[alfa] Holy cow! 164 clutch master cylinder work! Questions, issues, perspectives...

[hagen_jason@xxxxxxxxxxx]

I'd like to think of myself as a pretty experienced Alfa mechanic and long-term auto do-it-myself enthusiast.  Holy crap though, has anyone else out there ever changed the master cylinder for the clutch on their 164Q (I assume that the other 164's are the same).  

This was the toughest, most annoying job ever.  Not only do I need hands the size of a 5 year olds to get access to the nuts and hose that connects to it in the driver's footwell area, but the upper nut was a complete bear.  The damn connection to the clutch lever was a total bear (imagine a 6'5" guy stuffed upside down under the dash).  Finally, getting the hose from the reservoir reconnected to the master was almost impossible.  I finally found a long nosed hose clamp plier set to do the job!

A question (finally).  I noticed the new part was a Bosch part, the old a Bendix.  The new master had a slightly shorter stroke.  I actually had to adjust the "clutch-in-the upward-position" switch in about 3/8 of an inch due to the difference and the clutch now needs to be pushed well down the the floor to work well (even with a very thorough bleeding).

Your thoughts?  Anyone else out there dealt with this?  Is the shorter stroke an issue?  Is it intentional?  I noticed it does solve the apparent issue of the connection pin and cotter pin rubbing against the metal line running through the firewall over to the clutch slave...

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- Jason Hagen
Chicago, IL
'73 Spider
'95 164Q
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