Took some advice from Dave Willets on the Facebook Page who had detailed his engine bay. He removed the bonnet stay and propped the bonnet almost vertically using a length of wood. I adapted this approach but used a decorating pole instead. As I was a bit nervous about working underneath with an un-stayed bonnet I wrapped the tow strap around the bonnet catch and the A-post for safety. This raising of the bonnet allows the garage lighting to light under the bonnet and gives a bit more space. Dave Willets also recommended jacking the car up and placing on axle stands for work under the bonnet to ease his back. I haven’t done this yet, but I am storing that idea up for later use.

Investigation into the clutch issue: Removed cover from the clutch/brake area, loosened an electric relay and the throttle cable which all affix in this area. Opening up revealed that the clutch master cylinder main seal had failed (it was pretty mangled). Hence there is no hydraulic pressure in the clutch system which explains why the pedal would just drop to the floor and stay there! So, I need to order a new clutch master cylinder. Getting the area exposed was a bit of a challenge. The clutch and brake pedals pivot on an assembly – each pedal is held in place by a bolt secured with a split pin. The brake one came off easily, but the clutch was a bugger. Anyway, with a bit of persuasion it came off and I have left it at the moment with the pedals slinging freely in the foot well. The main shaft which supports the pedal also had a nice long thread so that wasn’t very easy. When I have bought a new master cylinder I will need to strip some further components from the area to remove the old one and disconnect it from the hydraulic line. That union is right under the scuttle, so some fun to be had there, just hoping that its not done up too tight. While working in this area, it’s become clear that this end of the engine bay is rusty and is going to take some tidying up.