Repairing clutch fluid reservoir on my Volvo 240

(Not strictly boat-related, but the problem appeared while we were on boaty business)

When I last wrote about this I'd just managed to get the car home. A couple of days later I had a go at repairing it. The problem was that the clutch fluid reservoir was not holding the fluid. I had to remove it from the master cylinder to see what was going on.

The plastic reservoir was held on by a thin strip of metal passing under the body of the cylinder and fixed to two lugs on the reservoir by brass rivets.

I drilled out the brass rivet on one side, and lifted up the reservoir. The metal clip holding the reservoir to the body of the master cylinder had corroded and broken. This must be why the fluid suddenly leaked out.

Remaining stuck to the top of the master cylinder was an O-ring, now in an oval shape. This is what is supposed to seal the plastic reservoir to the cylinder. That's 26 years-worth of rust surrounding it, by the way.

This is the underside of the reservoir - you can see where the O-ring goes.

I found something to plug the two holes to prevent dirt getting in, then I scraped away as much rust as I could with a screwdriver before carefully using a synthetic abrasive pad. I was trying to ensure a good seal with the O-ring so I wanted the surface as smooth as possible.

To secure the reservoir to the cylinder I drilled a couple of holes in an old copper pipe clip, then bolted it through the lugs.

Now for the moment of truth. I poured a little brake fluid into the reservoir. It dripped. Oh dear.

But I tightened the bolts, dried off the leakage, and ... it seems to be holding. I took it for a test drive - in no time at all it was back to normal. I seem to have got away without having to bleed it.

Using a thin copper strip is not ideal. I'll have to replace it with something stronger. Or perhaps I should treat the car to a new master cylinder ...

Back to more obviously boaty stuff tomorrow.