Does the reservoir in the picture just pull off? I found a previous thread that said this, but it seems to be quite tight and I want to make sure before I damage it. The factory service manual (85) shows a bolt that holds it on, but this one has no such bolt.

Thanks,
Rich

 

It just pops off, gently pry up on it at the bottom where it goes into the master cylinder. There is a rubber grommet that holds it in place. It will come out. rx7doctor

 

why would you pull off the resivoir? dont do that!!

remove the whole master cy and replace with the new one

 

I'm inclined to agree. Pull the intire master cylinder off, replace, or get a kit, but pull the whole thing off.

 

Well, what if I just want to restore thisone? It's a lot cheaper, and not difficult to do. In this case there really isn't any good reson to remove it...I'm just curious. But when I restore something I like to completely disassemble it...it makes it easier to get it totally clean. And if I were going to paint this one, I'd definitely want to remove the reservoir.

Rich

 

I've restored them before, and the replacement seals aren't that expensive. But they don't last long--- the cylinder walls are typically worn so they wear the new seals out. Considering that new master cylinders are cheap (I paid $60 or so for mine) it's probably best to just replace it.

If you've never done this before it's held on by two nuts inside the firewall up under the clutch pedal assembly, a real bitch to get at--- very little room to swing a wrench. You'll need a regular 12mm socket because there's no room for a deep socket, and you'll initially only be able to get about 1 mm of the socket onto the nuts due to the length of the bolts.

 

I never had any luck at removing it. Unlike a brake cylinder, new clutch cylinders come with the resevior so I figured there might be a reason for that. I seemed to find myself rebuilding one at least once a year and have aquired several units, keeping one ready for the next swap.