Ray
Thanks for the reply. pretty sure where the leak is.
when i was driving the car more, in the summer, i would usually check the reservoir probably every couple of hundred miles with all the other fluids. i could see it would be down a little each time. not a lot but a little. both in the brake side and the clutch. i checked all around, including at the pedal box, for leaks. could not find anything anywhere. i kept watching it and adding a little back each time. again very little. after a while i assumed maybe it was leaking at the cap while i was driving. always looked a little wet around the cap. i made a new gasket for the cap with that in mind. Still no other leaks showed after drives or in the shop while the car was sitting.
once in the fall i had started the car to move it over to the other side of the shop so i could work on another car. i don't like to start cars up and run them just a few minutes so i let the car run for a while until i was sure it was warmed up. the whole time it was sitting in the driveway. later in the driveway i could see a small puddle of what i thought was a little oil. usually do not get this but figured i would keep an eye out. next few drives, no drips or puddles.
during my cold air box test the other day, i started the car and let it sit running until it warmed up to do the test. when i moved the lift blocks i saw fluid again. this time i could tell it was coming from the front left of the car. Odd place for oil... took it for a ride and came back. let the car sit, no more fluid. shut it off, let it sit and started it again, no fluid. shut the car down and put it back up on the lift. No more drips. Hmmmm.
here is what i think was happening: i have exhaust wrap on my down tubes from the manifold to just above where the pipes turn to the muffler. (so the wrap can't be seen) the hydraulic fluid was dripping down in to the wrap which soaked it up. there is a hole there in the frame brace so it did not drip on any surface i could see. when i ran the car and the pipes got hot, the fluid i guess got thinned enough it would all run out... or boiled out. once all had dripped out, it did not drip anymore. And would not until enough fluid leaked out to soak the wrap again. (after sitting for days, weeks?) then the whole process started over.
in the summer, i did not let the car sit long before i would drive off. So that fluid probably just got released on the road somewhere. then the wrap was dry and no drips. So i never saw it or knew where to look. i would not have known this time except i did not move the car during my test. the only thing above the wrap are the master cylinders. feeling under each one, i found the clutch MC was wet under it. SO i wiped it off and left a paper towel under it to catch any drip. sure enough, after sitting overnight, there was a spot on the paper towel. i tried loosening the fitting and tightening again but same thing. not a big leak. just a little bit.
I may have gotten lucky though. i took the fitting out today and checked the flair. it looked ok. it was gritty and a bit nasty there. So i took some sand paper and cleaned it up. wiped it all down and cleaned it with some brake clean. i also lightly sanded the bottom of the flair. cleaned it up and put it all back together. put some fluid in the tank and loosened the fitting until i got some fluid coming out of it. figured this might push out any air in there. tightened it up and checked it thru out the afternoon. Pumped the clutch a number of times. No leak. Letting it sit overnight and going to check it tomorrow. if it is still dry, going to assume i have it.
if not, i am just going to buy new pipes and replace the brake one as well. those two pipes are the only ones i have not replaced.
fingers crossed...