Uprated Clutch Slave Cylinder Seals

[GaryF]

Anyone know where I can get a set of seals for this :-

https://partsfortvrs.com/tvr-parts/part-details/tv...

The part itself is out of stock. It's an uprated version of the standard clutch slave cylinder. Mine has lasted for seven years but has developed a minor leak.

[GaryF]

And if not...

Is this Racetech variant (£404) :-

https://www.racetechdirect.co.uk/car-parts/transmi...

any better than this standard one (£219)? :-

https://partsfortvrs.com/tvr-parts/part-details/tv...

[non_linear]

I went through the same exercise last year. I was told the seals for the Raceproved part are hand selected at assembly and are not available on their own. I went with a new Raceproved slave as this seems to be a well respected and tried solution. No idea about the Racetech part. Some people have a good experience with the OE part, others not so.
If it's a minor leak I would be inclined to wait until the Raceproved part becomes available again, unless it is now unobtanium.
Do they know when they will be available again?

Edited by non_linear on Sunday 4th September 10:08

[GaryF]

Thanks for the info. Not sure on the lead time, or in fact if they will be available again - it wasvmy mechanic speaking to them . He's putting a new clutch in at present, so may have to go with the standard slave.

[8nil]

non_linear said:

I went through the same exercise last year. I was told the seals for the Raceproved part are hand selected at assembly and are not available on their own. I went with a new Raceproved slave as this seems to be a well respected and tried solution. No idea about the Racetech part. Some people have a good experience with the OE part, others not so.
If it's a minor leak I would be inclined to wait until the Raceproved part becomes available again, unless it is now unobtanium.
Do they know when they will be available again?

Edited by non_linear on Sunday 4th September 10:08

Went though this exercise last year. RP slave was not available (the manufacturer is apparently (and this is just heresay at the time) now just a 1 man band and does it 'on the side' these days).

Took the more drastic action of machining the bellhousing and fitting a tilton 6600 slave, due to multiple slave failures.

Mat Smith did the work and made an excellent job. Clutch feel and weight is excellent

[Sagi Badger]

Pretty sure seals are the same, just more in the RP item.

OH, so much written about clutches. I too have machined the bell housing, I have also taken great steps to align the bell housing to the block to the input shaft. So important yet seems to be a reluctance to do this. Any block line honed/bored or bell housing misaligned or bolted up with the gearbox high or low will result in an misalignment. The input shaft must follow the crank centre line, like best we can otherwise we get input shaft bearing wear. Ask Gearbox Man (CTS). The release bearing needs to be concentric, either floating so it centres on the fingers or in line and best we can so truly concentric, otherwise it is getting shaken about and the seals are suffering each time it is making contact with the clutch fingers. It needs cam dowels or imagination with drill and roll pins and a DTI, stuff on YT showing how to, usually a Quicktime onto an SBC but same idea. The bell housing should be checked on the box to ensure a good snug fit on the input collar

Hence some HRBs last and some don't. The standard item will nearly always droop and the wear patterns I have seen concur this, the RP will do well if you have it in line. If not, expect what you get. Simples.

I don't use the contact springs as I would rather the seal memory pull the release bearing back slightly, of course only applies to Tilton/Superclutch (miss them) etc. items to save bearing wear.

[non_linear]

8nil said:

Went though this exercise last year. RP slave was not available (the manufacturer is apparently (and this is just heresay at the time) now just a 1 man band and does it 'on the side' these days).

Took the more drastic action of machining the bellhousing and fitting a tilton 6600 slave, due to multiple slave failures.

Mat Smith did the work and made an excellent job. Clutch feel and weight is excellent

I did consider a Tilton slave myself, it seems a much nicer solution. If the RP slave had not been available I think I would have gone that route.
Did you have to change the master cylinder as well?

[MonkeyJez]

I've gone Tilton slave cylinder since replacement seals for the standard slave were too tight leading to a clutch with a mind of its own (only realised after all fitted)...

Pedal feel is better than original with improved modulation. Not a cheap exercise, but I think worth it in the long run and I couldn't be doing with the lottery of how long standard would last before it leaked.

It's been mentioned to me that the quality of the RG slave cylinder has dropped off in recent years.

[GaryF]

In the meantime, I've gone ahead and ordered a slave cylinder from Dom. This is not the same TVR part, but one they have made up for Powers.

TVR parts have neither the Raceproved or standard slave cylinders in stock, even though the website suggests the standard one is available.

I hope I get some decent life out of this one too. I know my mechanic will do his best as regards alignment / fitting within the bounds of reason.

Thanks for the replies - it does seem to be a weak area with many failures.

Edited by GaryF on Tuesday 6th September 15:02

[8nil]

non_linear said:

I did consider a Tilton slave myself, it seems a much nicer solution. If the RP slave had not been available I think I would have gone that route.
Did you have to change the master cylinder as well?

Yep....we played with that a bit to get the right weight, we landed on a good solution, although I can't remeber which one is in there!