Mondial 8 Clutch Slave Cylinder Repair

A few months ago, I go out to my car to enjoy the beautiful day. Started it right up and went to put in gear and the clutch drops to the floor with little effort. It also stayed on the floor and didn't return to first position. Crap. A little investigative work and I saw hydraulic fluid on the ground between the front of the engine and the rear seat fire wall.

Upon closer inspection, the clutch slave cylinder was leaking. Keep in mind, I had never heard of a clutch slave cylinder before. I located a replacement from AW Italian autoparts (good people here) and was ready for the repair. All in it wasn't very hard to do, from 1-10 with 10 being hardest, I'd give it 2-3.

Removing the pin from the clutch arm was difficult. It wouldn't budge. I used a special clamp I have that looks like a fork with a screw in the middle (sorry no pic). it allowed for me to screw the pin out of the connection.

The rubber boot was shot on old one. The rubber boot on the original piece was wrong, so I called AW and they sent me a new one. You will note the collar is still on the old one. Other than that the parts looked identical.
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The new cylinder had a different pin. It took some careful coaxing, but I got the new piece out and replaced with the original. Here you can see the original pin in the new cylinder. Here it is also with the collar on it ready to install.
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Here it is installed. Attaching it didn't take too much effort
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Here it is connecting the clutch arm to the cylinder pin. Putting it together was far easier than taking it apart.
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After it was all in, I topped off the fluid. I bled it like you would brakes using the bleed screw on top of the cylinder and we were back in business.

 

Yes, quite easy. Ironically, easier than bleeding the brakes as I didn't have to reach around the wheels.

 

Agreed. It was a little bumpy needing the correct boot but it was an easy switch. Given how few of these were made, I sort of expect a little trouble sourcing parts. My 911 and my mercedes are pretty easy as they were made in abundance, but my figaro is quite difficult. Comes with the territory.

 

ah good to know. thanks for the pointer...

 

I haven't notice any difference in braking but i;ll check.. Thanks!

 

I thought about that/ I kept my old cylinder Maybe I'll buy a new boot and o ring and keep it on the read. How may years would you expect?

 

Yikes, let's hope this won't be my continuous repair!