411 Master cylinder bore specs

[Peter Grace]

Hi everyone

My mechanic has asked me for the bore specification for the master cylinder on my 73 411. Does anyone know the answer to this?

I understand it is leaking and the cylinder will need to be reconditioned.

Many thanks

Peter

[Nick Challacombe]

I am in Spain at the moment, and have not the info to hand, but if you Google "Past Parts" in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk they have reconditioning kits for all old brake parts and are very helpful.
Nick Challacombe 407 6028

[Hydroglen]

Any shop specializing in brake rebuilding should be able to help you. Take them the part and they will recondition it. No need to worry about sizes....the size will be determined by how it will be reconditioned.

Dorien

[Bryn Tirion]

I'm in the US on a visit myself so have no information to hand, but isn't the master cylinder just a Jag one? Cheap to replace.

Hopefully one of the Forum members who knows the answer will reply!! If anyone reads these, that is.

[GREG]

No it's not Jag - it's early Land Rover / Range Rover 23mm

[Peter Grace]

Thanks everyone.

Nick - I have emailed PastParts thank you. I have also asked Bristol Cars and SLJ.
Greg and Byrn - thanks will check out the LandRover and Jaguar alternatives. This might be the fastest route.
Dorien - thanks too for your help. I think the mechanic is just trying to understand the job a bit better, it's his first time working on the car (or any Bristol I suppose)!

P

[412usa]

The Bristol manual does not recommend re boring master cylinders. Does anybody know why

[GREG]

You can get a new one for £50 quid if you shop around -- throw it in the bin and fit one and be happy for another 30 years !! Or type in Bristol 411 master cylinder in eBay and pay top price -- but at least that gives you the part number to show local Land/Range Rover Specialists , wherever you are in the world

If the master cylinder has gone and the rest of the brakes are the same age, you will be replacing the servo's and callipers soon! Type 8 Lockheed servos and new callipers available

[GREG]

Zeuss do replacement new callipers at around £350 / pair

I thought I would add the extra detail to avoid the answers from people on holiday or don't have information to hand / not sure etc -- so what's the point in writing anything !!?

Make it a forum rule to only answer a question if you KNOW the feckin answer !!

My Grumpy Old Man answer of the day :-)

[GREG]

Originally Posted by Peter Grace

Thanks everyone.

Nick - I have emailed PastParts thank you. I have also asked Bristol Cars and SLJ.
Greg and Byrn - thanks will check out the LandRover and Jaguar alternatives.

P

What Jaguar alternatives !!!!? None

[Kevin H]

Originally Posted by Bryn Tirion

I'm in the US on a visit myself so have no information to hand, but isn't the master cylinder just a Jag one?

No (we're talking about the Bristol 411)

All of the brake caliper information is in the resources section of this site, here Resources - Bristol Cars - Owners and Enthusiasts Forum

[GREG]

By the way -- my earlier comments were not aimed at Nic ! He happens to be one of the most helpful contributors to the forum

But I do feel sorry for a lot of newby owners getting really wishy washy answers to a simple question -- and as Kevin pointed out, the information is normally in the resources section, so worth checking there first.

[Geoff Kingston]

Greg
Are the Zeuse callipers available just for the fronts or do they do sets for the rear as well.
Absolutly right on the Master Cylinder, it's Range Rover not Jaguar, the one on my 411 came from a local landrover parts guy, have also had the 410's cylinders sleeved by Past Parts and they work fine no problems at all.
Geoff.

[GREG]

Good question - I was lucky enough to talk to the owner when I called to enquire about the callipers they offer -- they were asked quite a while ago to develop a disc brake for the London Fairway Cab that we all know and love. After successfully achieving that project they realised that there must me a lot of classic car owners that would love the benefit of disc brakes or have disc brakes that have now become obsolete --- they discovered that the callipers on the Bristol were identical to the callipers on a number of cars except for the bolt hole distance ( eg Reliant Scimitar / Jag etc ) - So they developed a better calliper that uses the same brake pad but gives an increased surface area for improved braking performance , but with multiple bolt holes to enable the calliper to be used on a variety of cars I that era - clever eh

I did ask about the rears and he said there was a solution ,but I can't remember quite what it was ! I will clarify when I get chance

The Blenheim 4 has these callipers fitted and they work very well

I don't think there is much difference in price between having a set of callipers refurbished and purchasing the new Zeuss calliper -- so I would probably go for new ones if the performance is better -- or both to have a set in stock

Hope the above is helpful to someone

PS they also do a calliper to replace the 405 to 409 and probably have something similar to the expensive Coopercraft to convert the earlier cars

[GREG]

I owned a London Fairway cab for a few years due to being pissed on eBay !!

I can highly recommend them as a fun very British for, of transport ;-). The best £300 I ever spent and a great dog walking car ! Although , I did come from my local shop one day to find two old ladies sat in the back ! They wouldn't have any of me trying to explain that I wasn't a real cab driver, so I ended up taking them home and carrying their shopping in !!

My wife still laughs at that one

Six cylinder Bristol tyres will also fit on a Taxi and work almost as good as the Taxi tyres :-)

[Kevin H]

Originally Posted by 412usa

The Bristol manual does not recommend re boring master cylinders. Does anybody know why

So they could sell you a new one? ;-)

Maybe there isn't much cost difference between reconditioning and replacement.

It is of course quite an important part of the car!

My understanding is that when they recondition these things they usually re-sleeve the bore so that it is returned to it's original diameter.

Of course you are totally dependent on the quality of the service provided by the people who do the reconditioning, so maybe that's why they recommend you simply replace it.

[Bryn Tirion]

Originally Posted by 412usa

The Bristol manual does not recommend re boring master cylinders. Does anybody know why

The master cylinder bore and therefore the swept volume is matched to the calipers and the braking surface area at the design stage. Although a master cylinder rebore is unlikely to affect braking greatly, nevertheless I am sure the Bristol lawyers advised them to cover their bottoms, since one never knows what some idiotic Future Owner is likely to do.

Having said that, Bristol always seemed to get components off other people's shelves, so getting hold of a NOS or brand new master cylinder is certainly going to be cheaper and more straightforward than a rebore..... what seal kits do you buy for a rebore? Yes, a reline is more likely than a boring out, but what a needlessly complicated solution to a simple problem!