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DIY Extension for Clutch Bleeding

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tahoe healey

tahoe healey

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Has anyone made an extension for bleeding the clutch slave? I understand there was a guy who sold one but I cannot find any info on him.
Thanks
 
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Re: DYI extension for clutch bleeding

i made mine with an extra brake hose i had. i believe it was the rear flex hose. took a small piece of metal and bent it so it would hold the hose off the starter.
the only thing i had to buy was a coupling to attach a bleeder to the end of the hose. i went back and looked at my notes but could not find the one on where i bought the fitting. sorry. it was a supply house that someone on this forum posted for me. it was cheap and worked fine.

you can see the finished product at the bottom left of this pic.
fullsizeoutput_2d8.jpg
 
Re: DYI extension for clutch bleeding

Hi All,

I took the same approach as Drone Dog but with a piece of excess brake line. I thought the idea was a good one but could not imagine how others would capitalize on it by complexifying the implementation to promote a kit. If you own a big Healey, you probably have the mechanical ability needed to keep the car performing and also the ingenuity to assemble this remote bleeder from spare parts.

Just my thoughts,
Ray(64BJ8P1)
 
Re: DYI extension for clutch bleeding

Just a comment about the kit from oldphartz. I purchase one and when I tried to use a mighty vac to bleed the cylinder I discovered the fitting that the bleeder fits into becomes loose when the bleeder is loosened and you cannot draw a vacuum. It works ok it you're pressure bleeding or pumping the clutch. Just ne aware.
 
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I made several for a Sprite. 7/16 X dash 3 AN from Earls and a crush washer. This is for the bleed screw section on the slave. A length of dash 3 braided line, the length is up to you. I like to be able to run the line to the front of the car and let gravity work.
Similar dash 3AN to 7/16 adapter on end of line. female/female connector next followed by a Wilwood brake bleed Assy. Most of this stuff is available form Race shops or Pegasus
I use gravity to bleed the slave and then store the hose along the firewall. Prob different storage in a Big Healey
 
Re: DYI extension for clutch bleeding

Rob Glasgow said:
Just a comment about the kit from oldphartz. I purchase one a when I tried to use a mighty vac to bleed the cylinder O discovered the fitting that the bleeder fits into becomes loose when the bleeder is loosened and you cannot draw a vacuum. It works ok it you're pressure bleeding or pumping the clutch.
Click to expand...
I read that, to make the Mighty Vac work, you need to put some rubber grease on the outside of the bleed screw to seal the threads and not draw too much vacuum. I discovered last week that the grease makes a real difference.
 
Re: DYI extension for clutch bleeding

John Turney said:
I read that, to make the Mighty Vac work, you need to put some rubber grease on the outside of the bleed screw to seal the threads and not draw too much vacuum. I discovered last week that the grease makes a real difference.
Click to expand...

Rubber grease - is that the same as silicone grease or dialectric grease?
 
“The guy” was Doug Reid, aka Mr Finespanner. Unfortunately Doug passed away awhile back.
 
Joe Schlosser said:
I use gravity to bleed the slave and then store the hose along the firewall. Prob different storage in a Big Healey
Click to expand...

If my memory serves, I don't think you can gravity bleed a Big Healey's slave cylinder because the hydraulic line to the slave runs along the top of the firewall. It is higher than the master and therefore traps the air up there at the highest point. It has to be pushed out. I have successfully gravity bled Midgets and Bugeye Sprites.
 
I'm pretty certain Norm Nock's book recommends against using the Mighty Vac on Healeys, though I don't remember that he provides an explanation. I have the full metal Might Vac kit, and it has not worked well on the brake system on my BN7. For that matter it wasn't the best choice for my Porsche 968, either. Further to Steve's offering of a source for a fitting that I understand will enable fitting a conventional Healey bleeder to the end of a spare flex brake line to create a remote bleeder I pose further questions since I assume Steve knows all of this. Does the flex brake line thread (24 TPI by 3/8") into the bleeder on the slave, and does the fitting pictured somehow attach to the other end of that line to take the fitting that has the capability to take a functional brake bleeder? It doesn't appear that claim is made for that fitting. Further to Steve's mention of the post I made a couple weeks ago, Clutch Pedal Went Away, I found the recommended OldPhartz bleeder was out of stock and ordered one I hoped would work from Summit Racing. I had to create my own connector to attach this bleeder at the bleed port on a new Moss clutch slave--fortunately I have the proper die and tubing to do that. But ultimately the purchased remote bleeder line seemed to leak like crazy--it has full rotational ability for the fittings at both ends of the flex line. I'm at a loss to know how that could not leak. So I'm back looking for a remote bleeder.
 
I haven't actually used the flex line version.

When the SS tubing work hardened and leaked, I replaced the hard line in my original Doug Reid remote:
ClutchRemoteReplacement0717.JPG


These are the bits. The pipe is 20" with a bubble flare at each end.
ClutchBleederExploded.JPG


This is the Federal Hill connector shown in previous posting.
BleederConnector.JPG
 
BJ8, slave to brake booster bracket. No modifications.

Here's the route I choose for installation. One end screws into slave, other end held in place by supplied L-bracket, who's hole is used for the brake booster bolt. Nice that the bleeder is facing down.

https://www.olphartz.com/hydraulic6.html

While adding the slave extension stainless hose, I also replaced the stock rubber slave hose to stainless.
s615410676747072000_p995_i1_w1280.jpgIMG_2385.jpgIMG_2384.jpgIMG_2387.jpg
 
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Just checked and the bleeder remote is still shown as sold out at olphartz. Nice installation. Steve's pictures indicate that a brake bleeder functions with the fitting he showed in an earlier post. He constructed his own line in his design, but as I don't have the tool for forming the bubble flair, I'll probably buy the fitting if I think it will fit an unused flexible brake line. Steve is ingenues with these things. Thanks all.
 
Hey Steve, that’s the remote bleeder Doug put in our BN4. When he was working on the design he used our car as his guinea pig. He used to take our 100-6 for a couple weeks every spring, and when it came back it would run like a banshee and usually have a surprise or two in it.
 
Mine is an original Doug Reid bleeder - not a copy. I needed to replace the line a few years ago because the SS tubing can only be tightened a couple of times before it work hardens and starts to leak.

I merely searched for the coupling on FedHill in order to show how it was constructed. Anyone with a decent (Ridgid or Eastwood) flaring tool could make their own tube.

If I were adding one now, I'd use the Olphartz design because the hose is long enough to point downward as shown in the photos. IMO that will make it convenient to bleed. The Reid design requires a long hose to a bottle with the fluid.
 
Yes, the hose is pretty long. Fortunately I haven’t had to bleed the clutch that often since it was installed. Brakes, on the other hand, are a different story.
 
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