Braided Hoses

I have taken delivery of all new braided stainless steel hydraulic hoses to replace the standard rubber ones. These will replace the clutch slave cylinder hose plus the 4 outboard brake hoses. They are made using BrakeQuip equipment and are clear PVC covered with the correct ADR markings. The photo to the right shows a comparison of the old black rubber hose and the new ones. I had always intended on replacing them at some point, just not this early. Professional inspection of the blown factory clutch hose showed that it had barely been crimped with only about half a millimetre of bite on the end of the rubber hose. I feel much more comfortable with all new hoses on the car.

So I have refitted the new clutch hose to the CSC, reattached the gearbox to the engine, and put the engine back into the engine bay (without installing it). I have attached the clutch line to the master cylinder, and bled it. I got a good clean stream of fluid after only 4 cycles. Better yet, the pedal has a nice feel, and I can see the CSC inside the bell housing actuating the pressure plate from the moment the clutch pedal is engaged. I will let it sit overnight to make sure there are no leaks from the CSC (where fluid comes out the bottom of the bell housing). Assuming no problems appear overnight I can properly reinstall the motor, hopefully for the last time.


Many thanks to Greg at Redback Motorsport of Kirrawee for sorting the new hoses. Its brilliant to have such a great motorsport shop so close to home, with people so knowledgeable and keen to help!