[Ozone Maker]

Hello All,

Working on a 1986 Spider Veloce. Replaced the clutch pivot arm, the master cylinder and now trying to remove the slave cylinder. I removed the two retaining snap rings and now the slave cylinder seems to be stuck in place. I have sprayed PB Blaster on it maybe 14 different times and still it is stuck in place. It won't twist, move back and forth, etc. It almost seems as if it is rusted in place or something and won't move in any way. The slave cylinder was leaking and so the fluid was getting onto the housing of the slave cylinder which certainly rusted it (I assume) and am looking for some help. Any ideas on how to get this out? Am I missing something in the removal process? Help please.

Thanks all,

Ozone Maker

 

[radamm]

Nothing else is holding it but corrosion. I'm thinkin' a block of wood and a solid tap... oh ok, smack the heck out of it.

 

[Alfajay]

No, you're not missing something - they can get really rusted in place.

I wouldn't smack it too hard - that aluminum hoop that the slave cylinder mounts in is strong enough to resist the force of moving the throw-out bearing, but it isn't all that strong.

Oil + heat is your best strategy. Usually you can get them to twist to loosen things up. There are a couple of flats on the back of the cylinder where you can use a large adjustable wrench to apply torque to the thing.

 

[bianchi2]

after you nuke it out wire brush the hell out of to get it clean nice and shineyand also wire brush the slave cly. holder on the bellhousing,, before re-instale.. use a great supply of anti seize on the slave cly, and the mounting on the bellhouseing.. then after you finish, bleading etc.. a nice shot of paint to seal it from any stuff that might get it stuck there in the future..

 

[Saar]

Did you brush the rust around it?
PB blaster is good but you may want to clean the area from rush/dirt.
Mine was a little stuck too, after cleaning the area+WD40 (something like PB bluster that we have here in Israel) it moved out.
Saar.

 

[Ozone Maker]

Thank you all, your help was perfect and got me through this problem. I had been worried that another fastener was on the slave cylinder and therefore no matter what I did it would not ever come out. When I read that these do rust into place, I knew I was set. I loaded it up with PB Blaster, put vise-grips on the flats (on the end with the hydraulic hose) and using a dead blow hammer I gently hit the vise-grips to twist the cylinder. It moved and I worked it back and forth until more of the PB Blaster worked it's way into the opening. Got it out and will pick up anti-seize at the auto store tomorrow on my way home.

Thanks again for the help gang, very much appreciated.

 

[Carey]

Me too. Spent most of the day trying to get the slave cylinder out of an 81 Spider. I'm sure its original.

Heat with a heat gun, squirt WD-40, bang on a wrench handle trying to turn the cylinder. I don't want to bang the cylinder out directly because that looks like a big risk to the casting.

Anyone have another idea? It will sit for 36 hours until I can get back to it on Monday.

 

[howard100]

Heat gun??? You need a torch.

 

[bianchi2]

Yes...fire...good

 

[Carey]

My heat gun goes over 1000 degrees without fire. I thought I'd start slow and escalate if needed. There are important parts of the fuel system - with fuel in them - not far from the clutch cylinder that make me a little twitchy firing up a torch. Esp without a lot of elbow room under the car. We'll see how it goes.

Thanks for the comments.

 

[Carey]

It came out with the heat gun on 1000 degrees and a few cycles of penetrating oil, sit overnight, heat and pound. I didn't have a lot of room to swing really hard. I didn't break anything.

 

[dhayes5]

Helpful Post

I was rebuilding my clutch system on my '77 Spider today and ran into the same issue. The slave cylinder was stuck with both clips removed. I figured I would look and see if anyone had the same issue and I found this post.

The heat gun worked the treat. I put everything back together with anti seize as suggested and pressure bled the whole thing (new slave, new master and new rubber hose). Great pedal pressure.

Thanks to all who posted on this thread it was very helpful.