[morini66]

Hi All. Couple of quick questions (hopefully) that I would really appreciate some advice on.
Firstly does anyone know where I can source a clutch operating arm? Long sad story but my new slave cylinder was missing the circlip and so when trying to bleed, the piston over-extended and bent the arm. I am guessing that bashing it straight with a lump hammer, or even a press, may not be the ideal repair?! Although if it is, brilliant!
Secondly, whilst i have the engine and box dropped... seems daft not to put a new clutch in. Prices seem to go from £60 to £140, or double that and more for competition stuff. Are there any cheapies I should avoid? Or all of them? Can see a QH kit on ebay for £79. Any point in paying more?
Any feedback gratefully accepted!

 

[kevjtd]

Quinton Hazell are good aftermarket clutches. should do the job just fine.

for the clutch rod, do you mean the push rod or the arm itself that the release bearing sits in?

I don't think i have the rod, but may have an arm.

failing that john at justsuds will have either/both :thumbs:

 

[sprint_veloce]

Only try straightening the actuating arm if you can also weld on some reinforcing across the straightened section, otherwise it might bend again. Best to get another arm. Are you sure you haven't damaged the clutch itself as well?

Can I ask how you bent the arm while bleeding the clutch? The slave piston and arm should not move during bleeding - the bleed nipple is open when you push the pedal.

 

[morini66]

Hi, thanks for the replies. OK what happened is I did the initial bleed, did up the nipple and hopped in to test. Pedal felt a bit funny so gave it a few pumps to see if that settled it. Then looked back under the bonnet and there was fluid everywhere! Piston had kept going forward with each pump, bent the actuating arm backwards and then escaped the bore enough to let the fluid past.
I won't know if anything else is damaged until I get it apart. But whilst i have it apart seems a no brainer to put a new clutch in. Will order that plus an arm from Justsuds. Anything else that may need replacing, due to this scenario? Or anything else I should replace as a matter of course? Be nice to have all required bits to hand when I do this... Thanks again

 

[sprint_veloce]

Is this on your kit car or a std 33/sud? Either way I'd check the master cylinder and pipe from master to slave. Maybe the pipe is crimped or damaged and not allowing the fluid to return when you release the pedal? Or some wierd internal failure in master cylinder? Somehow the slave isn't being allowed to return as it should when you release the pedal. Could even be the clutch itself - I think the spring force on the pressure plate is all that returns the slave piston.

 

[morini66]

Hi. This is on my Minari kit car. I had a slave cylinder failure and decided to replace the whole lot, as I got a good deal on a master and slave package. I didn't particularly like the idea of the rigid plastic hose so i had a braided goodridge one made to length. So everything was new. The problem was solely due to the missing circlip in the slave cylinder bore, which prevents the piston from coming all the way out. So when I was pumping the pedal, the piston over-extended and bent the clutch arm.

 

[sprint_veloce]

Except that in normal use or even during bleeding the little circlip in the end does nothing. The piston should never reach it, let alone go right past it and out the end of the cylinder. Something's not right. If the actuating arm was somehow bent before you started bleeding, then that might explain it.

 

[kevjtd]

Except that in normal use or even during bleeding the little circlip in the end does nothing. The piston should never reach it, let alone go right past it and out the end of the cylinder. Something's not right. If the actuating arm was somehow bent before you started bleeding, then that might explain it.

was wondering this myself

the inner circlip just holds all the guts together while it's off the car, the seals/piston shouldn't ever reach the inner circlip under normal use.

you have got the large outer circlip in place holding the body into the gearbox casting haven't you? normally have to compress the body against the seals to get it in place, have a pic somewhere of the little jig i made from some socket extensions to hold it in right...

 

[morini66]

Hmmm. Well the piston definitely DID over-extend. And the arm definitely was not bent before.
But thinking on your comments, the diaphragm spring should return the piston every time you release the clutch, which cannot have happened. Don't have an exploded diagram to hand here, but perhaps the arm was somehow not actuating the clutch at all? Just getting forced further and further out of it's operating arc? Release bearing gone AWOL maybe?
Still seems to me like I have to split the engine and box to find out though, and to repair whatever went wrong. Thanks again for all your feedback

 

[morini66]

Hi All, bet you're dying to know what the outcome was huh? No, oh please yourselves. Turns out that everybody was right, including me!
The original builder had clearly put this together as a one-way street project: it will never need to come apart again, ever. Long story short, to remove the two bolts holing the gearbox tailstock silent block bar, I had to remove the entire interior. As it was clad in s/s sheeting, trans tunnel first and then every other panel overlapping... Time for re-trim now.
Anyway, the clutch. OMG! The release bearing was made largely of plastic, with thin steel contact plates riveted to the rear, which had rusted off. But despite the flimsy appearance, it had managed to eat through the diaphragm spring. Only 3 fingers still had any metal left to engage the bearing. So the original slave suffered hydraulic failure, but also due to over-extending. Because it was pressing on thin air. Ditto the replacement - not helped by the absence of the circlip. Never seen anything quite like it. I have a pic if anyone is interested. So the arm had not bent at all, it was simply that there was no spring left to resist the piston. Anyway thanks for all the comments, they did help and were much appreciated

 

[kevjtd]

all good fun

glad you're all sorted and we were at least some help :thumbs:

 

[mcb02]

please post the pik,if only for humour

 

[kevjtd]

please post the pik,if only for humour

:lol:

agreed :thumbs:

 

[morini66]

:lol:

agreed :thumbs:

no problem
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[markp2]

Hi Morini,
I have just been reading through your thread and was going to suggest that the clutch pressure plate might be toast but you have already got there!
If you need any assistance with Minari matters, give me a shout. I don't really get on with the Yahoo group - keep forgetting how to use it (being a bit of a dinosaur!)
Mark