As I was pulling into the driveway a few days ago the dreaded squish
occurred when I press the clutch pedal in. Fortunately after a
couple of pumps I was able to get enough pressure to get into first gear.
I had hoped it was just a bit of air in the system- after all, it had
taken four bleeds to firm up the brakes. Deep down I knew this was
wishful thinking. It wasn't really the same feel the brake had had. I
checked the reservoir. No noticeable change in the level. A look under
the car revealed no drips or puddles. I ran my fingers over the
recently installed new clutch slave. Dry. I gave the system another
good bleed. Squish. Sigh.
Removal of the pedal box cover confirmed my suspicion. A small dribble
of fluid was seeping past the rubber dust seal.
No surprise I suppose, since the slave cylinder I had replaced had had
fairly severe pitting in its bore. My experience with aluminum
cylinders is that pitting tends to be worst than for steel cylinders,
making them not worth the trouble to rebuild.
Okay, so maybe a brass re-sleeve was in order to cure this problem once
and for all. I sent an email off to a well known company that does this
kind of work. $225, plus $8 shipping and handling. Of course this also
included a complete rebuild of the cylinder.
It's not like these cylinders are rare and expensive. I know of four
for sure sources, and three more that I strongly suspect have them.
Prices vary from $75 to $150. Let's see $75 is 1/3 what a re-sleeve
cost. Non sleeved ones seem to last 10 years or more without much fussy
maintenance, so that's at least a 30 year supply if I buy 3. Since it's
highly unlikely I'll be driving this car for the next 30 years, I think
I'll pass on the brass re-sleeve.
Another option I am still considering is a stainless steel re-sleeve, if
it can be done for a cost more comparable to a new MC. There used to be
someone on the british-cars list who did SS re-sleeves. Anyone recall
the name of this person and if he still offers this service?
Roland
|