Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Clutch master cylinder reservoir for trads

Noticed my reservoir cap was split whilst changing clutch fluid recently. Needless to say this AP part is only available as a complete reservoir with cap and mounting bracket under part number MBH1805 and around £46 from MMC if still available, since usual parts dealers don't appear to stock. Image below shows replacement item with old split cap. Note this item is listed to suit all trads from 2006 and probably earlier.



Checked on the AP website and under racing items an identical looking part appears under a collage of other parts. Unfortunately there is no AP listing for this item so it may already have been discontinued. A search on eBay revealed they are available from a couple of sources listed as "AP style". Given it was only £14.99 delivered I took a gamble. Pleased to say cap fits perfectly on OE body and whole replacement is as near identical as I can judge. Click pic above for source.

This may be useful for someone doing a rebuild or as heavy handed as myself when replacing cap

Richard,
I
With respect, have found that the only thing one can be sure of with a failed part is, that if replaced with the same part, it will fail again. In any
event, here is its true price. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271062339038

That being said, I have been meaning to replace the MMC's Aero 8 dual purpose brake/clutch reservoir they fit to my Morgan 22 years ago!
Tho plastic, it has the standard higher quality cap. Ideally, I guess, one should have stainless steel reservoir, one each for brakes and clutch.
They are very attractive to this besotted nutter fan of shiny metal...and bullet proof. But ideally, they should both have with low level indicators..as
we already have for the brakes.

gmg

The eBay link you posted Lorne is same as my picture link. Important in my opinion that level can be seen externally which excludes your metal one. Nothing is idiot proof though - read my last sentence above

This one from Car Builder Solutions is tried and tested, (fitted a few over the years) bang on the same as your OE one Richard and shows what a rip off MMC price is

https://www.carbuilder.com/uk/lockheed-brake-fluid-reservoir

I understand. I was trying to discretely show the price difference normal and the Morgan trade. For ages, buying from the MMC was the least expensive source for
best quality parts. Hopefully we can change them.[/i]

You make good points. A clear reservoir (even cheap plastic) allows one to see whether the fluid has turned colors. However an inexpensive cheap brake/clutch fluid tester is much
wiser. It all depends how vigilant one chooses to be. Dealers will not do this. However, if visibility is desired, there are some pretty class thingies available...Rolls, Bentley and
Jaguar used to use them.

I have now found metal level indicating caps sold alone. And many of the quality ones, plastic or metal, are exchangeable and caps sold alone. Easy to adapt. The nature of
the fluid is not does not make this an area where money should be saved.

I have been using the dual brake/clutch reservoir for some time. I am presently musing whether to continue with the dual reservoir dear MB added to my recreation. I can't think of a
prejudice, off hand. Can you? Is it key to distinguish whether we are missing clutch or brake fluid? Frankly, on most Morgans there is no indication about clutch fluid level and quality
except the owner's degree of attention and a failing foot pedal (the latter being no fun). And there is no harm in better aesthetics.

L.

[quote=CooperMan]This one from Car Builder Solutions is tried and tested, (fitted a few over the years) bang on the same as your OE one Richard.....

I am very curious CooperMan. What went wrong with your reservoir that you needed to replace it?

L.

The black rubber gravity feed pipe that MMC used was a bit low rent (also suspect not brake fluid resistant) in trying to remove it as it had bonded so well to the plastic that the outlet just snapped off, so far I've done 3 Mogs with the same issue, I also suspect that the black crud that accumulates in the bottom of the tank is partly the black pipe breaking down in the internal bore

That became an issue on the coolant side when I changed the white "nylon/plastic" T piece for the aluminium version. On my Plus 4, being only eight years old...(where did that go?), the three coolant pipes came off easily. I break the seal by sliding a fine screwdriver into the gap, then a squirt of WD40.
But my Roadster, being now pushing 20 years old ............(and where did that go?), was much less easy. Two coolant pipes eventually slid off. The third was bonded under the pressure from the Jubilee clip. It eventually released, leaving large fragments of rubber attached to the T Piece. A finger inside the hose confirmed that the damage was only around the Jubilee clip and there is enough slack on that hose (which goes to the oil filter heat exchanger) to remove about 3/4". To prevent debris dropping into the end of the hose, my approach is to insert a socket, then using a stanley knife very carefully, having masked the line on which to cut, the end of the hose can be slowly cut, leaving a perfect end, and reconnected.
The cut section of hose then pulls out as the socket is removed.
Coolant loss is minimal, and this is also a job worth doing.

Thank you Jon. You taught me something important to look for in cars of your era. Dissolved rubber or neoprene could be a brake system killer. I would love to
know whether the MMC cured that subsequently.

I gather you have a remote reservoir. (?) I was sent one after the MMC recreated my car in 2002. Mark Baldwin, a super kind and astute fellow, who was keeping
on an eye on the build, suggested I would need one. He was right. The later braking system requires one if one is using branch manifolds IIRC.] This is why
they sent me an Aero I reservoir. In the case of the line from MC to remote, I changed the line to heat resistant braided ss on arrival .

I also had a dissolving rubber hose situation in my fuel cell. Normal or neoprene quickly "melts" in petrol as well. In that case, I finally designed a ss tank drawing
on Mulberry advice a few years ago and internally plumbed it with ss pipe. (Yes I have a tendency to overkill...but our children are costless now). I keep an
eye on such things more than most. My Morgan mileage taught me long ago that anything that CAN happen Will happen. You have convinced me that glass
reservoirs, like the old expensive ones posted above, are the smartest. If I choose to have level indicators, most of the caps are sold separately and of a standard size.

Thx again. Here is a present.

Lorne