My Allegro

[garycox]

I'll check it out tomorrow, thanks. Quite possible, there's definitely plenty of leaves in that car! It always chucks a load at me when I turn the fan on.

[mnde]

I have much love for Allegros - top purchasing and I look forward to more updates and pics

 

Hmm - when's that Peterborough BL Day this year? I borrowed a friend's Sandglow N reg Allegro 1100 to take one year - I miss that car. There was a deluge on the journey back and one of the wipers flew off! Fantastic whining from the gearbox in 1st and 2nd. Another year we took a 1750 twin carb beige Allegro 3 Estate for the birthday celebrations organised by the Allegro Club (they had balloons and a cake and everything) - and I got to drive it back home.

 

Mark.

[garycox]

Is a clutch a horrible job on this?

 

Mine 'went' the other day - unable to select any gears when the engine's running. I called my usual mechanic who said it sounded like the master cylinder or a slave cylinder and he'd find out about parts availability and prices. He's gone quiet since then, I don't think he's too keen on doing it for some reason.

 

Hopefully I can get it back on the road again in the next week or so...

[Guest]

clutch is easy.. same as a mini, but with more room...

[theorganist]

The parts are listed on Earlpart although they are a little expensive. They do turn up on e-bay, I would imagine you can get them from the owners club.

 

Hope you get it on the road soon.

[dollywobbler]

Changing slave or master cylinder shouldn't be too much bother. Hopefully someone can advise how to diagnose. Doubt it's a problem with the mechanism itself.

 

Presume there's plenty of fluid in the cylinders?

[theorganist]

I know when I had the problem with the master cylinder on my old Allegro, the leak wasn't visible under the bonnet. You could just see the leak by looking up through the drivers footwell as the fluid was leaking inside the bulk head! Obviously the most obvious way is to see how much fluid is in the master cylinder. However I was topping mine up and still ended up losing drive as I had too much air in the system and hadn't bled it properly!

[garycox]

TBH I really don't have the space to attempt it myself, it's immobile at the moment and parked on a residential street (not where I live) outside somebody's house. It looks a mess and I will be hassled by the residents if I hang around it long enough.

 

I'm prepared to pay a reasonable price to have it done, but I'm having trouble finding someone I trust to do it for me... Plus I've gotta get it transported somehow.

[dollywobbler]

Just have a quick check of the levels. That's not difficult. If the fluid has got low, the clutch will not operate. Topping up will at least allow you to drive it again if it needs moving.

[garycox]

Thanks Ian, will do!

[Lankytim]

Cant you start it in gear and, after a bit of practice, change gear without the clutch?

[nigel bickle]

It would need to be the very early hours to drive a clutchless Allegro out of Brighton! I

 

f it needs topping up, but the pedals still shite, vigorous pumping should bleed some of the air out sufficiently. However- keep an eye on the fluid level - it'll drop commensurate with the size of the leak.

If that still doesnt do it -wedge the clutch pedal down overnight (with a broom or something). It often sorts a recalcitrant pedal

[garycox]

Cheers Nigel, thanks for the tips.

 

If I take it where I intend to, it'll need to get from Lewes to Hove... hopefully it'll make it!

[garycox]

Argh! Apparently he can't get the parts...

 

Looks like I'll have to source them myself, first I've gotta try to work out what it actually is that I need...

[eddyramrod]

It should all be common to Minis, which means an outfit like MiniSport or Mini Spares, or Huddersfield Mini Centre, will have what you need. Buy a Mini magazine and check out their ads, then ring round until you find someone who knows. I think they're all pretty good. Mail order won't be a problem, my friend deals with all three from Cyprus.

[grubbybuz]

hi,i had a problem with a leaky clutch slave cylinder on my 1100 aggro ,it lost most of its fluid causing poor gear selection i just topped it up to get me by for few days while a new slave cylinder turned up.i got mine off ebay from earlparts wasn't cheap but it turned up next day and it fit! the old one was a goosed rusty,leaky mess i didnt think i would be able to rebuild it with a seal kit

i am not sure that the mini slave fits the allegro i think the threaded hose connections differ and also the clutch cylinder int.dia is larger,pretty much everything else on the engine is mini though

i needed to fix mine sharpish so i bit the bullet and forked out

the club have reconditioned master and slave cylinders but they aint cheap either as they are remanufactered with stainless steel liners,fit and forget items

all this is if indeed you do have a fluid leak but my money would be on the slave cylinder especially if its not had much use

good luck bud

[garycox]

Thanks grubbybuz, I'll top it up and see if I can see a leak...

[garycox]

Hopefully topping it u will allow me to use it for a bit, the Astra's being collected on Saturday and it'll be my only working(ish) car when that goes...

[garycox]

Hmmm I'm not having much luck with this...

 

I've topped up the clutch fluid, and it's made no difference, I still can't select any gears with the engine running.

 

And I still haven't found anyone nearby who'll fix it...

[theorganist]

I had this exact problem the reservoir was full but yet I could not select any gears. It happened on a very busy roundabout when I was on the way to visiting dad in hospital.

 

The AA came and together we bled the air out it only took five minutes. I believe that when you have a leaking cylinder you are drawing air into it. Even if you top it up and you think it is full you are just trapping air in the system.

 

So you need to get a friend to help you bleed the system.

 

EDIT: I tried vigorous pumping of the pedal but it made no difference!!

[Andrew353w]

Autoshite's team of "A" framers to the rescue.... If you're TOTALLY stuck I'm willing to drive down from London with my pet "A" frame and Citroen Xantia to recover it to wherever you require (will I need my passport???) Payment to cover petrol, beer and pork pies would do the trick! I've also bled the hydraulic clutch in my daughter's Mini several times in the past, so could bring spanners/brake & clutch fluid/beer/cider (to be used in whatever combination works best) to affect a repair. PM if you're still stuck.

[garycox]

Cheers Andrew!

 

I think I'll give the AA a call tomorrow, see if they can get it mobile/moved and/or suggest anywhere that might be able to actually fix it...

 

It's frustrating because I don't have much time to spend on it... I don't mind paying for it to be repaired but nobody seems to want to do it! I need it done ASAP as it's my only MOTd car at the moment.

 

If the AA can't/won't help I'll be in touch!

[garycox]

Right, I eventually got the AA to take me to a garage in Hove who fixed the clutch for me. (needed a new slave cylinder as suspected).

 

SInce then I've been to Peterborough with Barrett, across to Southampton, up to London, nearly 1200 miles so far...

 

Hopefully it'll be painted soon, quite badly I expect but as long as it's all vaguely one colour it can't look much worse than it does now. Which brings me on to my next question... What colour?

 

As I'm ridiculously indecisive, I'd like somebody else to decide for me please! I have a shortlist but I'm open to other suggestions...

 

The colours I've been considering recently are:

Sandglow

Pageant Blue

Applejack

Blaze

 

...and pretty much every other colour.

 

If I'm left to my own devices I'll never decide so it'll never get done...

 

EDIT - POLL NOW ADDED

[Craig the Princess]

Right, I eventually got the AA to take me to a garage in Hove who fixed the clutch for me. (needed a new slave cylinder as suspected).

 

SInce then I've been to Peterborough with Barrett, across to Southampton, up to London, nearly 1200 miles so far...

 

Hopefully it'll be painted soon, quite badly I expect but as long as it's all vaguely one colour it can't look much worse than it does now. Which brings me on to my next question... What colour?

 

As I'm ridiculously indecisive, I'd like somebody else to decide for me please! I have a shortlist but I'm open to other suggestions...

 

The colours I've been considering recently are:

Sandglow

Pageant Blue

Applejack

Blaze

 

...and pretty much every other colour.

 

If I'm left to my own devices I'll never decide so it'll never get done...

 

EDIT - POLL NOW ADDED

 

Applejack is an awesome colour, as is Snapdragon, a bright bright yellow.

Rhinegold is a metallic Brown but not just sliver metalic bits but gold and red too, it's a great colour.

[garycox]

Snapdragon is a good suggestion, I want a non-metallic colour really as there's slightly less chance of me making it look terrible.

[M'coli]

I've just voted Applejack, but now realise that Peagant Blue would be far simpler - the V5 wouldn't need altering.

[eddyramrod]

Pageant, deffo, it really suits these!

[barrett]

Is 'Blaze' the orange? Because that's what I reckon would be best.

[dollywobbler]

All of the above for a Polo Harlequin effect, but with shite 1970s colours. Eye-catching!

[RobT]

I've voted Sandglow as they look tops in that colour. As much as I like Applejack (yes please to a miniMetro in Applejack!) I think that colour only suits the later Allegros IMO.