Why Resleeve Clutch or Braker Master Cylinders

[KVH]

They seem cheap enough to buy new. Why resleeve?

 

[jessebogan]

Not all are available, and OEM is better than cheap craptastic repop parts. Once sleeved, they should last forever.

 

[Geo Hahn]

Though for our cars, I think, the OEM item is still available right down to the metal caps.

 

[jessebogan]

Usually true, but earlier this year I had a go round with a TR 4A that had an unusual clutch master/slave cylinder combo. It matched the factory parts book, but not what the vendors stock. The owner eventually found new OEM parts, but it was a lot harder than it should have been. I gave him the old units, so in the future, they could be sleeved if need be. Triumphs are easy. I had a lot harder time sourcing parts for the Anglia that I had. Common enough in England, not so common here.

 

[Geo Hahn]

Too right, the Moss catalog for just the TR2/3/4 runs 154 pages of parts... combine that with a 1/2 dozen major vendors and countless other suppliers and your best hope for Anglia parts may be if they match something used on TRs or MGs.

 

[TR3driver]

Then too, some people obsess over correct appearance, and many of the replacement MCs don't look quite the same as the originals did.

For example, the original Girling MCs on my late TR3 have the reservoir connections coming off at right angles (as shown on the Moss web site); while the replacement (and later) MCs have them at an angle.

Another example, the Lockheed MC on TR2/3 with front drums originally had 4 screws holding the top cover to the body, but the replacements have 5. It's a good change, the originals frequently leaked, but it makes it obvious that the MC is not original.

 

[MichaelG]

The main advantage is that the sleeve is Brass or SS and will not corrode. Corrosion amd surface pitting of the aluminum bore is a common cause of leaks after a few years.

When I did my TR4A several years ago, it was also less expensive at the time for the master amd clutch cylinders

Cheers

MG

 

[YankeeTR]

I believe the quality of the off-shore repos is not as good as the original parts. It may be more expensive to sleeve the old parts but you may well wind up with a better part.

 

[AweMan]

My car {Ts-12909} 1956 Tr-3 uses a dual clutch/brake master cylinder. Aside form the repro having five screws holding the resivour top on, instead of four like the O.E.M. part. Buying a repro part is cost prohibitive for this particular cylinder. Over $500.00 for a repro verses the $212.00 to get mine resleeved.
Stainless steel sleeves verses brass:
I was told by the shop that did my sleeves that stainless sleeves will wear the rubber seals out faster than brass will.
They suggested that unless you are building a seldome driven concourse car, Brass sleves are "the way to go"
I know others here will have varying opinions,
I went with Brass and hopefully they will serve my purposes well.

 

[jessebogan]

I would think that if the ID of the sleeve is as smooth as it should be, there would be no discernable difference in how the seals would wear. I have always used brass sleeves, but that is only because that is what White Post offers. I know that a lot of Jaguar dunlop calipers are done with stainless, and I have never heard of a problem.

 

[RobT]

Here is my saga with cylinder re-sleaving and Dot 5 silicone fluid.

I rebuilt both my clutch and brake hydraulics a couple of years ago using silicone. Since then I've never had a problem with the brakes, but had to rebuild the clutch master a couple of times.

I replaced the clutch master but after a couple of months, the clutch started to "stick" when you were engaging it, causing some jerky take-offs. It was suggested to me that it could be a problem with the throw-out bearing assembly binding as it slides up the shaft. But before pulling the tranny, I thought "go back to the last thing fixed". Sure enough when I examined the clutch master, it was evident this was the problem. The piston was jamming in the cylinder and had scored the bore (these are alloy units unlike the steel break master so easily dammaged). So I honed out the old one and put it in (hoping it would hold, even though it was a little pitted, and since it was silicone fluid, a leak would not be a disaster), re-bled the system and was fine again for a couple of months.

Then the same thing started again - the clutch sticking. Pulled the master - same cause. So at this point I called Apple about a re-sleve in stainless or brass.

They told me that 1) they could do either, but stainless would wear the seals faster, and 2) silicone fluid "causes the seals to swell", and that was what was causing the piston to jam. Neither of these really rang true with me. The break master is steel, and I have not had anny issues elsewhere I used silicone fluid

So after considering the options I decided to go with the stainless resleve. I reasoned if Apple were correct and the seals were swelling because of the silicone, the stainless would wear them down. If Apple were wrong, I'd be fine too.

Its been almost two years, and no problems. The clutch hydraulics are smooth and leak free. As for no warentee with the silicone, that doesn't really worry me. The cost of a new kit is probably less than the cost of shipping the master to Apple and back. And if you rebuild it yourself, you can see what went wrong.

Rob.

 

[trfourtune]

Ok, i can't resist, if you're not hung up on originality, you can get girling style master cylinders from Wilwood. I would doubt that they are poor quality since made by Wilwood (i think) and may be the best, cheapest, alternative out there.
Rob