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I used these little front panhard tabs (Welder Series part #21942S) to hold the front section of my rear flex lines. I drilled them out to one little size smaller than 7/16″, which is a press-fit for the -3 end of the hose. This way I don’t have to use those clips and a bulkhead fitting. I’ve got a -3 joiner between the hard line and the flex line.
Booster or No Booster?
If you can’t decide whether to run power brakes or not, or if you just want to experiment like we did, just run braided lines to the master cylinder from the frame. It’s a heck of a lot easier to lower the master cylinder – you don’t have to open the system to check levels. Just unbolt the master and presto whammo, your cylinder is as free as a duck without a leg tag.
Brake Pedal Return Spring
We spent a lot of time thinking about how to put a return spring on the pedal. We liked the idea of having a spring because it would give the pedal a more ‘solid’ feel, and we could effectively adjust the pedal pressure. I liked the way Cam did the return spring on his ’32 and, since imitation is the highest form of flattery, I had to do one like it. Cam made his with a split ring with a set screw that tightens the spring plate to the bar. I decided to use a separate piece with two set screws, mostly because it was easier to make. I could also adjust the tension easier, because when I turn the rod it’s not trying to turn the spring as well.
I machined the piece with the set screws from mild steel, and the spring plate from aluminum. I imagined that I’d be able to tighten the set screws tighter in steel. The shoulder on the left side in the picture is for my brake light switch which I mounted underneath the master cylinder bracket. The shoulder on the right side is to hold the spring.
When I push on the brake pedal, the aluminum plate comes away from the brake light switch, thus turning on the lights. I also shortened the 3/8″ plunger rod and welded it to the end of the bar. It’s just a bit cleaner, since the bar goes right to the plunger.
Here’s a post about a candidate for a return spring.
Brake Lines
If you were wondering how I ran my brake lines, this will be the article which answers that burning desire.
Starting at the front, I brought the braided line out of the Wilwood caliper with a 1/8 NPT to -3 90 degree fitting. Because this is an open wheel car, I decided not to run the lines directly to the frame rails because I wanted them to blend in as much as possible. Short of wireless brake line technology that hasn’t been approved by the NSRA yet, I felt this was the next best thing. Using a 9″ braided line (as opposed to a regular brake line kit which is around 16″) I dropped down to the tie rod. I could use such a short line because the only movement is in the very slight angle change of the tie rod and steering arm. In suspension travel, the flex line has to put up with a similar angle change, this time in a vertical arc. Again, it’s peanuts compared to the angle change between the caliper and frame rail during a turn.
I machined clamps to hold the -3 joiner on to the bar and also machined the hex off the joiner fitting then centered it in the clamp. A set screw on the bottom of the clamp holds them to the bar.
Let’s play “where’s the brake line?”
I ran both sides to a T fitting under the drivers side frame rail, slightly offset to the engine side so it’s harder to see as you walk up to the car. This is where the most flex will occur, because the tie rod is going back and forth under the rail.
The middle flex line goes back just behind the steering box where it meets up to the hard line. Instead of using a bulkhead type fitting to connect the lines, I drilled out a front panhard bar tab (from Welder Series of course!) to just under 7/16″. With a bit of filing on the tab, the round part on a 3/16″ fitting will press in to it, and hold securely. It can’t come out because the hex is bigger than the round part of the fitting. If you have one in your hand, you’ll see what I mean. A -3 joiner holds the other side of the tab.
Further back, we see the Wilwood 10# residual check valve in place, attached to the line with two -3 to 1/8NPT fittings. I used another panhard tab to hold the frame end of the braided line. Braided line is being used just in case we want to use a power booster some day. All we have to do is add the booster… no bending up new lines. It also makes it really easy to drop the master cylinder if we need to look inside it for some reason.
From the braided line going to the rear line, I attached the proportioning valve right to the residual check valve with a 1/8NPT to 1/8NPT joiner. The frame rail got tapped to hold the prop. valve. Yet another panhard tab holds the braided flex line coming from the rear drum. The other line goes along the rear crossmember to a flex line on the passenger side.
I installed our brake pedal pad bracket and thought I’d show the progress…
Here’s the kit – stainless brackets, stainless hardware, and instructions.
One bracket goes on the outside of the pedal, and the other bracket sandwiches the pedal on the inside. The masking tape is how far the pedal goes during full travel. As you can see, I’ll have to trim the leading edge of the pedal.
The two holes in the pedal let you set up the bracket to a comfortable angle for your foot.
The slots in the two brackets line up for your pedal pad to mount to.
Another feature of the slots is to let the pedal pad move up and down, effectively modifying your pedal ratio.
#12920
There are many products on the market for brake pedal grommets, but a) I didn’t have one last night, and b) I guess I don’t have a b). Here’s how I made the brake pedal seal:
I rummaged around the shop, sure I had some rubber sheets or something to use as a seal for the pedal to slide through. After I was all rummaged out, I grabbed the liner out of the bottom of one of the toolbox drawers and decided to sacrifice a corner. It’s not rubber – more like a closed-cell foam, but it will do.
For the outer ring, I’m using our part #3018W. Originally, this is the washer that we include in our Mustang II strut rod bracket kits. We have found a bunch of uses for them though.
I want to drill four holes at 12:00, 3:00, 6:00, and 9:00. I’d trump fixtures over measuring any day of the week, and this is no exception. I dropped the washer in a hole template which has perpendicular reference marks and marked my holes.
To attach the ring to the firewall, I’m using 8-32 knife inserts. These are really handy because they let you use a machine screw into fiberglass.
I’ve painted the washer now, and should have it all ready to install soon. The drawer liner seal will be sandwiched between the washer and the firewall.
As I’m reassembling the car, there are some things that I think I should have explained a little better at the time of the first article. The emergency brake handle mount is a neat little piece, but I don’t think I explained how it attaches to the floor.
See that little bung at the button end of the ‘canoe’? The bottom of that bung sits on the top surface of the bottom floor panel. Get that? I think you will. I used the Lokar ratchet mechanism and incorporated it into the canoe, which drops the handle into the floor.
The canoe was made from the outside section of a bent 1-5/8″ tube.
This is the hole where the canoe sits.
Below the 2″ thick floor, the linkage fits through a slot in the bottom floor panel. I bent up a linkage rod required to clear the center section tube and threaded it on both ends.
I drilled and tapped the Lokar brass block so it would work with my threaded linkage rod.
I used a 3/8″ heim joint (or “rod end”) to support the linkage rod and also to serve double duty as the upper bolt for the transmission mount.
A little out of place, but an update nonetheless. I put heat shrink on the wires as they exit from the frame rail and tuck in to the grille shell so they won’t stand out like… wires.
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