Freelander 1 Before I replace clutch master/slave system.....

Yes, no point using the hydraulic pipe, but not sure of the relative size of the slave and master cylinder bores and the lever arm length.

Rover being Rover, if they could have used one solution for everything, they would have - so I find it surprising that there are two engineered solutions to the same problem. Unless Solihull didn't like taking to the boys at Oxford/Longbridge???

rob_bell said:

Yes, no point using the hydraulic pipe, but not sure of the relative size of the slave and master cylinder bores and the lever arm length.

Rover being Rover, if they could have used one solution for everything, they would have - so I find it surprising that there are two engineered solutions to the same problem. Unless Solihull didn't like taking to the boys at Oxford/Longbridge???

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The hydraulics are supplied though as a sealed and filled master/piping/slave unit - you can't replace individual bits. There are options to replace this with conventional separate master & slave connected with (presumably home made copper) piping - but I'm not sure which vehicle parts these are based on.

The piping is plastic and the whole unit is coilded up in the packaging.

If the master and slave 'ends' are the same, I recon it'd be a dickens of a job to separate them and join them up with a 'Freelander' pipe.

MGF is a little more "conventional" - with standard vehicle brake hydraulic fittings that make everything serviceable. I wonder how closely related the aftermarket kit is to the MGF slave assembly?
Yes, I get the point you are making, that is how would you fit an alternative slave cylinder if the existing system is all sealed and intended to be replaced as a complete system. Good question. Hmm...

The Freelander sealed unit is pretty good.

No faffing around bleeding and topping up, its reliable and if it does need replacing it just clips on and off - and its quite cheap... many times cheaper than the TD4 system... which also needs the gearbox removed to replace the slave

rob_bell said:

I wonder how closely related the aftermarket kit is to the MGF slave assembly?
Yes, I get the point you are making, that is how would you fit an alternative slave cylinder if the existing system is all sealed and intended to be replaced as a complete system. Good question.

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It's possible to make the MGF slave fit the PG1 box. You do need the mount, and the push rod from the Freelander slave though.
I did this very conversion on my ZS180, which also has the 1 piece plastic assembly the FL1 has.
I used a clutch reservoir from a Fiat 500, and a master cylinder from a Honda Civic, drilling the holes needed to mount it to the bulkhead.

The FL1 system is so similar, that it should be possible to make the Honda master fit the bulkhead of the FL1, I did to my ZS. The pipes are easy to sort, either being copper or made up flexible braided pipes.

GrumpyGel said:

The Freelander sealed unit is pretty good.

No faffing around bleeding and topping up, its reliable and if it does need replacing it just clips on and off - and its quite cheap... many times cheaper than the TD4 system... which also needs the gearbox removed to replace the slave

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No problem with mine, although I did have to top up the similar system on my ZT (not too difficult to be honest)

Nodge68 said:

It's possible to make the MGF slave fit the PG1 box. You do need the mount, and the push rod from the Freelander slave though.
I did this very conversion on my ZS180, which also has the 1 piece plastic assembly the FL1 has.
I used a clutch reservoir from a Fiat 500, and a master cylinder from a Honda Civic, drilling the holes needed to mount it to the bulkhead.

The FL1 system is so similar, that it should be possible to make the Honda master fit the bulkhead of the FL1, I did to my ZS. The pipes are easy to sort, either being copper or made up flexible braided pipes.

Click to expand...

Yes, that was what I was thinking - it's all about matching the stroke distances and bore diameters.

By the sounds of things, to use the MGF slave, you'd need to swap the clutch release arm and use the MGF master cylinder too. There goes any idea of a "nice simple solution"! LOL

I am sure it would be possible to reinforce the FL1 bracket though - even it that would require a little bit of welding...?

rob_bell said:

Yes, that was what I was thinking - it's all about matching the stroke distances and bore diameters.

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The civic master works with the MGF slave, as the cylinder volumes seem compatible. I also used an adjustable rod on both ends, so I could tailor the biting point to my own preference.

I didn't change the arm on my 180, I simply used an adjustable rod, which works with the cup on the release lever. The MGF uses a different arm, as there's a fork and clevis pin used, but it's not required for the normal PG1 box.

The clevis pin system on the MGF is pretty much fool proof. If I were changing the clutch, I’d probably change the release arm to suit - but this is levels of complication that I’m sure the OP could live without! I’m just a masochist lol

Quick update. I put in a replacement Master/slave kit this morning, a bit fiddly to route through and the pre-kinked pipe didn't seem to be kinked in quite the right places, it went in ok but the routing is not as neat as it should be and a bit loopy-loose in one place. Anyway fitted the kit, lubricated the clutch actuating arm, pressed the clutch pedal a few times, making sure that the slave rod thing was seated in the clutch arm and the plastic tags were broken, so far so good.

Started the engine and pumped the clutch a few times, then tried to put it in gear, no joy, pumped the clutch a bit more and it still wouldn't go into gear. The I noticed that, with the engine running I could put the car in any gear with the car not moving, super strange. Stranger still I found that, with the engine running and in gear if I pressed the clutch pedal all the way down it started to bite and the car moved forward. I couldn't understand what was happening, almost as if I had put the Master/Slave kit in 'backwards' in some way so that that pressing the clutch had the opposite effect. I know it's impossible to put the kit in any other way than it was intended but I was convinced I had done something wrong. However after a couple of minutes of pressing the clutch and questioning my sanity, something 'popped', the pedal started to feel a bit more normal and, thankfully, the clutch started to work correctly. A quick test drive showed all seems to be ok. Quite an odd experience.

Anyway, I am now able to drive the car. Thanks to everyone that chipped-in, appreciate it!

Very strange - but glad you have it sorted now!