Kevin wrote:
>>I had a problem shifting into all gears on my 77' Spit 1500. It was like
>>the clutch wasn't completely disengaging and I had to force the shifter
>>through the gates and into gear. My master cylinder was leaking a lot, so
>>I replaced the seals. Then it was leaking just a little but the shifting
>>only improved marginally. Then I bought a used master cylinder from Dan
>>Carey (Thanks, Dan!). I honed and cleaned the cylinder, put new seals in
>>and . . . it shifts even worse than before!
>>
>>I get the idea that honing out the cylinder was a stupid thing to do
>>because now I think that I have an internal leak in the master cylinder and
>>that fluid is getting around the piston and not actuating the slave
>>cylinder far enough to disengage the clutch. Is this possible? Has anyone
>>else had this problem? I have not touched the slave cylinder at this
>>point, but could this be happening at the slave cylinder too?
This is coming from a guy who has rebuilt ELEVEN clutch master cylinders
and slave cylinders on the same car, although not a Spitfire. There truly
is no substitute for doing things RIGHT. However, as I learned, sometimes
you have to do things BETTER than right to really fix the problem. In my
case, I replaced with NEW the master cylinder in my TR6 a couple of times,
and EVEN THOSE didn't fix the problem, and in fact went South in an
alarmingly short period of time. At this point I'm convinced that sending
my cylinders off to have them resleeved with brass is the only way to go!!
(Although I've not done it yet)
The master cylinders are aluminum, which appears to wear very, very
quickly. Luckily, on the TR6 anyway, the slave is cast iron, so it doesn't
wear as badly. You probably should go ahead and rebuild the slave, or
replace it if you can afford it, but you definitely should replace the
master with NEW.
I'm not familiar with Spitfire clutch mechanicals, but I'd be surprised if
they were much different from my TR6. Replace everything that has to do
with operating the clutch in the way of linkage. Eliminate all the lost
motion you can.
And, don't forget that a bad pilot bushing can cause similar symptoms... I
have a Toyota that was very difficult to get into 1st or reverse when at a
standstill. Someone suggested that the pilot bearing might be dragging on
the input shaft, which will transmit a certain amount of torque to the
gearbox DESPITE the clutch being fully disengaged. When I changed the
clutch I also changed the pilot bearing and presto!! No more troubles,
shifts slick as a whistle.
>>
>>Also, does anyone else have trouble shifting into first when the engine is
>>cold and the idle is high due to the choke?
This makes me think of the pilot bushing problem.
Isn't it true that you never have the money to do it right, but you've
always got the money to do it over!??
Pete Chadwell
1973 TR6
|