Mine does not have a split pin in the bottom hole. Should there be one?

Steve

Steve Gyles

Steve,
The Twin Cam brake master cylinder is metal.
regards
Colin

C Manley

Cheers Colin.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Steve, There's only the one vent hole on the top and the split pin is approx. 1mm diameter - (see pic).................Mike

m.j. moore

Not at the price of sending her any more of my money.
Del Rawlins

While generally not a fan of reproduction parts, this attempt seems to be quite good, although not perfect.
Attached is an original unused example, it has only one vent hole, although I have seen them with two. The "serrated" finger grip part on mine is slightly different, sharper on mine, although the repro one is same as Steve's. The cone and split pin on mine is exactly as per the reproduction cap. The slot is fairly wide with sloping sides on my example. Perhaps with more than 100,000 made over 7 years, small details changed over time. I would be happy to use it rather than the plastic replacements.
Garry

Garry Kemm

Dominic Clancy -- I wish to purchase a couple of the metal M/C caps, do I understand I can get them from you?

Frank
F. Camilleri

Hi Frank

No, you get them from cecelia@scarboroughfaire.com

Like Del I will not deal with her, because

1. I have had experiences of 200% markups (I was asked by a supplier to order from her because he had just sold a large batch to her and it would avoid me having to wait for a delivery, and he told me what his normal direct-to-end-customer price was. He was horrified when I called him back 15 minutes later to say I'd rather wait than pay her 3 times higher price (it took me that long for her to stop talking at me and give me a price).

2. I have also experienced poor quality on the very few parts she has supplied to me. Trying to get a refund is a joke, you just get talked at again with no attempt to resolve the issue or even accept that she may have sold garbage - I eventually hung up and just did a chargeback on my credit card and let them deal with the bull she assumes is adequate for customer service.

Caveat emptor
dominic clancy

Thanks Dominic, I have just sent an email to Ceceila with an enquiry of the availability & total cost, plus shipping, of qty 2 caps.

Rgds

Frank
F. Camilleri

This thread was discussed between 03/07/2012 and 12/07/2012

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