TCS - Master Cylinder Rebuild

[Grumblebuns]

On my spare TCS chassis, the bolts securing the MC screw into nuts welded to the inside of the chassis. If your bolts are spinning, the nuts may have broken their weld or are stripped. You may have to work from inside the cabin to get the nuts off. Good luck. 

[EuropaTC]

It does sound bad news. If both are spinning then it's cutting disc time.....

Brian

[CCM911]

I guess I was premature in asking about the MC.  Today, I finished rebuilding the calipers and re-installed, along with new soft hoses.  And yes, I went cheap and bought the rubber ones.  The goal here is to first get the car running, and then decide how far to go.

[jbcollier]

Clean all the rust off the rotors.  Sandpaper 80 to 120 grit will do the trick.

[EuropaTC]

I'd be tempted to just throw them away myself, they're only Triumph Spitfire discs which are cheap and readily available. I changed mine this summer for just looking rusty at the edges, I think it was around £20 the pair - what's that, $30 ? 

I wouldn't worry about the "cheap rubber hoses", they're what came with the cars from new and will see you through many years without any problems.  If I'm honest, I only fit stainless braided ones because they look pretty and don't rust at the ends 

Brian

[CCM911]

Are you kidding about the rust on the rotors?  1/2 mile into my first "test beating" and they will shine like new, LOL.

[jbcollier]

No.  That level of rust may not clear.  It can glaze instead leaving you with decidedly sub-par braking.

Gave a customer a similar warning after doing a bunch of performance work.  He didn't want to do the brake work and left with rusty rotors and old pads.  Came back 15 minutes later with the front end all pushed in and got the work done.

[CCM911]

So I guess I'll be ordering new rotors?

Man, this is getting more complex with every part I dig into.

So should I pay the $500(USD) for the new set of Boosters?  Or should I eliminate?

[Grumblebuns]

So I guess I'll be ordering new rotors?

Man, this is getting more complex with every part I dig into.

So should I pay the $500(USD) for the new set of Boosters?  Or should I eliminate?

Before ordering new rotors, I would see just how bad the surface rust is. Ten minutes of work should tell the story.

The only new boosters available are the Lockheed's, if I remember correctly.. I believe they are not a direct fit in replacement for the OEM Girlings. A little bit of fiddling is required to plumb them in to get them to work. Again, I would  bypass the boosters and see how you like the feel of the brakes before buying new boosters. You may have to play around with pad material to get acceptable braking feel.

[BDA]

I have Lockheed boosters on my car and I can confirm that they will require some plumbing changes just because the ports are in different places. Otherwise, they are equivalent as far as I know.

[EuropaTC]

I have Lockheed boosters on my car and I can confirm that they will require some plumbing changes just because the ports are in different places. Otherwise, they are equivalent as far as I know.

I had Lockheed on both the Elan & Europa as the Girling ones have been unavailable for years here and agree with BDA that they do the job fine.  Mount them at a tilt to make bleeding easier but otherwise it was a simple swap in my case.

Brian

[CCM911]

OK, this must be a bad joke!  How in gods name am I supposed to access the top nut on my Master Cylinder?  Every thing else came off fine, but I was only able to get one turn on the top nut, now I just can't seem to get the wrench back on it.  Is there a secret to accessing this nut?

[BDA]

Hmmm... I don't remember having any more than the usual amount of trouble getting the M/C off - which is to say a fair amount, and the T section of my frame is more open than the stock frame. You do have the spacer that moves the M/C away from the frame 'T' and the steering rack, right? I think I remember that the stock M/C had a captive nut on the top, but I could be wrong and that probably wouldn't help you anyway. I assume you've tried the different orientations of an open end wrench. Maybe a plier, equivalent metric wrench with different angle, or other gripper would give you just enough movement to help you out... What is getting in the way?

[CCM911]

You can see the top nut in this photo.  I just can't get a wrench in there.  Is there a secret method?

[CCM911]

I found the "Secret Method".  I used a screwdriver and a hammer to tap the nut undone.  Worked like a champ!!!