Successful clutch line replacement with store parts done easy!
The clutch hydraulic line broke in my 86 4-speed, it was inevitable, this is how I replaced it, and I’m positive this little write up will help someone out.
Rodney sells a repair kit but it was beyond that stage. The Fiero Store sells a full replacement, they’re good people there but I wanted to do it myself, looked simple enough but it turned into quite the research project. Once the research was completed and I got the parts, it was an absolute breeze.
The work was done on my little 86-Fiero which is my winter “Hail Mary” daily driver that always gets me through the worst situations.
The items needed are listed below, I’ve got links included so you get the idea, but most everything can be purchased at local auto parts stores.
Quantity 2 of the “Male 12 x 1.0MM Metric Convex Seat to 4AN Male, Steel” connectors from pegasusautoracing dot com part number 3265-59
https://www.pegasusautoraci...KeywordStart=3265-59Quantity 2 of the “4AN Male to 7/16 24 Female Brake Adapters” Earl’s Performance Plumbing Part number 989548ERL.
http://www.jegs.com/i/Earl%.../361/989548/10002/-1Quantity 1 of the “48-inch 4AN female swivel braided steel hoses”, Earl’s Performance Plumbing Part number 64191948ERL (this is for the rear set up)
http://www.jegs.com/i/Earl%...61/64191948/10002/-1Quantity 1 of the “36-inch 4AN female swivel braided steel hoses”, Earl’s Performance Plumbing Part number 64191936ERL (this is for the front set up)
http://www.jegs.com/i/Earl%...61/64191936/10002/-1Standard ¼ brake line, with standard male connectors in a 48” length, brake fluid, cable zip ties and some scrap plastic nylon hose to be used as sheathing.
Once I acquired all of the parts, it was super straight forward. Insert the 4AN male connectors at clutch master and slave, attach 48-inch and 36-inch flexible hoses, the adapters then your ¼-inch hard line.
I did grind down about 1/16 of an inch on the master and slave where I inserted the Male 12 x 1.0MM adapters just to make sure I was getting a good seat. I did use my old male 12 x 1.0MM screw as a thread chaser and flushed any shavings.
Removing the master was 2 of the 13MM nuts and a cotter pin at the pedal. Slave was 2 of the 15 MM bolts holding the entire bracket and slave.
I broke loose the bleeder while the slave was on the bench and made sure it was clear.
I ran the flexible line at both ends along the same route as the stock line making sure that I “wrapped” it in plastic nylon hose in areas where chaffing might occur using cable ties.
I reused the fasteners underneath holding the hard line to the body which are the 10MM nuts and screws and was able to make a few bends of the 48-inch ¼ line with a simple piece of 2-inch diameter pipe. Use the old line as a guide to where to make the bends.
The beauty of this set up is that I had plenty of flexible braided hose at both the master and slave to navigate those tricky bends, used cable zip ties and pieces of plastic nylon hose to isolate and insulate from rubbing and chaffing.
Also with this set up, I did NOT have to cut and flare my ¼-inch x 48-inch brake hard line, to me that was a plus!
The idea of not dealing with one single long piece also appealed to me, the sectional piece concept proved almost effortless.
In retrospect I think I could have used the 3AN sizes all throughout, probably could’ve saved some bucks too but I wanted to match up as close to the original 6MM hard line.
It was just 2 hoses,1 line, 2 adapters and 2 connectors. Here’s a picture of how “clean” the connection from the 4AN flexible hose to the hard line looks.
Here’s a picture of the new hard line, you can’t see it but there’s plastic nylon hose insulating the hard line from the fastener.
Ok, promise the best promise that you won’t laugh too much at the rust but this is a view of the front where the hard line connects to the 36-inch flexible hose, you can see the plastic tubing and the cable zip ties fastening the hose to one of the coolant pipes.
Oh yeah, almost forgot, bled it out myself using a 5-foot pole to depress the clutch pedal while I was standing alongside opening and closing the bleeder screw. You get 3 good pumps, afterwards go fill the reservoir.
Granted, it’s not a showroom car, just my winter beater, once I got the parts, it was a breeze, so I couldn’t be happier, and believe it, took less time to install the new line than to write about it, but it’s all good because it’ll help out my fellow Fiero forum members.
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jetman
Silver 86 SE 2M6 4-speed, with "check wallet light" Now fortified with 8 essential slices of bacon goodness[This message has been edited by jetman (edited 11-08-2014).]
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