Project DC5: Installing the Civic CMC

So if you or one of your friends or one of your friends' friends are friends with friendly, old me on Facebook, chances are you've been barraged by an ishton of statii about me installing a 2001 Civic Clutch Master Cylinder into my 2006 RSX Type-S.  Chances are you were confused as to what a CMC is, and chances are if you're reading this you finally know!  (CLUTCH MASTER CYLINDER)

The reason we RSX Type-S people install these is because they are less prone to failure and because they are a direct replacement for the stock RSX Clutch Master Cylinder.  I'll get more into that later with a side-by-side comparison.  I'll even talk about the difference or lack of a difference between the two.  YOU'LL HAVE TO READ TO THE END TO FIND OUT LULZ.

Annoyed yet?

On a cold winter night I fired up the salamander after trying NUMEROUS empty propane tanks which are shown in the picture.  It was cold as ever, but I'm dedicated.

Then I popped the hood, took a look at the baby in her crib, and went inside of the cabin to start disecting my clutch pedal.  I removed a couple of bolts, pulled a rod, and presto-- the clutch master cylinder's rod was disconnected from my clutch pedal.  So easy.

Per read recommendation by a ClubRSX member by the name of SPAZ, I jacked the car up and removed the wheel for easier access to the clutch master cylinder.  This is because the clutch master cylinder is located just below the brake master cylinder and a little to the left.  Take a look at my slotted rotors!  Nothing fancy, but they're pretty sweet!  I plan on repainting those ugly calipers again -____- red fades.

After removing the bolts on the interior, I jiggled and wiggled the thing below my brake master cylinder in that picture right there.  That's the clutch master cylinder that I'm changing.

Here's a picture of the CMC being pulled all the way out through the wheel well.  Spaz-approved technique!

I clamped the reservoir hose with a small c-clamp to prevent brake fluid from going all over my...well everywhere.

And eventually I got through it all and pulled it out.  The RSX one is on the left while the Civic one is on the right.  Notice the lack of a little cast-in manifold and block-off plate on the Civic one.  People say that this rotary-shaped block-off plate is the culprit for early failure in the RSX CMC.

I think that this was put in as a hydraulic fluid damper to make clutch stroke softer because Acura is a luxury car and Honda is not a luxury car.  Note that the piston-cylinder combination on both units is of the same size, but again, the only thing lacking is that little manifold thing and its block-off plate.  According to typical thermodynamics, decreasing the volume of a chamber at steady-state while maintaining a constant pressure results in more energy.

Basically, that Civic CMC gives me a better clutch disengagement because it has more energy.  No more misshifts for I!

After driving the car around for a while, to and from my job which is 60 miles away from home, I can honestly say that this is one of the greatest upgrades for an RSX.  It's an authentic Nissin CMC, and I only paid $70 after shipping!  What a deal!

Stay tuned for the next installment of Project DC5 when I showcase my Ingalls Torque Damper install and how I fixed the stud that I over-torqued with a little bit of heat and tungsten.  ;)

Until then, Lexi.Laron...signing out.