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MG MGB Technical - Clutch slave and hose replacement

It was bound to happen. First nice day of the year, wife out for the day, household chores completed - time to get the B out of hibernation! Foot on the clutch, straight to the floor with no resistance. Sigh...

No fluid in the master, but plenty around the outside of the slave cylinder! The slave obviously needs replacing and access is pretty good once up on axle stands, but the flexible hose to the slave is also looking quite nasty. It's not leaking, but there are fairly deep cracks on the outside so it would seem silly not to change it at the same time as the slave.

The car's a '66 GT with a 3-syncro gearbox and inertia starter. Does anyone know how easy it is to change the hose? Access to the top of it looks pretty tight, and there is talk in the archives of having to remove the starter to gain access. I ache badly enough from just getting under the car to take a look so if it's a real pig of a job I may just try refilling the system, bleeding it and nursing it up the road to the nearest specialist!

Many thanks,
Tim
T Jenner

Wise to change the hose, in any case you will probably find that the thread start in the new slave is in a different place to the old. Really this means slackening the pipe and bracket nuts to avoid a twist in the hose. As that will bend the hose in a different direction to how it has been for donkey's years, it will probably split quite soon anyway.

It's a pig, at the very least you will need to remove the starter. Spanners are funny sizes, plus new parts not the same size as the originals. You may have to cut the hose off below the chassis bracket, then grind away the lower hex until the remainder of the fitting and the pipe can be pulled up then down to attack the pipe to hose nut.

It's much easier with the engine out ...
Paul Hunt

By cutting the hose, letting the fitting soak overnight in penetrating oil and using a deep drive socket to remove the locknut, the job can be made a lot easier. Install the new slave cylinder, making certain that the hose goes into the lower hole of the slave for correct bleeding. The hard line can now be installed using a crowsfoot wrench. This makes the task much easier. RAY
rjm RAY

Many thanks, both. Wish I'd had this done when a new clutch was fitted 5 years ago!

Sounds like the main problem is access to the connection between the rigid and flex lines which is above the bracket. I think I'll see if I can fill and keep enough fluid in the system to drive to the local garage, otherwise I'll buy some crows feet and use Ray's technique.

Thanks,
Tim
T Jenner

"making certain that the hose goes into the lower hole of the slave"

Usually shipped with the bleed nipple in the wrong hole.

Also check that the bleed nipple is clear, unlike in a rear brake slave I fitted last year.
Paul Hunt

Load up on Osteo-Panadol before you tackle the job!
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

Had a good look last night and decided that with the state of the connections (nasty) and the access I have (poor - a pair of not especially high axle stands and a cramped garage) it would be best left to someone else to worry about! I refilled and bled the system (remarkably easy with an Ezee-Bleed) and will repeatedly exercise the clutch and leave it for a few days to see how much it loses. If it looks like it will make it to the specialist I'll let them sort it, if it doesn't I'll try either replacing or refurbing the old slave and hoping the flexible hose will last long enough to get the specialist to replace it!

Many thanks,
Tim
T Jenner

Tim,
as long as the clutch isn't stuck on you'll make it to a garage for them to do it, just get the engine fully warmed up before you start the journey and miss out out unnecessary gear changes and use the torque of the engine

I'm a big believer in paying out 'hassle money', i.e. I pay some one else to have the hassle I don't want

I loathe doing anything other than driving the a car and if I still had the money I'd pay someone else to do what few minor jobs I do no my car

I greased the front suspension and handbrake on my car the other day and what an unrewarding, joyless load of very messy hassle that was for a minor job
Nigel Atkins

Funny....

Number 1 rule in my Handbook states do all repairs on your car yourself to save money.

Number 2 states knowledge is power.

Number 3 states doing your own work builds character...I guess we have enough of those already!

Number 4 states when in doubt see rule number 1

Goodluck how ever it gets fixed Gents and most of all enjoy the ride! :-)
Steven Devine

I found easy access to the top hose fitting by first removing the starter. My car is a 1973 with LHD so I don't know if that is applicable in your case.
R. K. Marcks

"as long as the clutch isn't stuck on you'll make it to a garage"

Not sure what you mean by 'stuck on'. As long as the clutch is still engaged, you can start in gear and do clutchless upward changes pretty easily - BT, DT. Downward changes are a bit more tricky.

The right-hand rack-shaft complicates matters, but it's not that difficult to pull the rack out of the way. I've only had to do this on the V8 and that was very straight-forward.

"Number 3 states doing your own work builds character...I guess we have enough of those already!"

Came across a great quote in a 2011 book about a 5000 mile solo ride through South Africa on a classic British bike by Steve Wilson - "Short Way Up". It was originally written by Peter Egan about bikes, but I think it applies equally well to our cars:

"We call them British, but they aren't British at all. They are Greek, in the classic dramatic sense, like the men and Gods in Homer. Beautiful, spirited, heroic, flawed, and full of fateful games that measure hubris against honour, and seek to test our tenacity and sense of adventure. They are here to see what we are made of, not to be our friends."
Paul Hunt

This thread was discussed between 11/03/2014 and 15/03/2014

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