Repairing the clutch slave cylinder

[Jon Weywadt]

The clutch slave cylinder was leaking, so when I took the gear box off for repair the cylinder had to come off too. It was necessary to heat the tube on the clutch housing in order to get the cylinder loose. Once off I removed the rubber cover I realized that the cylinder was damaged and that water probably had gotten in and corroded the inside. On the photo you can see that a piece of the rim was broken off. My friend Jan suggested that I try to repair it with an alluminum compound that he has (last photo). So I found a plastic plug that fit perfectly inside the cylinder and a plastic ring from a bicycle light, that could fit around the outside. Mounting the cylinder in a bench vice I poured the compound into the gap where the break was. The stuff cured over night and today I smoothed the edges so it is nearly impossible to see where the break was, except for a slight color difference on hte inside. Since it is not in a place where it will be under stress, it should hold up nicely.