[DeTomaso] Bleeding the clutch line

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

With both brakes and clutch, its possible for your bleed nipple to fit 
loosely in the slave cylinder (or in a caliper). Then when you loosen the nipple 
a half-turn to allow fluid & air to come out, the flow will suck air in 
around the threads. This complicates things and wastes time & brake fluid. So 
before attempting to bleed anything, take ALL the nipples involved competely 
out and wrap their threads with a couple of turns of teflon pipe tape, then 
re-seat lightly. It's not necessary to jam the needle in with mega- ft-lbs 
of torque! The tapered seat seals nicely with only light tightening. I use a 
1/4-drive socket to break the nipple loose first, then a tiny open-end 
wrench for bleeding and tightening.

Speed-bleeders are a nice addition since their internal check-valve allows 
one person to bleed brakes or clutch with a minimum of effort, confusion and 
time. New Speed bleeder nipples have a coating of sealant on their threads 
so you need not use teflon tape. However, the coating unfortunately only 
lasts through the first bleed session (maybe the second if you're lucky). 

Finally, if you have trouble getting fluid (and air) out, it may be that 
the poor system hasn't been bled since the Carter administration and a plug of 
hard residue is lodged in the port. This might cause you to poke a wire in 
or even DRILL out the port so fluid can flow. If you do attempt to drill out 
a plug, remember to use a drill that fits the small fluid hole in the 
bottom, not the thread size! Occassonally, the nipple is where the resiue plug is 
lodged. Good luck- J Deryke