Fitting clutch slave cylinder to engine

[saxchappy]

Hi - me again!

 

Progress is slow but, until recently, sure on the putting a replacement engine into the TR7 front. The engine (from a 4 speed circa 77 car I think) has gone in smoothly (or maybe not - see later) along with the car's 1980 5 speed box. Various ancillaries have gone back on without problem - that is until I arrived at the clutch slave cyinder. When I push the rod from the clutch fork into the hole in the rubber seal on the end of the clutch slave cylinder and offer the latter up to the hole in the engine plate, there is a gap of about 1cm between the two. I don't want to push hard and risk separating the rod from its little plastic clamp, but it doesn't seem to want to go. I took the rubber seal off (BTW what type of grease should that be in there?) and when my son pressed the clutch pedal, nothing inside the cylinder semed to be moving, although the pedal was depressable.

Those of you who have helped me before (many thanks, again   ) will know that I am working from a position of relative ignorance. I wouldn't like to jump to any conclusions - might the cylinder be seized? Are the old engine and the newer slave cylinders compatible?

 

Any help and advice would be sincerely appreciated - especially if it doesn't involve me having to take the engine out again  :laugh:

 

cheers,

 

Kevin