24 February
The new master cylinder, ordered last Monday in UK, was delivered Friday morning. It looks like the original one and, suprisingly, it's marked 'Lucas'
27 February: brakes reappear
The new master cylinder in place. Braking is still quite hard, so a servo system might be useful anyway
1 March: more brake trouble, and it gets worse
I drove the 403 to Faenza the morning of 1 March. It was a very normal highway trip, and I took her to the tyre shop to check the alignment of the new Michelins. When they were checking it, they noticed oil dripping out of the front RH brake drum and spilling around....the first signs of an impending catastrophe
Roberto Venturelli dismantled the front RH drum and found the cylinders almost completely gone. But much worse was the discovery of a very leaky rear LH cylinder and of more oil leaking from the LH half-shaft (and differential) in the same drum. The rear LH brake shoes were soaked, as were the front RH ones: small wonder, then, that the 403 seemed to have very poor brakes even with the new master cylinder
The LH half-shaft has been removed so a new oil seal can be put in
But all this ordeal had a positive side. In a way, I could say that the oil leaking from the brake drums and the rear half-shaft were a blessing in disguise. These leaks meant that I wasn't able to drive the 403 for the week-end, as I had planned to do, thus I didn't start the engine again.
This would have surely led to disaster: the strange gasoline-scented oil leak that we couldn't understand was in fact due to a fractured fuel pump membrane. From that leak, gasoline poured with ease in the cylinder block, diluting the lubricating oil to the point that when Roberto and his crew emptied the sump to check why the spots on the floor were so dark and 'liquid', they found that in the engine there was more gasoline than oil; this explained also why the oil pressure had been going down in the last few miles. Driving the 403 with this mix inside the 100A would have meant a complete disaster in only a few more miles.....
10 March, checkmate
The four new front brake cylinders were fitted this morning, and they look fine. Sadly the fuel pump repair kit, allegendly sent by the eBay seller in date 22 February, hasn't arrived at all. Today I asked for help from Mr Peter Campbell of SLJ, and Peter, as kind as he always is, said that he'd ship the kit at once; but I waited too much to ask for his help and the 403 is stranded since 2 weeks because of this
13 March, more parts arriving now....
The front LH cylinders were also replaced, and the brake shoes were checked and cleaned thoroughly
The rear differential LH oil seal was leaking and was replaced; a new ball bearing was fitted as well
An expert Bristolian recommended to check the correct working of the relief valve on the differential
Work goes on here...
