Jaguar made several changes to the clutch slave cylinder during the production of the E-Type which appear to have caused a fair amount of confusion amongst owners, myself included.
The slave cylinder details from the Jaguar literature are:
- S1 to engine 7E4606 – short 80mm adjustable cylinder (part C21470)
- S1 from engine 7E4607 – 95mm hydrostatic self-adjusting cylinder (part C24145)
- S1 from engine 7E18356 (7E55558 for 2+2) – reverted to adjustable cylinder (part C29801)
The difference being the adjustable cylinders require a return spring and bracket to pull the fork back, so the piston is at the mid-point. The hydrostatic, self-adjusting cylinders must not have the return spring fitted. Either type can be fitted to any of the range, so you just need to know which type is fitted to determine whether to fit a return spring.
As a result, the length of the slave cylinder is often used to differentiate between the two types. A 95mm unit was supplied when I ordered a replacement C29801 cylinder and the suppliers assured me it was correct.
I made the assumption, from all the forum discussions on the subject, that I must have a hydrostatic unit and therefore didn’t include the return spring when it was fitted it to the transmission, prior to installing the engine.
It wasn’t until another S2 owner who was going through the same issue was able to confirm the 2nd version of the non-hydrostatic cylinders was 95mm, not 80mm, with the original Lockheed part having markings 3232 648C. This matched the markings on my replacement cylinder and also on the one that had been removed during the dismantling, which was fitted with a spring.
My conclusion was that the return spring will need to be fitted after all. Another recommendation was to replace the mounting stud by 5/8″ UNC x 1″ socket head bolts. This will make later removal easier as access is severely restricted.
So another task to add to the ‘To Do’ list!
Clutch operations
Me too, in the process of restoring a 1969 series 2 in the first instance trying to get the clutch pedal operation how it should be.
So far i have fitted a new master cylinder new flexi hose new pipe to the new slave cylinder with it new spring and tab.
On trying to bleed i get no flow of fluid showing as i crack open the bleed nipple ,….unless i put on one of those plug onto the tyre air pressure devices the system works perfect, soon as i take it off- pressure. the pedal reverts back to poor !
Never had this one before on other Etypes . tried longer push rod from fork to slave i made the master cyl. push rod adjustable via the threaded rod to the clutch pedal ? what have i missed
Hi,
From what I understand, most of the usual suppliers now supply the slave cylinder that requires the spring. I must admit I don’t know how the hydrostatic self-adjusting cylinders work.
I ended up purchasing a tool that applied a vacuum to the bleed nipple so it pulled the hydraulic fluid through rather than pressurise. the added benefit is that it’s one a one-man operation to bleed the clutch. One problem I still haven’t resolved it the height of the clutch pedal. The push rod attached to the pedal is either the wrong length or there must be some method of attaching the pushrod to the master cylinder piston. At the moment the pedal rides far too high and the first few inches of movement is simply to bring the pushrod into contact with the piston.
Chris