Thread: 51 MG restoration.

Yup, the tin can is a genuine Girling reservoir. Has an inner isolation tube inside the can to keeps some oil for the clutch in the event of brake failure.
And yes, verified the under cylinder is the slave off the clutch. Thanks for the tips men.

I agree tom, I may buy some rebuild kits as well for future repairs, but am investing in all new masters and wheel cylinders to start with.
I’m told the clutch was replaced at 65k on the odometer, it’s at 89 now.

Originally Posted by MikeB52

The original 51 had the reservoir location as the jack and lug wrench tool storage box location, you can still see it in the outer frame of the area the reservoir now sits in.
I presume the 57 tr3 from which the engine came had a lot more vacuum reliance than the 51 MG originally did.
Even the SU carbs appear to have a vacuum line running to them under the bodies, or at least the one carb seems to, for acceleration boost I believe.
Here’s an image of the inside cover of the Haines book capturing some of the mods the previous owner did.
Attachment 287081
Good call on the alternator conversion Tom, it’s in the notes, hehe.

Thanks. Got threads mixed up a bit and this makes more sense now.

Brake hoses....You can pull them off and will not be able to blow through them!
Get those, two for front and one for rear, I think.
Sometimes there is a hose from the hard line to the clutch slave.
That one too...

I would feel better about a new plastic reservoir for the new synthetic fluid than a rusted tin can? We are not going to Concours here?
Save all old parts (for some reason!)
Just sign a check, Mike! No worries!

Originally Posted by MikeB52

Yup, the tin can is a genuine Girling reservoir. Has an inner isolation tube inside the can to keeps some oil for the clutch in the event of brake failure.

My first thought was "Who cares if the brakes fail as long as you can go faster"

True-nuff, Tim!
Got to remember this is a single master system. ANY hydraulic component fail will likely result in a TOTAL loss of brakes! Everything has to be top-notch. I think......

I digress but a friend recently ruptured a brake [pinhole] line near my house and I cut and pinched the thing off at the left rear. I told her to check the fluid every 10 miles but of course she didn't. She made it home and to her local shop before it ran out.

Yep! Jumped a curb and dented the bricks at the (then) Safeway store with my old 61 F100 4x4.

Rolled-it back off.
Did my shopping and noted the bread on the floor......

Went out and pinched the right-rear brake line with vice-grips. More fluid.
Drove it that way for weeks. Nobody was on the road back then, however!

Originally Posted by sharptonn

In 51, I did not think so!
So what is that vacuum reservoir for? Looks like a check-valve there...

That's the damn heater core, isn't it?

Looks like a 7127 GM alternator conversion. Cool!

Maybey a clutch slave cylinder under the car?
Looks like those masters.
The outboard master will have a pipe running down to the slave on the tranny. Betcha that's it?

The clutch slave cylinder will be mounted on the bell housing.

Been enjoying this thread. I've done my share of pulling vehicles out of the rust pile and making them run, AND stop! It can be a pain at times and other times, things just fall together. All these postings are bringing back a lot of memories of me and the old man working in the garage and the times where I broke down because I didn't make the right choices on my own repairs of old cars.

Good luck and enjoy it. I'll be following along.

Originally Posted by MikeB52

Yup, the tin can is a genuine Girling reservoir. Has an inner isolation tube inside the can to keeps some oil for the clutch in the event of brake failure.

I was thinking about this....More modern cars that share a plastic reservoir atop the brake master cylinder always have the clutch fitting higher than the brake fluid intake on the master.
So the clutch will go before the brakes in case of a leak.
Perhaps those were swapped a while back?
Seems better to lose clutch before brakes?