914Rubber "easy" brake master cylinder still produced? Options

[burlybryan]

I replaced my MC with a new 19mm version 2 years ago and the damn thing is leaking fluid. I'll sell the car before I go through the trauma of trying to replace the evil thing again. I checked 914Rubber site to see if they still carried their version with the "easy" installation mods and they don't show it (or even the regular one). Anyone know if this has gone the way of the dodo?

[Montreal914]

Maybe call them? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

[nditiz1]

I asked the same question and got this response:

"Afternoon Nick, Right now Mark's brother is looking to buy him out of his half of the business, so any major purchases(easy install MC) are on hold at the moment. Regarding the E-brake we are having an issue with our vendor, but hoping to have it corrected in the coming weeks."

I had also inquired about the brake kit.

[burlybryan]

Never thought to call them on a Sunday night.........I'm sure they have a call center in India..... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

Anyway, thanks for the reply Nick! I'll dig in tomorrow night, but I pretty much suspect the evil rubber grommets.

[fiacra]

If you got your MC from 914Rubber in ~ late 2020 there was a batch that had the casting plug pressed in at an angle and they would eventually start to leak around the plug (picture attached). Mine didn't start to leak right away and it took some time to show up, although my car doesn't get driven a lot. Personally if the leak isn't something you can address by replacing the grommets or the feed lines and you have to replace the MC I'd go with the Ate MC. Believe me, I know how much of a PITA doing this job is. I never wanted to do it again so I paid more for what I hope is a better part. Advice on installation is covered in many other threads so I won't go off on that tangent other than to say I'd recommend you install the lines and grommets on the bench first and then install the MC.

Good luck!

[TC 914-8]

I have one of those easy install master cylinder sitting on my bench. I bought it five years ago and never installed it. I guess after reading all this it’s not worth installing? I was going to reach out to Marc to see if it is still good still sitting in its box and original packaging, I haven’t opened it up in years.

[jim_hoyland]

Can’t the faulty plug be replaced ??

[burlybryan]

Thanks for the pointers. Yeah, if/when I do it again, I'll be pulling the fuel tank and attaching lines on the bench. I'll be able to investigate tonight.

If you got your MC from 914Rubber in ~ late 2020 there was a batch that had the casting plug pressed in at an angle and they would eventually start to leak around the plug (picture attached). Mine didn't start to leak right away and it took some time to show up, although my car doesn't get driven a lot. Personally if the leak isn't something you can address by replacing the grommets or the feed lines and you have to replace the MC I'd go with the Ate MC. Believe me, I know how much of a PITA doing this job is. I never wanted to do it again so I paid more for what I hope is a better part. Advice on installation is covered in many other threads so I won't go off on that tangent other than to say I'd recommend you install the lines and grommets on the bench first and then install the MC.

Good luck!

[mb911]

So Matt is buying the company that is interesting

[fiacra]

Can’t the faulty plug be replaced ??

@jim_hoyland

Maybe, but if I'm going to the trouble of pulling out an MC that has a manufacturing defect I'm not going to repair it I'm going to replace it with a (hopefully) better part. To an experienced eye, and unfortunately my eye is now experienced, this is an obvious flaw and it should not have gotten through quality control. So that leads to the question, what else slipped through? I don't really want to find out. To be clear, I'm not knocking the supplier. I have lots of good parts that came from 914Rubber. I turned down their offer to replace it because I chose to go another way. The MC sat on the shelf for 3 years before I installed it so I had no expectation of it being under warranty. It was good of them to offer to replace it. However, lesson learned. I get all my brake parts from PMB now.

I recall from reading Brent's build thread that he had the same issue with his 914Rubber MC. There was a suggestion that you could peen the center of the plug and that would cause it to spread out and seal, so I suppose if you wanted to you could go that way. That's not how I would approach this problem. Also, if that doesn't work then you are pulling the MC again. No thanks!

[jim_hoyland]

Interesting. Was there a recall ? Seems like one could have been warranted. Glad to hear it didn’t cause a wreck…

[burlybryan]

Leak is from one of the grommets. Instead of fighting with trying to install new ones on the same unit, I'm just going to bite the bullet and get an Ate one. Going to pull the fuel tank to try to reduce the horrors of the job. I really hate the engineering decision to use rubber plugs...

[mepstein]

Leak is from one of the grommets. Instead of fighting with trying to install new ones on the same unit, I'm just going to bite the bullet and get an Ate one. Going to pull the fuel tank to try to reduce the horrors of the job. I really hate the engineering decision to use rubber plugs...

Make sure you have the required metal washers under the rubber grommets. If not, it will eventually leak.

[fiacra]

Leak is from one of the grommets. Instead of fighting with trying to install new ones on the same unit, I'm just going to bite the bullet and get an Ate one. Going to pull the fuel tank to try to reduce the horrors of the job. I really hate the engineering decision to use rubber plugs...

I think that's a good decision. If the plugs have deteriorated to the point of leaking then the internals of the MC itself might not be far behind. I found that I could simply lift up the driver's side of the tank and then had enough room to run the lines up to the reservoir. No need to take the tank all the way out. However if you want to engage in "while I'm there" scope creep you can take this opportunity to replace the under tank lines and the in-tank sock, etc. Just be aware that scope creep might lead you to start your own build thread....

By the way, a cheap battery powered pump worked great for draining the tank quickly and easily. Under $10 at HF. I've used it a few times since then on other cars.

[VaccaRabite]

I think that's a good decision. If the plugs have deteriorated to the point of leaking then the internals of the MC itself might not be far behind. I found that I could simply lift up the driver's side of the tank and then had enough room to run the lines up to the reservoir. No need to take the tank all the way out. However if you want to engage in "while I'm there" scope creep you can take this opportunity to replace the under tank lines and the in-tank sock, etc. Just be aware that scope creep might lead you to start your own build thread....

By the way, a cheap battery powered pump worked great for draining the tank quickly and easily. Under $10 at HF. I've used it a few times since then on other cars.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)
I did the same last time. IMO its the only way to fly. Trying to do this under the car is just murder.

Zach

[burlybryan]

I think that's a good decision. If the plugs have deteriorated to the point of leaking then the internals of the MC itself might not be far behind. I found that I could simply lift up the driver's side of the tank and then had enough room to run the lines up to the reservoir. No need to take the tank all the way out. However if you want to engage in "while I'm there" scope creep you can take this opportunity to replace the under tank lines and the in-tank sock, etc. Just be aware that scope creep might lead you to start your own build thread....

By the way, a cheap battery powered pump worked great for draining the tank quickly and easily. Under $10 at HF. I've used it a few times since then on other cars.

Good point. I plan to pull the tank when I replace my engine and run new tangerine lines, so I can just nudge it up as you describe and save the bigger job for later when the car is more dismantled.

[ConeDodger]

@mikey914

[Chris914n6]

I found it easy to unbolt the tank and lift enough to undo the hoses/reservoir. Then I could pull the master down enough to get a good grip on everything.

My 914rubber master didn't fit the factory washers so never installed it. If washers were supposed to come with it I never asked. The box was torn up during shipping so they could have fallen out. Figured I'd bring it up next order but haven't needed anything.

I had a pair of grommets fail from being wrong rubber formula I suppose. On the list to fix again if I every get time. Don't tell Mark I'm replacing his with URO (IMG:style_emoticons/default/poke.gif)

Good for Matt, though I don't think he has much time for it either.

[nditiz1]

@Chris914n6 if you want to do the job twice get a URO, otherwise use an ATE. Spoken from experience with a URO install.