Couple of comments about brakes...and fixes

mrvette

Phantom of the Opera
Joined
Mar 24, 2008
Messages
15,207
Location
NE Florida
I have had my '72 for some 15 years, started out with a SS lines set of calipers allready on the car but the seals were gone again, so I got a set of VBP seals and installed them, flushed the system, put on a fresh m/cyl, and NO springs....didn't bother with the rotors, as they appeared fine....did the dot5 fluid...silicon.....

well I had SOMEWHAT of a air pump problem, so I played with the rotors a bit and eliminated it a good bit.....still a soft pedal though even when pumped up good in the garage....

eventually went to O rings, when doing them I noticed the best way was to just put my hands on the pads, and flip the rotor, I can FEEL the runout on my fingertips...in the rear I just ran it in gear....set the rotors for min runout, and hell with it.....

brakes were very consistant, but still that damn pedal went tot eh floor.....

IF I pushed hard on it...brakes would grab in a panic stop...but I hate 2" of travel before the brakes would even grab a bit, let alone hard....

never did figger out WTF was going on with that....

went to HB, THAT has made these brakes for the very FIRST time over the last 3 years, totally consistant and reliable....they WORK, the O ring pistons mean the pumping/runout problem don't exist anymore....

BTW, drove the neighbors new Nissan van earlier this week, and that brakes on that thing are the worst imaginable...felt like a stock '72 vette....pecal to floor before that thing stops....nothing like confidence....

SO over the years, the FIX for brakes is SS calipers, O ring pistons, and hydroboost.....
 
hehe....first few stops and drive around the block, I thought i'd never get used to them either,...but with such solid feel to the pedal and not such a HUGE swing to get the brakes from barely applied to working hard....well

it's SO much easier to drive with confidence....not touched the brakes in over 2 years now daily driven.... I am thinking of tinkering a bit with taking the m/cyl off the booster, see how far down the pedal actually goes IF it will not go to the floor, and compare to the stroke of the m/cyl....want to lower the pedal yet again....but need that margin that the m/cyl will be first in line to run outta room, no matter what....

no sense having the pedal up in the air, when down LO would do fine...I don't have to lift my leg so much...GOD, i"m LAZY....:rain::goodnight:
 
hehe....first few stops and drive around the block, I thought i'd never get used to them either,...but with such solid feel to the pedal and not such a HUGE swing to get the brakes from barely applied to working hard....well

it's SO much easier to drive with confidence....not touched the brakes in over 2 years now daily driven.... I am thinking of tinkering a bit with taking the m/cyl off the booster, see how far down the pedal actually goes IF it will not go to the floor, and compare to the stroke of the m/cyl....want to lower the pedal yet again....but need that margin that the m/cyl will be first in line to run outta room, no matter what....

no sense having the pedal up in the air, when down LO would do fine...I don't have to lift my leg so much...GOD, i"m LAZY....:rain::goodnight:



Lazy??? It takes smarts to be lazy and still get things done. Welcome to the world of smart Lazy people.:bump:
 
Vacuum vs. hydraulic assist should not make a difference to the actual brake performance... it's just less pedal effort if you use the hydraulic assist. If you can push that pedal down to the floorboard there's something else wrong in the hydraulic system, a leak somewhere ??? If your MC, calipers and lines are all good then you should be able to lock up the wheels without any assist it just takes more effort.....
:stirpot:
 
I have a hydroboost to install,but the back surgery put that on the back burner. But i'm not sure if i will install it,the darn brakes are so touchy now that i don't think i need any thing installed to make the brake pedal easier to push.
 
Vacuum vs. hydraulic assist should not make a difference to the actual brake performance... it's just less pedal effort if you use the hydraulic assist. If you can push that pedal down to the floorboard there's something else wrong in the hydraulic system, a leak somewhere ??? If your MC, calipers and lines are all good then you should be able to lock up the wheels without any assist it just takes more effort.....
:stirpot:

Kev, if those brakes are all that sensitive with a stock vac booster, there is a problem....I bet they not releasing all the way....jack up an end and see if you can flip the wheels, if not....that's it....

Karsten, yes it does, the vacuum boosters, have a spring inbetween the input shaft and the output shaft....i'ts very tough, allmost like a valve spring...but it collapses under pedal pressure, and so allows the pedal to travel another 2" damn near before finally hitting bottom on the m/cyl....near the floor, I think it's a stupid concept, other cars do the same, not just sharks,..been that way for decades, dunno why....HATE that feeling, it's like the damn brakes are barely up to the job, and you lucky to stop

even brand NEW vechicles are that way.....:pprrtt::shocking::gurney:

and I know I had literally exhausted the car and myself knowing full well it was NOT the brakes from m/cyl down and still had that crappy feel to them....put on the HB without even removing the brake lines, and proved the point, I even had a larger dia truck m/cyl in there, but with that HB being hard as a dick, that car stopped on a dime slammed my head into the wheel...first time ever....since then I went to a aluminum stock dia m/cyl and it works fine...solid as a rock for some 3 years now....after 12 years on that crap, NEVER had them last this long, even squishey....

thinking of lowering my pedal some more but need check out obvious other factors before I do that... so that even in a emergency/failure I don't run out of room before stroke....

:shocking::gurney:
 
Nope the tire spin freely,i just have good brakes,it takes no effort to stop the car and i like it :yahoo:

Maybe it's that Purple Anodised brake booster :goodnight:
 
Old crappy MC. VBP SS o-ring calipers. New rotors, front and rear. Braided steel brake lines. DOT5. No power assist. Stops on a dime! :yahoo:

I did this job almost 2 years ago. The only reason I did it is because one of my old calipers (lip seals) started leaking a little. I decided to change them all out at one time. I was still running old rubber brake hoses with the lip seal calipers and my brakes were always good. I've never bleed them with a power bleeder, vacuum bleeder just old fashion gravity. I guess it's because my first car was a 1973 MGB and I had to bleed those brakes once a week. Talk about practice and lack of money to fix it right.:twitch:
 
no prob, maybe someone can fix it so it's not confusing..... when I first saw it I was wondering what the hell was I talking about ??? :lol:
 
Fixed, if you delete a nested quote, make sure you delete the starter tags too.
 
I just found this today

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/p/890...Cylinder.html?itemNo=master cylinder aluminum

I may get it if I cant find adapters for the c5 master

I think It would be cheaper to use the master above than to adapt my current master

Actually I Like that one better than the one I have....so go there,....

here is mine......
http://www.piratejack.net/troubleshooting/specs.htm

look for the master cyl with two screws on the top...it's a casting...
 
Thanks for the link. The prices sure look reasonable. What was your (Gene) opinion of the weight and quality of the unit?

thanks,
Mike

The weight is ever so much lighter, even though it has that cast aluminum top with the two screws in it....the one I have is working fine for some 3 years now, not touched the brakes for the longest time I have had this car.....were with the old vac booster, it was every damn few months.....another clue as to my solutions is the fact I can pull it outta neutral and the car will coast backwards outta the garage on it's own....meaning the wheels stay loose with no drag, I hear a very slight drag when it starts moving...

the fit and finish are great....like Norval, I eliminated that brake light switch in the system, but a splitter up front and ran the rear line directly to the m/cyl....
 
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