• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Clutch Master Cylinder Repair Kit for Smitty's 5-Speed

Share this page

Michael Oritt

Michael Oritt

Yoda
Silver
Country flag
Offline
There's a slight leak of hydraulic fluid around the actuator shaft of the Smitty's Master Cylinder on my 100 and I would like to rebuild it ASAP, but cannot find my manual. It's the cylinder that came with the transmission and the casting says "Smitty's 5 Speed." If it matters, I bought it from Smitty in 2002. I'd appreciate someone sending me the p/n for a repair kit and brand.
 
Michael,
You might look for a Nissan 69-73 clutch master cylinder. That is what Pete DeLaney supplied me when I bought his kit a while back. I'm surprised Smitty had a bespoke master cylinder. Summit racing sells this one that I think is the same. For 19 dollars, you might as well put a new one in, rebuild the old one at your liesure.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20250128-125656_Chrome.jpg
    Screenshot_20250128-125656_Chrome.jpg
    604.6 KB · Views: 111
I've had a Smitty conversion since 1998 and never used anything but stock Healey master and slave cylinders
 
red57 said:
I've had a Smitty conversion since 1998 and never used anything but stock Healey master and slave cylinders
Click to expand...
The 100 was a mechanical clutch linkage and Smitty conversion used a hydraulic slave but not the same one the 6 cylinders used.
 
red57 said:
I've had a Smitty conversion since 1998 and never used anything but stock Healey master and slave cylinders
Click to expand...
Red--

I'll try to remember to take a pic of the MC when next under the car.
 
Which one of you guys lost their transmission driving through Lompoc, CA and had to be rescued by a Smitty transmission? I live in Lompoc now. That was a great story of coping with problems on the fly…
 
Rob--

That was me. I had driven my BN1 from MD to Tahoe to attend Open Roads Conclave in 2002. After the event I headed down to LA to visit family and second gear gave out in Lompoc. I called Smitty who told me he had a kit and a rebuilt W58 on hand and a couple of days later I drove out of his shop, on to LA and eventually back to MD without incident except for a lot of very hot air coming in through the transmission cover I cobbled together for the trip.
Smitty was a great guy--he let me use his lift and tools and did a lot of the installation for me gratis. In addition two local Healey guys came over and pitched in.
I was extremely fortunate with the way it all came together and owe everyone a big thank you!!!

Best--Michael Oritt
 
roscoe said:
Michael,
You might look for a Nissan 69-73 clutch master cylinder. That is what Pete DeLaney supplied me when I bought his kit a while back. I'm surprised Smitty had a bespoke master cylinder. Summit racing sells this one that I think is the same. For 19 dollars, you might as well put a new one in, rebuild the old one at your liesure.
Click to expand...
Hi Roscoe--

The cylinder pictured in your message is of a slave/secondary cylinder.
The leak on my car is around the actuator rod of the master/primary cylinder.
 
Oops. The bulbs in my box just got collectively dimmer......
 
Roscoe--No problem! It happens to me all the time....
Red--See the attached photo I shot today. This is the MC Smitty sold me in 2002, and if for no reason other than its uniqueness I would like to rebuild rather than replace.
All--I found my manual which bears Smitty's signature! There is no mention in it of hydraulics and since the MC is obviously not a Nissan part I think I'll wait till I remove this one and measure as well as inspect the bore, etc.
 

Attachments

  • SmittyMC.jpg
    SmittyMC.jpg
    2.4 MB · Views: 117
Hi Michael, I found my Smitty's manual and found a page at the very back that deals with the hydraulic conversion for 100-4.

I'm attaching a picture of the page but in case it's not legible, it clearly says "figure 15 shows how the new Nissan '67-'72 pick-up hydraulic master is installed on the existing frame stud." The sketch also notes 5/8 which is probably the bore size.

If you cannot read the page in the picture I can try to scan (my printer scans but I don't know how :smile:)

My manual is from about 1997 and refers to the Nissan master so your master that has Smitty cast into it may be a later version he did as an upgrade??
 

Attachments

  • IMG_9915.JPG
    IMG_9915.JPG
    245.3 KB · Views: 107
Last edited:
Thanks all. I don't know how I did it but when I went through my manual I skipped over the page that Red posted.

I don't know how Smitty went about getting his name on the Master Cylinder but it's safe to assume that Nissan didn't do it for him, and unless I can find out from Pete Delaney whether he is using the same item I am hesitant to assume that the standard Nissan 69-73 rebuild kit is what I want. I do not want to install a new MC unless the bore to my present one is torn up, etc. but I am also hesitant to remove and inspect this one until I know I have a proper rebuild kit in hand. I cannot find a phone number for Pete and know that he is or has in the past been difficult to reach. Does anyone have his number?
 
Michael, I sent you a pm.
 
I thought if perhaps I cleaned up the MC real well I might see a p/n or something on it and once I did I discovered that the leak was not from around the actuator rod after all, but rather from around the hydraulic line at the output end of the MC. I was able to get a stubby #13 metric wrench on the nut and tightened it perhaps a quarter turn--which stopped the leak and saved me from doing an unnecessary job! BTW the "Smittys" casting shown in the photo in post #12 was not on the MC but rather on the bracket that holds the cylinder and is bolted to the inner face of the left frame rail.

Thanks all for the help and now that the crisis has passed I'm going to enjoy the rest of my Sunday doing something other than slithering around under the car getting hydraulic fluid in my eyes.
 
Aw come on, what could be more fun than that?
 
Last edited:
Michael, I had to laugh at your discovery. I have been noticing a few drops of oil on the ground beneath my left rear shock and convinced myself it was a leaking seal on the lever. I fretted for a couple of weeks and then decided I needed to remove the shock and sent it off for rebuild. When I finally got under the car, I noticed the oil was coming from the valve on the bottom of the shock and by tightening the cap a bit, the leak was stopped. Sometimes you just get lucky and you have to remind yourself not to jump to the worst possible conclusion……
 
Rob--

Perhaps I was being a bit obsessive about the issue as I'm taking the Healey down to Florida in a few weeks. It's about 1,000 miles from here to Sebring and I had this vision of a drop of hydraulic fluid seeping past the seal every time I used the clutch.
Now that I know all is tight I can shift with abandon!
 
Back
Top