MG-Cars.net

Welcome to our resource for MG Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG MGA - Bad parts: 17H7702 master cylinder cover

I have just received a new one of these domed master cylinder covers from Leacy. It is too narrow and the holes are drilled incorrectly to mount to the cylinder casting - there is also too little material on the flange to be able to correct this without breaking the outer edge.

It's junk and it's going back

No idea if David Manners has the same supplier, but their part is £26 against Leacy's £46-

Does anyone have a used one going spare?
dominic clancy

Please send me picture(s), as I would like to post it as a Faulty Replacement Part.
barneymg@mgaguru.com
Barney Gaylord

Hi Dominic, I have bought many parts from Brown & Gammons in UK for my mga, and never had any issues. They are listing the master cylinder cover which you want, but it's a little pricey. They are selling this part on their website for £58.30 excluding Vat (£69.96 including vat). Sorry don't have one spare.

Frank
F. Camilleri

Just comparing the pictures on these websites there looks to be a massive difference:

http://www.mgbits.com/contents/en-uk/p4959_Top_-_Master_Cylinder.html

http://www.leacyclassics.com/17h7702.html

I just ordered some parts from Moss in their recent "50 parts" sale and am very, very happy with the quality. The prices were way lower than both Leacy and Metal Mickey, which is a first. So I compared a few more prices of parts not in the sale and it seemed like either Moss have reduced prices or the others have put theirs up?
Neil MG

I got my newly cast item from Bob West back in 2009. £30 +vat. The holes lined up fine but I had to grind the base on a sheet of glass to guarantee a good seal. Also the screw thread was very poor. It was cast rather than cut and I had to take the first one back, together with my original cap to find another cover in his stock that was better.

At the time I believe the casting of this item was a new enterprise by someone. I guess others have now jumped on the bandwagon.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Over the last couple of years I placed a lot of orders (two a week on average) with Leacy until they bumped up their free shipping threshold. Their orders always take about two weeks to reach me, so I now only use them for projects I can plan long term, or when I have a bulky order. They have always been good on refunding for poor quality parts, like spring pans or door latches.

I have started to use David Manners recently, and find their parts are good quality and price is much lower than either Moss or Leacy. Shipping is on a par with Moss.

But if I want something quickly but not in a hurry, Moss Bradford is great, as they will send stuff by ordinary mail rather than courier. For urgent stuff Moss' overnight service can't be beaten.

I have a brand new AP MC on the bench, so I can take a few photos to illustrate.
dominic clancy

Neil,
On the web sites, I see that both master cylinder tops have massively oversize clearance holes for the fixing screws too.

Regards
Colin
Colin Manley

Even with oversize holes it does not fit. If I made the holes big enough to line up with the threaded holes in the MC, I would have to break through the outer flange. I will do photos tonight.
dominic clancy

Here's the first photo: I have already received a refund promise from Leacy, so credit to them for good customer service. It would still be nice to have received a part that had passed a quality inspection!

Not the sharpest photo - better one follows. This is mounted on a brand new AP MC, but I had the same issue on an original Lockheed unit.




dominic clancy

The problem is more easily visible if I match up the lid supplied with the MC, I can get bolts through two of five holes before the misalignment is obvious. From the hole top left you can see how much narrower and shorter the domed cover is, the bottom and left hand edges are aligned. After Steve's comment I checked it for flatness - it needs serious remedial work here too.

Interestingly I also noted that the cap is a Lockheed knock-off, but has only the word OCKHEED inside the triangle!





dominic clancy

Packing everything away, I tried switching the cap from the AP to the domed lid. It didn't fit more than a turn before binding on the thread. I tried another genuine Lockheed plastic cap in case the knock-off was the issue, same result. The Ockheed cap on another cylinder works fine, so this domed piece is really fit for scrap on all fronts.
dominic clancy

Replacing my early flat-top master cylinder cover with the correct domed one is one of the (many) jobs that I still have on my to-do list.

I understand that having a bigger brake fluid reservoir is advantageous but to be honest, I have never noticed any real need for this on my car over the last 8 years.

I do have an original domed cover somewhere in amongst my spares but I had planned on buying a new one to avoid having to restore the old one.

I think I will wait and see for now.

Colyn
c firth

This thread was discussed between 13/02/2016 and 15/02/2016

MG MGA index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGA BBS is active now.