Garth

Very Brief update.. Have a new slave it is an FTE part and identical to the Ford part it is replacing (turns out my original Ford one is made by FTE but costs 3 times as much to buy from Ford!). Bell housing being machined by Premier Power on Wednesday and then I can hopefully start putting it all back together with the help of Alan and Graeme. Fitting new master cylinder and hydraulic hose. Thanks for all the help guys... Garth

I love my HWR Sigma upgrade (just less then 200bhp) and would be happy to chat to you about your plans John. You would be welcome to take it for a drive if you are ever in the area (Wimbledon). The Sigma upgrade does not have as much torque as the Duratec (bhp equivalent) and so you need to use the revs more, but that is partly what I enjoy about it - also in my view it is a little more progressive to drive so less likely to lose the rear end by putting down too much 'power' at the wrong moment!. HWR are great engine builders and they were good at sorting out a few niggles I had, but I think Stuart at Premier Power has much more experience with the Sigma engine. He has also concentrated on Caterhams, so overall I think his package with smaller alternator, etc. is a neater fit. HWR also prefer to work with Omex ECU's whereas I think Stuart will work with the your existing MBE unit? I have not driven the 175, but I think most of the power gain is at the top end of the rev range, so I doubt there is much issue with drivability of the 200 on the road as I think the torque and power curves for both the 175 and 200 are fairly similar lower down the curve! Could be wrong on this? I went for a lighter flywheel, but not the ultra light version - cannot remember why now!! I also changed the ratois of 1st and 2nd gears and that has improved drivability on the track - even in my original 125 guise I found 1st was far to short and one was snatching for 2nd too soon! My longer 1st is not as much fun in stop start traffic and also a bit slower getting away from standstill! The 175 and 200 work includes balancing and keying the crankshaft which means the redline increased to just over 8000rpm and it gets there very quickly so shift lights are a must! Good luck

John - go with Premier Powers 175 - you will end up there in there anyway!

Hi Jim/John I have tried to take my old slave apart - just to see how it works! It is not the springs that prevent the slave from compressing any further it is the physical shape of the parts. I have done a great deal of searching online to look for shorter slaves of this design and not come up with anything. There seem to be several OE manufacturers who do this part so I will drop one or two of them a line to see if they do a shorter version. There is plenty of 'meat' on the slave cylinder support, so I am not worried about machining it down 8mm! I think this is a better solution than trying to move other components around thanks John! I have a clutch stop in the bulkhead so will just use that.

We have to machine the bell housing - evidently this is quite common. There is no adjustment on the slave and in my case the slave would be fully compressed and then would also depress the clutch plate fingers by about 5mm as one tightened up the bell housing to the block! I have to increase the distance from the front of my bell housing to the bearing face on the slave (see sketch attached earlier) from 76 mm to about 84 mm to ensure the slave is not fully compressed and has that 3 or so mm extra movement to allow for clutch wear. This means moving the slave back further into the bell housing and the only way to do that is to machine it down a little! I think that is logical and makes sense??

The next trick will be to make sure it is not over extending as I understand if the clutch pedal stop is not set correctly the pressure plate can be pushed too far causing the clutch to start slipping?

Hi JV Have read your article with interest thanks. I am assuming that with the sort of clutch release bearing I am dealing with the preload is determined by the internal spring? It should follow then that with the bearing fitted in the correct position (with the correct clearances etc.) one does not have to worry about the preload? Cheers. Garth

Thanks 7 wonders but I need to gain space - not add to it!!

Thanks Ian. I have spoken to Stuart and agree with your understanding of needing a few mm for the slave to be compressed further as the clutch wears. JV at the moment my CSC will depress the pressure plate fingers by about 5mm as when assembled the CSC will be fully compressed and then it will push the fingers in as you join the bell housing and block together as it has nowhere to go. I need to push the CSC back by 8 mm by machining down the bell housing support. This will leave the CSC compressed to within 3 mm of full compression. It will then be pushing against the pressure plate fingers but not depressing/preloading them! Hope that all makes sense??! Your link to the RWD Motorsports page was very helpful thanks Garth

The one I took out does. That is how I identified the replacement I am getting. Elsewhere it had an FTE number so I have ordered an FTE one which is a third the cost !

The one I took out does. That is how I identified the replacement I am getting. Elsewhere it had an FTE number so I have ordered an FTE one which is almost a third the cost !

Thanks JV - I am pretty sure that is the Duratec version which looks identical to the one fitted in my car, but is about 10mm longer! one on left is the Duratec version - other the old one from my car. This is how it all happened... my new E8 BGH gearbox was specified with a 'longer' first gear. This means they have to install a larger diameter input shaft - similar to Duratec version the larger input shaft does not fit through the standard sigma clutch slave cylinder (CSC) therefore when engine and gearbox work done the CSC had to be changed to one with a larger bore to accommodate the larger input shaft this new CSC looks very similar to the one fitted in Duratec cars, but is shorterMy remaining concern is that having fitted the old CSC and taken various measurements it would appear that even with the old CSC the pressure plate is preloaded by about 5mm by the CSC! I have spoken to Stuart at Premier Power and he says that they can machine the bellhousing to remove some material to make the extra space - will check this out on my next trip to the garage! Thanks for the comments guys

When I had the engine rebuilt I also got a new BGH E8 gearbox and I recall there was some issue with the input shaft. This is why I think it ended up being Duratec size! Will check number of splines when next at the garage.

Have just looked up the details on the CC Sigma slave and it has a bore of 28mm, whereas the one that came out of mine has a 32mm bore. I am therefore assuming that they had to use a different slave because the input shaft on my gearbox was changed for a larger diameter one for some reason when BGH did that work! Just ordered an FTE slave online so lets hope it works! £100 including delivery compared to the Ford OE part which is over £200.

Definitely Stuart at Premier Power!

Rather - has worked for years, so I guess is ok!?

I think I am now getting to the bottom of this... Will try and add some pics. First pic shows the engine going in in original spec - you can just make out the connections to the slave cylinder poking out of the bell housing. It would appear that when my engine was upgraded (and unbeknown to me!) they put in a different slave and just drilled a new hole in the side of the bell housing! I think this may be down to the input shaft on the gearbox being a larger diameter and not fitting through the original slave cylinder? See hole in side of the bell housing in pic 2 and 3. the bore of the my slave is 32mm - what is yours Chris?

Hi Chris Mine is a Sigma with a CC bellhousing, but they must have changed the slave cylinder as mine looks exactly the same as the Duratec one I posted! It turns out - as Ian says above - the Duratec and Sigma ones look very similar but the Sigma version is slightly shorter than the Durtec version! Thanks Ian will look at the rwd web site later.

Hi Chris - I think that slave must be for the Mazda gearbox? It looks very different to mine - mine looks like this Duratec one https://caterhamparts.co.uk/clutch-parts/2221-clutch-bearing-assembly-ford-r400.html?search_query=clutch+slave+cylinder&results=154 I have done a little reading and it would appear that FTE is a reputable manufacturer and if their website is to be believed they make OE parts for several car companies. Their slave also seems to be consistently priced across the various web sites I looked at - unlike many of the others! Peter is yours new? Have sent you personal mail Cheers

Thanks Ian - very helpful - am now trying to source the correct slave. Garth

Any ideas on best place to buy the original Ford part? Have spent hours on the net trying to find an OE version and cannot - plenty of other makes - FTE, Sachs, etc but difficult to know if they are any good? popped into the local Ford dealer and he can get me one for the bargain price of £256! Caterham web site only has the Duratec version which looks very similar but is longer - and also pricey?

Borescope a great idea thanks and I have one! Why did I not think of that!! Starter motor also off at present. Engine already out so want to avoid putting it in to discover it is not working and then have to take it out again (as we have already done once!)

Given that I may have overloaded my clutch master cylinder I would like to either have it checked ot and the seals replaced or fit a new one. Does anyone know who would do a refurb? Thanks Garth

Any tips on how to do this? My current plan is to sit the assembled engine and gear box at the side of the car, plumb it in and then bleed it and see if it works? Should be able to peer through the holes in the bell housing to see of the pressure plate is engaging with the clutch release bearing?

Have had the engine out and checked everything. Slave looks ok - some fluid looks like it came out of the connection between the slave and the hose or bleed nipple. The new slave is about 10mm longer than the original when fully compressed, so I think this is the problem? When fitted it was likely fully compressed against the pressure plate and in its fully compressed state it will not extend because fluid paths are blocked? Difficult to see how it can be over extended whist bleeding as the fluid will take the path of least resistance and simply flow out of the bleed nipple? Have had the master cylinder out and it looks as though the only place the fluid could have come out was the banjo connection as seal around piston is dry and any fluid coming from here would have ended up in the foot well (there was no sign of fluid here!). Looking to source a ford slave cylinder identical to my original. I do have a clutch stop and will be adjusting it carefully! Thanks Garth