[DeTomaso] CLUTCH HYDRAULIC LINE FAILURE / REPLACEMENT

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 8/13/07 7 44 38, nbyrne4 at bloomberg.net writes:


> After doing many things to the car it appears I allowed the clutch's 
> hydraulic
> line to sit too close to the universal joint.  As a result the universal 
> just
> touched the line enough that after two hundred miles or so it wore a hole 
> in 
> the line.  It's the original line.  What is everyone using now for a 
> replacement and who offers it.  Should I just have a new line fabricated 
> locally.  Any direction would be greatly appreciated.   
> 

There are two options--stainless   hard line, and stainless flex line.   For 
a variety of reasons I prefer the latter.

Pantera Performance Center sells a beautiful no-muss, no-fuss replacement 
braided steel flex line.   It bolts right up to the stock location on each end.   
Works great, lasts forever as long as you can keep it away from your U-joints 
(!)   The other vendors sell replacement hard line kits, but they don't make 
any attempt at preserving the stock orientation; instead it is a multi-piece 
kit which completely replaces the stock line from front to back.

I'm quite curious as to your failure.   The driveshafts are considerably aft 
of the clutch line so there's no way they could touch.   You said that it was 
a U-joint that did it in but in my mind I can't picture that as being 
possible, since the clutch line goes straight back through the center of the car (with 
the cooling pipes), then the flex hose attaches and runs under the motor, 
between the engine and gearbox and attaches to the slave cylinder.

So, no U-joints anywhere nearby?

Mike


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