Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

Got a manual on order, but it isnt here yet. Can anyone tell me how to remove the master cylinder on a 1940 120? Does the pivot system on the front bolt need to come apart?

Unfortunately it doesn't appear the manual is going to help much. A lot of the early manuals are very sparse when it comes to actually telling how to do something.

There is a 40 senior 160-180 service manual on site you can download but I didn't see anything on removing the master. About all they covered was wheel adjustment and that was essentially the same as what was in the earlier junior manuals. I did find a small bit in the 42 manual so here is all they said on removing the master. Also a bit from the parts manual showing layout.

Some years do have linkage attached to the master -- some via a thru bolt into the frame holding the linkage and the master and other years that just had a threaded hole to bolt one end of a bracket into.

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Mine has the bolt that goes all the way through. There doesn't seem to be enough room to get the bolt out. Is that assembly supposed to come apart?

Is the bolt hitting one of the arms on the pivot? If so, is it possible to push one of the pedals and move whatever the bolt is running into out of the path?

It's been decades since I've done this on a 1940 but it seems to me that I had to pull down the pedal from the underside, then block it against the firewall to keep it there, which made the bolt accessible.

The pivot bolt goes through the front hole of the MC. There isn't enough clearance between the cyl and the engine to remove it.

Is your engine mount sagging badly enough to interfere, or did someone put it in backwards? (Inner to outer)

How about a photo of the master cylinder and surrounding area!

Another thought. What if you disconnect everything and drop the master cylinder with the bolt still through the cylinder but clear of the frame?

This is taxing my memory, but as I recall you have to remove the splash pan (if present), disconnect the linkages and remove the unit with the pivot attached. The linkage pivot assembly is then slid off as a unit and set aside.

I thought it sucked, but was better than the passenger side where the exhaust system went through the splash pan.