The Shakedown Continues!

 So, I had an experience yesterday that I share with my father, although a far less dramatic one.  He was absolutely fearless in an MG.  Of course, in the day, an MG was a typical car: two fuses for the entire electrical system, regular grease gun work required, several hours of tune up before any significant trip, etc.  And, he did all of those things and taught me how to do them.  However, they don't catch everything.

Jerry, Daddy, Sweetie, Uncle Gus, Dad as he was variously known to the many who loved him, took me to Annapolis in the MG for an intro into the Naval Academy.  I wanted to fly jets but the weekend informed me that I wasn't a fit there.  Maybe my desire to track an antique British roadster is my subconscious attempt to disagree!  That all worked out but his drive home, not so much.

He got stuck in traffic in the Appalachians.  This is a poor place to be without a clutch.  A leaky clutch means that the car starts moving while you are waiting at a traffic light, stop sign, or at the end of a line of traffic crossing a mountain.  You can pump the pedal and get into gear and shift normally but stopping presents issues.  Even more so when you are stopping on the upside of a mountain!  As usual, this did not phase him.  He waited for traffic to move a significant distance, pumped the clutch, put it in first, caught up to the traffic, and stopped in neutral.  Wash, rinse, repeat.  Fortunately, he only had 400 miles to go!  I just realized how this example inspired me to believe, "I've got this!"  It's not always true, but it's always a helpful mental state!

I don't remember the specific rebuild after that but I have done several master cylinders since.  Usually one cleans up, replaces the seals, and reinstalls.  I was, however, not so lucky this time.

As you can see, the brake fluid looks like a coffee.

And there is some sludge stuck to the piston.  Again, I don't know what these British engineers were thinking, designing components that would function for a mere 60 years!

I guess it's not visible here but there were pits in the cylinder.  I promptly ordered another master cylinder.  When it arrived, I found it was fully populated with seals and piston.  So I proceeded to bolt it in.

I did take the advice of another forum poster, and tap the bottom hole so I didn't have to blind install the nut.  Hard to see here, but the lower bolt has a nut in a box below the clutch MC.  Nearly impossible to remove and totally impossible to reinstall.  That was a design made after a long night at the pub!

The Greeks recognized that it is important to stay humble.  I offer my humbleness.  I hooked up my brake bleeder and happily pressed the trigger.  And pressed, and pressed, and pressed.  Eventually, I remembered that I had removed the reservoir cap to check the fluid level, and failed to replace it.  Things went much more smoothly after that discovery!

To the extent, that BB and I made it to an autocross (mixed results in the next post), the repair was successful!  At least, it has held up for 130 miles, about 3 of those with multiple clutch events at top speed!  

I guess this is not the end of the shakedown.  When I was 14 years old and dreamed of upgrading and racing an MGB, I imagined myself as a genius who would leave no open ends.  That illusion is shattered but I am not!  I will shake this down!  It took my whole life to learn the skills to do this.  Me and BB will eventually say good bye to tow trucks (although I will miss their driver's stories!).  And we will keep on having #funwithcars!