[DeTomaso] Saga of the slave cylinder ( or "free the Slave cylinders!)

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

In a message dated 9/18/09 4:04:39 PM, boyd411 at gmail.com writes:

> I quickly determined that the fitting that goes between the SS braided 
> line and the Slave was leaking fluid. Is this an area that should be treated 
> with loctite or some other sealant to prevent leaking
> at the fittings?
> 
Which end of the fitting leaks? The end going into the slave cylinder may 
be a pipe thread and some teflon pipe-tape is usually used on that. If its 
not a pipe thread, we need to know what the fitting looks like-it may be an 
inverted-flair fitting. The other end of the fitting should be a MIL-Spec AN 
fitting. Braided SS flexible lines are usually built to AN-specs which have 
female ends at a 37 degree angle for a cone-seal to a like-angle male 
fitting. A commercial braided-stainless line can leak out-of-the-box, but its quite 
rare. Such a leak will come from the swedged area, not from the fitting 
threads only a few mm away. 
Adding Lock-tite to a cone fitting or inverted flair will do nothing except 
interfere with future disassembly. And huge torque is not necessary to 
produce a seal between the two threaded parts, unless the fittings are somehow 
mis-threaded. Are there any knowlegable POCA members anywhere around your 
area? Good luck- J Deryke