Clutch master/slave replace

[knac1234]

Hello all,

Well this morning I ordered a clutch slave, master, and hose.

My pedal was virtually non-existant Sunday. Checked the fluid....VERY low. I refilled the reservoir and it has not gone down, but the pedal is still not right. Might be air in the system, but I figured I wouldn't bother with bleeding it as the fluid did go somewhere!!!

Was very cheap to order all the bits, so the question is:

-I have read on here that removing the wing is key to replacing the master. Can someone give me exact locations of what bolts need to be removed? When you say "wing" is that the entire thing ("fender" side, top, headlamp front area)?

-Any other tips to do this job would be appreciated. Will tackle my vapor lock and brake booster replacement then too!!

Cheers,
Julian

[amcordo]

Hello all,

Well this morning I ordered a clutch slave, master, and hose.

My pedal was virtually non-existant Sunday. Checked the fluid....VERY low. I refilled the reservoir and it has not gone down, but the pedal is still not right. Might be air in the system, but I figured I wouldn't bother with bleeding it as the fluid did go somewhere!!!

Was very cheap to order all the bits, so the question is:

-I have read on here that removing the wing is key to replacing the master. Can someone give me exact locations of what bolts need to be removed? When you say "wing" is that the entire thing ("fender" side, top, headlamp front area)?

-Any other tips to do this job would be appreciated. Will tackle my vapor lock and brake booster replacement then too!!

Cheers,
Julian

Hi Julian!

Some folks will tell you that you can do this without removing the wing (fender). Don't listen. If you've got tinys t-rex arms you can, but it takes about five minutes to remove the wing and the job is MUCH easier without it on.

1. Remove wing
a) unscrew three bolts attaching the wing to the the breakfast (radiator panel)
b) unscrew the bolts (something like three or six of them) attaching the wing to the bulkhead (firewall). Note: you may have to remove bolts holding a cover on over the steering box. All of these bolts are inside the wheel well, though you may need a second set of hands or monkey-like arms to reach under your open door, into the cabin to hold a wrench on the bolts attached to the bulkhead.
c) unplug the wire harness going to the wing for the headlights. The plug will be located right near where the wing meets the breakfast inside the engine compartment.

2. Remove the floor inside the car. Just lots of bolts along the floor. You'll need to reach under the car and into the driver's compartment at the same time to undo the bolts.

Replace the goods.

Reverse the process.

Total time for a newbie with the right tools: about an hour-two.

[knac1234]

Thanks Tony!

Does not sound bad at all. Hoping I will have a nice pedal by Monday and a non-hissing brake system if the servo arrives from RN in time!

Julian

[stomper]

Did you order the cluch hard line as well as the flex hose? You might as well plan on replacing it, as it will possibly break when you try and unscrew the flex line anyway.

[Terrys]

Julian, If you're doing the brake booster at the same time, you may find it necessary to remove the brake pedal box to get the crosspin out, if it's remotely rusty in there. If that's the case, then you simply remove the clutch pedal box also and do the clutch MC. I've done this job too many times, and it's a six in one hand, half dozen in the other if you're just doing the clutch MC, but much easier if you're also pulling the brake pedal box.
If you give the union nut at the steel line/flex hose joint a squirt with PB blaster, you shouldn't wreck the steel line.

[knac1234]

Stomper--thanks for the tip, but I didn't hopefully Terry's PB trick will work!

Terry--well, I had planned on doing the booster a couple months ago when it went out. At that time, there was no clutch pedal issue. Hopefully rust is not an issue. Everything was redone on the brakes about 3 years and 7000 miles ago, to include a new booster and brake master. So, with that in mind, theoretically I should not have any rusty stuff to deal with. But, of course, theoretically the brake booster should have lasted more than 3 years and 7000 miles!!!!!!!!!! I bought RN's proline version....wanted a different aftermarket brand and not the same booster that came from AB. Others on here have backed up the quality of the Proline one as well as RN themselves.

On another note, I will be replacing the fenders (where the side lamps are) on the "wings" before it is painted in a month or two. Perhaps this is a good time to replace the left fender, since I'll have the whole wing off and the new fenders are sitting the closet waiting!??????? At the very least, it should be a good opportunity to determine what nuts/bolts I need as when I replace the fender I want new stainless hardware ready to bolt it back in with.

Cheers,

Julian

[siii8873]

Tony is close,
5 bolts that attach wing to breakfast (radiator panel)
4 bolts that connect wing to bulkhead
1 bolt attaches wing to bulkhead/steering box support
3 on top, 4 on bottom of splash panels in wheel well + 1 on steering box cover.
disconnect wiring to lights
1 bolt for wing brace to sill panel.
Maybe hose for washer if have them

Not bad if all comes apart well. Much better to remove the wing. Whie there do thourough clean up of that side of bulkhead.

[bobzinak]

left hand drive rovers put the clutch master in a very inaccessable spot. having to remove the fender to remove it is a pain. depending on how much of a purist you are there is another method. I cut the fender about eight or so inches from the bulkhead, and used a 2 inch piece of aluminun flat bar, four 1/4 20 nutplates to connect it back together. used the screws to indent the fender so the screws would sit flush with the fender. it is hardly noticable. but it only takes a few seconds to access the master cyl. and to get at the screws holding the cover plate on the master cyl. but if you are a purist you won't want to do this. the idea of having to remove the fender to do any work on the master clutch cyl, imho, is a job I don't like to do. It's your choice. but done properly will not detract from the looks of the fender, as only a thin break in the fender is seen. I have seen some use a piece of piano hinge pop rivited on, but it isn't as invivsible as the nutplates and turns a few hour job into one that takes a short time. its just a rover..some will agree with me, others not.make your own choice..bobzinak..

[amcordo]

I started thinking about it after you posted this. Oops. I was forgetting about the bolts that are hidden on the inside of the wheel well, that run right up against the outside skin.

You'll need an extension for your ratchet to reach those.

Also. If everything's rusted to heck in there, might be a good idea to replace all those bolts with stainless and nylon washers. I did. Love it.

Tony is close,
5 bolts that attach wing to breakfast (radiator panel)
4 bolts that connect wing to bulkhead
1 bolt attaches wing to bulkhead/steering box support
3 on top, 4 on bottom of splash panels in wheel well + 1 on steering box cover.
disconnect wiring to lights
1 bolt for wing brace to sill panel.
Maybe hose for washer if have them

Not bad if all comes apart well. Much better to remove the wing. Whie there do thourough clean up of that side of bulkhead.

[amcordo]

left hand drive rovers put the clutch master in a very inaccessable spot. having to remove the fender to remove it is a pain. depending on how much of a purist you are there is another method. I cut the fender about eight or so inches from the bulkhead, and used a 2 inch piece of aluminun flat bar, four 1/4 20 nutplates to connect it back together. used the screws to indent the fender so the screws would sit flush with the fender. it is hardly noticable. but it only takes a few seconds to access the master cyl. and to get at the screws holding the cover plate on the master cyl. but if you are a purist you won't want to do this. the idea of having to remove the fender to do any work on the master clutch cyl, imho, is a job I don't like to do. It's your choice. but done properly will not detract from the looks of the fender, as only a thin break in the fender is seen. I have seen some use a piece of piano hinge pop rivited on, but it isn't as invivsible as the nutplates and turns a few hour job into one that takes a short time. its just a rover..some will agree with me, others not.make your own choice..bobzinak..

I need to do this.

[ignotus]

Spaced

Julian,

I second bobzinak with making a removable end to the top of the wing. I do mine about 2-3 inches from the backside of the top of the inner mudguard. this gives plenty of room to get hands in and parts out. You will have to remove one side bolt from the top to the outer skin panels at the very end. Do this when you have the wing off and it will be easy to see how.
I would also advise that you add either aluminum or plastic spacers of at least an inch between the bottom of the inner mudguard and the footwell. This mod allows for debris to fall thru or wash out without sitting there and rusting out the footwell. Secure this with stainless steel fender washers and long bolts and Bob's yer uncle!

gene

[knac1234]

DONE!

Replaced the hydraulics on the clutch today. Took me several hours.... took me a little bit to figure out where all the bolts were holding on the wing!!

Anyway, but for that, it was pretty straightforward except that one of the studs holding the slave with a nut had been replaced with a bolt, which meant I had to drill the hole in the slave unit a little bigger. Plus, bleeding was a, well.....bleeding, pain!

Honestly, I put the wing back on in 15 minutes....not hard. And that's with the crap bolts that came out. As I will be removing it in a week or two, I did not put the splash panel back on. The next time it's off, all stainless bolts will be going in there!!

Thanks for the tips. Brake servo didn't show up yet from RN, but I would have run out of time anyway.

After a pretty easy removal, think I will be painting the Rover with the wings off. That will allow paint on the inner wing (on the engine compartment side). Plus, as advised, will be galvanizing the breakfast anyway (which looks in good shape) and might do some engine compartment cleanup with both wings off!!!

Cheers,
Julian