A little while ago, I had asked if anyone had servo assisted the clutch on a 300TDi. The simple answer seemed to be no, but that some folk were interested.
There are some folk on other forums who have done this, but, apart from a single thread on difflock.com, there seems to be a lack of useable information out there...
Well, I have now done it to SWMBO's D1, and, to start at the end, its rather good, pedal effort has been reduced from about 18Kg static, to about 7Kg static - measured in a rather Heath Robinson fashionwith a spring balance, as shown below:-
A more empirical measure is that its now possible to disengage the clutch using finger pressure alone - without breaking the finger in question
This has been done with ( a Chinese copy of ) an "MG" 2.3:1 ratio brake servo from the bay of fleas ( £90 ) and various pipe nuts, a tee piece for the vacuum pipe work, and miscellaneous bolts etc, all in for less than £100, and about an afternoon to fit it, and bleed it. I also changed the fluid whilst I was at it, as it probably would have been daft not to - the original fluid was well past its sell by date.
The supplied bracket, once de-burred, ( or should that be un-sharpened ), was fitted as shown, by drilling through the inner wing, and bolting through - with a good coating of anti corrosion wax.
The actual servo didn't come with any nuts to hold it to the bracket (?!!?!), and they are 5/16" UNF ( as befits an MG, I suppose ) - but I had some in stock from my old Triumph days.....
Had to move the glow plug relay to make enough space for the large 7" can of the servo. Servo came with a bundy pipe, and I used this to make the two pipes for the circuit:- As I made them, the Master to servo pipe is 535mm long, and the servo to original clutch pipework pipe is 720mm long.
If there is a problem with this servo, its that the pipe unions are 5/16" for 3/16" pipe, and the LR clutch pipework is 7/16" for 1/4 pipe work - thankfully adapting nuts are available from the well known auction site - but it would be better to have bought a servo tapped for 7/16", and use 1/4 pipe throughout. I couldn't find one. If this creates any problems, I'll re-tap the servo, and upsize the pipework.
The ( plain steel tube ) support shown here is necessary to maintain the angle of the servo as per the instructions downloaded from the evilbay listing. (I'll paint it later ! ) Bleeding the extended circuit took a while, and with no (servo) assistance, the clutch effort is essentially the same. (HEAVY!) Once the engine is running effort drops very quickly, and its a whole lot easier to operate. Bite point remains unchanged.
Whilst its early days for the mod, we're very pleased so far. Highly recommended for anyone with a requirement for a lighter clutch.
There are some folk on other forums who have done this, but, apart from a single thread on difflock.com, there seems to be a lack of useable information out there...
Well, I have now done it to SWMBO's D1, and, to start at the end, its rather good, pedal effort has been reduced from about 18Kg static, to about 7Kg static - measured in a rather Heath Robinson fashion
with a spring balance, as shown below:-A more empirical measure is that its now possible to disengage the clutch using finger pressure alone - without breaking the finger in question
This has been done with ( a Chinese copy of ) an "MG" 2.3:1 ratio brake servo from the bay of fleas ( £90 ) and various pipe nuts, a tee piece for the vacuum pipe work, and miscellaneous bolts etc, all in for less than £100, and about an afternoon to fit it, and bleed it. I also changed the fluid whilst I was at it, as it probably would have been daft not to - the original fluid was well past its sell by date.
The supplied bracket, once de-burred, ( or should that be un-sharpened
), was fitted as shown, by drilling through the inner wing, and bolting through - with a good coating of anti corrosion wax.The actual servo didn't come with any nuts to hold it to the bracket (?!!?!), and they are 5/16" UNF ( as befits an MG, I suppose ) - but I had some in stock from my old Triumph days.....
Had to move the glow plug relay to make enough space for the large 7" can of the servo. Servo came with a bundy pipe, and I used this to make the two pipes for the circuit:- As I made them, the Master to servo pipe is 535mm long, and the servo to original clutch pipework pipe is 720mm long.
If there is a problem with this servo, its that the pipe unions are 5/16" for 3/16" pipe, and the LR clutch pipework is 7/16" for 1/4 pipe work - thankfully adapting nuts are available from the well known auction site - but it would be better to have bought a servo tapped for 7/16", and use 1/4 pipe throughout. I couldn't find one. If this creates any problems, I'll re-tap the servo, and upsize the pipework.
The ( plain steel tube ) support shown here is necessary to maintain the angle of the servo as per the instructions downloaded from the evilbay listing. (I'll paint it later ! ) Bleeding the extended circuit took a while, and with no (servo) assistance, the clutch effort is essentially the same. (HEAVY!) Once the engine is running effort drops very quickly, and its a whole lot easier to operate. Bite point remains unchanged.
Whilst its early days for the mod, we're very pleased so far. Highly recommended for anyone with a requirement for a lighter clutch.
