Series 3 Fulvia master cylinder question

[Fabio Venier]

Greetings from a Canadian-Italian Lancista! Here is my story: I noticed that brake fluid was disappearing...but where? Turns out that fluid was being sucked passed the seals and collecting in the servo. Why? The master was rebuilt in 2003. So...I need to refurbish the master cylinder on my Fulvia. I washed out the servo (soap and water) and dismantled the master, washed it all out and found a few odd things. Firstly, the cylinder was sleeved in brass (not so odd). This was done about 5 years ago by the previous owner. The sleeve is not 100% concentric with the rear of the body and hence the piston extension was not centered within the o-ring. This would compromise the seal effectiveness. Secondly, there are "extra holes" drilled into the main bore from above. Now...according to typical master cylinder construction (and the factory manual cross section diagram) the inlet port is just in front on the circuit chamber. When you step on the brake pedal, the piston advances, closes off the port and builds hydraulic pressure. Mine does not have this normal port in the front chamber (feeding the large pistons of the front calipers). It has a 3mm hole drilled beside and just behind the piston fixing screw. The rear chamber has the normal port but also has 2 of these extra holes drilled behind the fixing screw. I have photos but can't seem to post them here. My question is: Is this correct? Do Series 3 masters differ this much? I think I might like to have the sleeve re-done and drill the front port in the correct place and plug the "extras". Any help from you guys out there would be helpful.