72 240 slave cylinder bolt screw up, good day / bad day

[Captain Obvious]

I was going to jump the gun and warn you about that, but I didn't. That was my first thought when everyone was wondering why you had bolts on yours coming through from the inside. I'm assuming a PO stripped out the hole(s) and used the smaller bolt(s) as a workaround.

I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the original sized bolt simply will not work anymore, even if it's longer than stock. You might be looking at a heli-coil or retapping to a larger sized bolt.

[lking240]

I hear you, thanks. Will keep you all posted, appreciate the input.

[Captain Obvious]

Well good luck, and I hope I'm wrong.

One the good side, however, it's in a pretty easy to work on location, and since the holes go all the way through, it makes it a little simpler as well. If it were me and I found those threads were all ripped out, I would probably just re-tap for a larger size. I didn't verify any of the sizes, but it was mentioned above that the original is M10 x 1.5. I believe M12 x 1.5 is easily available as well, so it would be easy to follow (what is left of) the old threads and create fresh threads of the same pitch on top of the old.

But here's to hoping you've still got a couple good threads down in that hole!  :)

PS -  @Mike   What happened to the traditional simple smile emoticon? The one you would get with this?  >>>     :)   
It's not in the list anymore, and it doesn't seem to show up automatically?

[zeeboost]

While drilling to a larger size will work, keep in mind you'll need to drill out the slave cylinder to accept the larger bolt as well. It's not really a problem, just a little more hassle. I've had to do that in the past and it's still holding up fine. Although if it were me I'd rather try to re-tap the existing threads and see if it'll clean up well enough to reuse first. 

[SteveJ]

If the old threads are shot, use a helicoil. Some well-respected members made that suggestion to me when I had an issue with the door striker plate. It was almost too easy of a fix, and you won't have to worry about using a larger bolt size.

 

[lking240]

update: got the bolt from MSA, had to wrestle the lock washer off, but a slight amount of blue locktite, was able to get about one good 1/2 turn on the bolt and it seems to be working!. time will tell.

in the process I went ahead and replaced the clutch hard line, the original connection at the slave hose had to be cut because I couldn't get the line connector to budge. had what I thought was a new functional MC that I had bought several years ago but it ended up being bad. stupidly didn't bench test it properly. wore out my 6 year-old's leg pumping the clutch! ? 

and so it finally all worked with the original MC in the car once I got the lines tight. 

next on the list, taking it to a Weber guy to see if he can make it stop fouling the plugs. good times.

 

thanks again,

[Captain Obvious]

Cool. Here's to hoping the few threads you caught are enough and you don't have to put more work into it.      

And not that it really matters at this point, but... I don't know if all the clutches work this easy, but I've found that simple gravity bleeding works fine. Maybe one or two pumps at the very end just to make sure all the air is gone, but I've had good success with just letting Sir Isaac Newton do most of the work.

[w3wilkes]

I have a compressor and my friend lent me this

https://www.amazon.com/Mityvac-MV6835-Vacuum-Brake-Bleeding/dp/B0015POUXM

Makes bleeding brakes and clutch a one man job and it's a breeze. The pictured upside down tank keeps the reservoir full while the other end hooks up to the compressor and sucks the fluid through.

[esmit208]

Glad to see you got this ISSUE sorted out. I've come across many of the cars and never saw a slave cylinder mounted on studs. If it were mine I would probably find another 4 speed for cheap and swap the front casing. No more issues with things being inside that were not designed to be inside. It sounds corny but HASTE does make WASTE!

Edited June 12, 2018 by esmit208
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