Original Ford clutch slave cylinder snap ring

[rgh0]

I know this topic has been discussed many times but I have a specific question that has never been addressed I believe.


The original Ford clutch slave cylinder snap ring was a non standard (Ford special) thickness of 1.9 mm and was a snug fit in the 2.1 mm groove in the slave cylinder.

The current snap ring from all the usual suppliers is the standard thickness of 1.5 mm for the SW style ring of this size.

Does anyone know if its possible to source the 1.9 thick snap ring anywhere ? The 1.5mm thick one appears to work but just interested in finding if the orginal 1.9 mm thickness is available.

cheers
Rohan

[h20hamelan]

Suppose the Ford dealer doesnt have this part number, and does it supersede to Pinto 1979?

2Cams70 likely has the part number?

I can call the local & good Ford dealer in 3 hr when it opens as they have the Cortina GT parts catalogue.

[RichardHawkins]

Rohan,

Heavy duty circlip to DIN1460. I don’t know what diameter you need, as my car has a concentric slave cylinder. But years ago I needed a circlip of a specific thickness, which was no longer available, I bought heavy duty clips and had them ground to thickness by a local machine shop with a surface grinder.

DIN 1460 is for clips with ears, and I think the original was a clip without ears, looks like a piston ring. I don’t know if there is room for a conventional circlip.

Hope this helps,

Richard Hawkins

[h20hamelan]

They had a meeting this morning.
No part number available.

[2cams70]

I'll have a dig around over the weekend to see if I have an original somewhere. The picture on the Burton's site for the circlip looks correct however they list the thickness as 1.4mm when others have said 1.9mm.

If I can find one I'll confirm the dimensions and lookup the part number. It's a Ford 105E Anglia part.

[rgh0]

I have done some more research based on the comments to my post. And looked closely at all my slave cylinders and it just gets messy which is not unusual when you dig into details around Lotus spare parts.

I have a recent Burton snap ring and its 1.4mm thick which fits the SW style dimensions I see listed of 1.5mm +0-0.1mm. There does not appear to be an actual DIN or other national standard standard for these SW style snap rings. I have an orginal Lotus supplied Snap ring to the same SW style and its 1.9mm thick, i assumed this was a Ford / Girling standard but maybe its not. Maybe Burton changed to the standard SW snap ring thickness of 1.5mm at some point as the 1.9 mm thick non standard snap rings were no longer avaiable. Maybe Lotus increased the groove size and snap ring size from the orginal Anglia parts due to the heavier clutch load in the Elan and made it to the DIN 471 thickness dimensions . The table of SW style snap rings shown below does not list the 1.9 mm thickness. I believe Seeger was the orginal developer of the SW style snap ring which is now made by others still using the SW designation.


The DIN 471 standard cover heavy duty circlips designed for axial loads. Manufacturers also refer to D1460 for these rings, so that may be a reference in that standard which i dont have access to as a full copy. They come with eyes which make them easier to fit and remove than the SW style eyeless clip used by Ford. A table of rings to that standard is shown below

The groove in the right hand slave cylinder below is approx 2.1 mm wide and diameter at base of the groove of approx 26.2 mm and appears to be designed for a DIN 471 / D1460 AS28 size heavy duty circlip with is 2 mm +0mm -0.07mm thickness. This slave cylinder has just the Girling part number on the arm which is partially worn away and is what came on my Elan orginally when I purchased it in the early 70's with the 1.9mm wide snap ring.

The slave cylinder in the centre I purchased many years ago as a spare. i cant remember where from but probably my local clutch and brake specialist BGT who have been my go to source for Girling components for 40 years. It has all the Girling orginal numbers in the casting. The groove is 1.9mm wide and it came with a standard SW style snap ring like Burton supply of 1.4 mm thick. The 1.9mm thickness Lotus snap ring does not seat in the groove properly.

The slave cylinder on the left I purchased many years ago from a local specialist Lotus parts supplier that they had locally made and it has two 1.5mm grooves that fit the Burton 1.4 mm snap ring. The intention was that the second groove was a back up if the first snap ring failed so the clutch could still operate and you were not stranded

I think I will standardize for my purposes on the DIN 471 standard heavy duty snap ring with the eyes as they are easier to fit and remove. I will widen the grooves in my spare slave cylinders that are too narrow for this nominal 2mm thick circlip. Thus only one type of standard circlip needed and all my slave cylinders will be interchangeable.

cheers
Rohan

[h20hamelan]

Milling/filing two, to take the place of the original?
I have been thinking i need a linishing belt for some time, mostly for the 8 cords of wood

[rgh0]

Milling/filing two, to take the place of the original?
I have been thinking i need a linishing belt for some time, mostly for the 8 cords of wood

Standard hardware store circlips are approximately 1 mm thick so two of those fit in the groove. I have done that successully in the past in an emergency but its bit of a messy solution

cheers
Rohan

[h20hamelan]

https://www.mcmaster.com/products/c-cli ... ing-rings/

[rgh0]

https://www.mcmaster.com/products/c-clips/heavy-duty-internal-retaining-rings/

You referenced internal retaining rings

I think you meant this for the external rings used on the slave cylinder

https://www.mcmaster.com/products/retai ... ing-rings/

McMaster give both imperial and metric rings and I need to check which is closest

cheers
Rohan

[2cams70]

The plot thickens:

In the Ford parts manual for the Escort Twin Cam it states:

" Circlip - slave cylinder - 0.312" rad - 0.937" OD - 0.056" OD material"
and then it states "USE STD. HARDWARE" (i.e no part number given)
This implies that the correct thickness is 1.4mm (.056")

It might in fact be a different circlip to the one used on the Anglia. Like I said previously I'll dig around further when I have more time.

[SENC]

My Seven has a standard (1.4mm) circling and a thin (never measured it) washer. Might be an easier solution than milling to just use the standard circuit and have a supply of washers to use when necessary.

[smo17003]

I have a Cortina Mk2 parts book, circa 1968, that pictures the circlip as an external type. The book includes the Twin Cam. The part number for the circlip is E60-GD-2 and is the same for all manual 'box Cortina's. No dimensions unfortunately. Too many years have gone by since I ran Cortina Twin Cam's for me to remember what was on mine though.

[h20hamelan]

https://www.mcmaster.com/products/c-clips/heavy-duty-internal-retaining-rings/

I think you meant this for the external rings used on the slave cylinder

cheers
Rohan

ah, yes. Strange thoughts in the middle of the night!

[ceejay]

Slave in my elan secured with std industrial 1.5mm thick circlip, additional hardware is a machined steel packing ring to take up any slack within the assembly. We've been running this system for several decades. Yes, slave cyl circlips do wear out and need replacing from time to time. FWIW. We used to manufacture these aftermarket slave cylinders, and there must be many still out there in service, the one in my elan has been in service for a very long time, but still in great working condition. Note that the slave has two machined circlip grooves, always handy to have a backup.