Allegro Club International

[Colin T]

Brake master cylinder problems! Lockheed tandem.

First had new seals fitted some 17-19 years ago, after being off the road for many years. Since then, if the car is off the road for 2 or 3 years the master leaks where it is bolted to the servo.

This is now the third time it has leaked since that first set of new seals. No problem if in regular use.

Does this suggest the master should be professionally rebuilt i.e. with stainless steel insert sleeve, or is this to be expected with lack of use and all it needs is another of seals if the bore and piston visibly look OK?

Opinions welcomed, thank you!
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Hell has frozen over...... the car formally known as 'Heap' is back on the road!

[Paul-V]

Hi Colin,

You may have noticed by now: it is rather quiet on here nowadays!

Have you been using 'new old stock' seals, or were you able to get hold of (relatively) new ones?
If NOS, they have probably already aged in the packaging and then putting them into use has caused them to wear out and deteriorate much sooner than the originals ever did!
Otherwise, there is the possibility of wear or corrosion inside the cylinder damaging each new set of seals that you fit.

If you are willing to invest in the cost of a refurb, then try Past Parts: I have had good results from them with brake calipers and a clutch slave cylinder.

[Mike Dean]

About three years ago I had some fun locating clutch master cylinder seals. Some later models were fitted with an updated cylinder with different seals but documentation was sparse. (I passed full details on th Graham Toye. Changes were made to certain brake and clutch master cylinders .70"(18mm) and 3/4"(19mm) bore sizes.
I was able to sort out the problem thanks to Chris Lovegrove at Nelson Sokes who supplied me with the required seals at a very reasonable price.
The modified cylinders are indentified by a groove around the cylinder at the flange end or a small circle stamped in the other end of the cylinder. Internally the main cup seal has been repaced by a ring type seal, a different piston, and a smaller secondary seal.

Contact details are:
Web site: www.nelsonstokes.co.uk
Phone: 01840 213711

Good luck!
Mike.

[Colin T]

Just to update - I think I had fitted NOS seals in the past, but found this time that the cylinder had corrosion internally beyond the circlip.

I ended up purchasing a complete NOS unit, checked and tested, from Powertrack - www.powertrackbrakes.co.uk 01344 886522. Highly recommended for classic car hydraulics.
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Hell has frozen over...... the car formally known as 'Heap' is back on the road!