Clutch MC replacement

[GTVeloce]

I have just finished completing the dreaded clutch MC replacement on a 75 and I have to say this time it went smoothly and relatively easily so I thought I'd share my method for others.

I have replaced the MC on Alfetta's and GTV's and then the 75 which was even harder courtesy of having the heater tap on the RHS of the heater box instead of the left a la GTV. This time around I started by just removing the steering column down to the uni joint inside. This meant I had access through the column hole instead of from underneath. Sure, it's still not a 5 minute job but a hole lot easier than the other way.

Of course, being a TS I also had to remove the engine intake to access the MC connections as well...

Now, if I could just bleed the damn thing! I bench bled it before installing it and have tried the conventional one man bleeding method with no success. I remember years ago my father helping me with this job and he pushed fluid backwards using Nitrogen gas. I don't conveniently have a bottle of nitrogen but I do have a bicycle pump so I created a simple device to push fluid backwards i.e. from the slave cylinder nipple up and into the reservoir. This appeared to work well however, still insufficient pedal. The pedal almost fully springs back when depressed but if I try to start the car in 1st gear she starts to take off down the driveway! If I can get it driveable I generally find it improves with use but how to get there? Any thoughts?

[vin sharp]

Fill the fluid reservoir, attach your bleed hose, crack the bleed nipple open & go inside, make a cup of coffee & read the paper.
Give it 30 minutes then go back & check progress. Surprisingly they often self bleed with this method, just don't let the fluid level get too far down!

[GTVeloce]

Thanks Vin, I will give it a go.

[GTVeloce]

No luck with that method, nor with another proposed method. So, I've decided to replace the clutch flexible hose (have been wanting to for a while) and see if that makes a difference. Took the slave cylinder off again (rebuilt it just recently) and also wondering if I made a mistake when I rebuilt it. I was not paying attention  and yanked the old seals off without checking their orientation. So when I put the new seals in I just took a best guess and put the seals in with the lips at the outer edges. Can anyone confirm if that is correct? Or do you have a pic of how they should look? Given I've just taken the SC off again now is a good time to correct it if needs be.