Master cylinder removal

[youngun]

Amongst other things today i set to on getting out the master cylinder and came across a lovely little flaw in my plan. The Two bolts holding it in wont come out, due to a torsion bar being in the way. Have i been unfortunate enough to buy a car where someone has put these bolts in the wrong way, or is this correct and theres some knack to getting them out, possibly the removal of a torsion bar?!!

Thanks
YG

[steve4063]

this is a safety issue and its meant toi be that way.

if you swap them when putting it back in u'll need to use locking thread or some other form of securing the nuts.

there are 2 ways of getting them out.
1st the proper way remove the torsion bar by removing the rear wishbone and undoing the nut at the rear of the wishbone and it can be moved enough to get the bolts out.

2nd the easiest but not commonly regocnised get a crow bar or similar and bend the torsion bar out of the way downwards just enough to get the bolts out.

i got told this by a major supplier and restorer after i struggled to remove the torsion bar. they said "no u should of used a crow bar and bent it out of the way thats the way we do it"

hope that helps

[bigginger]

Nope, that's the RIGHT way round. The heads of the bolts are thin to ensure that they don't wear the bar, and it's important to replace them that way around. I generally use a lever to simply bend the bar ou of the way, others have cunning ways of using clamps and blocks, but if the t bar's coming off at any point anyway, that's the best time of all to do it.

[youngun]

Well, everything is coming off. So i will leave it until its torsion bar time!

Thanks for the help everyone!

[davidwarren]

Hi, I replaced my master cylinder recently and I did the old bending of the torsion bar trick. I got a thick piece of steel bar and a block of wood. I made a see saw effect under the floor. One end of the bar went ontop of the torsion bar and the other on my trolley jack. The wood was the pivot. It worked a treat.
Good luck

[Willie]

Under no circumstances should you allow metal to metal contact when levering the torsion bar down to allow withdrawl of the bolts. If you nick the torsion bar it could lead to failure. It is perfectly ok to reverse the bolts but you must ensure that the nuts do not touch the torsion bar when fitted that way round. Omit any washers on the bar side and, if
necesssary, file the end of the bolts to give adequate clearance.

[bmcecosse]

Aye - standard procedure to put them back in the 'wrong' way round - but making sure that they don't rub on the torsion bar. Mine are like that - plenty of clearance off the bar. Makes it so much easier in the future!