LarryH
Member
I had to replace the master cylinder on my T-Bucket and since no one in the entire universe could figure out what it was off of (other than the guys over at Snow White Ltd. figuring out it was off of "Some type of old British car") i decided to go with a small Wilwood master cylinder with a remote reservoir because that's the set up it came with. Since it has vertical steering there isn't a lot of room to work with, and my eyes are just to old to see how to weld on a new peddle assembly while laying on my back underneath the car. And no way was i going to pull the body so fabbing up a new bracket and bolting it to the frame using the original bolt holes seemed the best solution.
I mocked up the master cylinder so i could figure out the brake lines and figure out where to mount the reservoir. It was originally mounted inside the car next to the left kick panel but i just wasn't to crazy about it's location. I didn't want to drill holes in the chrome firewall so i fabbed up a bracket and mounted it to the transmission just behind the left cylinder head then ran a short line to the master cylinder and made a new brake line from the master cylinder to the junction block. And since it looks like a chromed brake fluid can it doesn't look to bad (it's actually the reservoir off of "Some type of old British car").
I decided to take a brake and have some lunch before pulling the master cylinder off to bench bleed it. While wolfing down a burger and an order of nice greasy fries i grabbed the instruction booklet off the work bench and started thumbing through it. I came to the Bleeding Instructions:
"Master cylinders should be bled while mounted to the brake pedal assembly. NOTE: The master cylinder includes a bleed screw for easy in-place bleeding and that either outlet may be used for the bleeding screw/outlet fitting. Connect all brake lines after the master cylinder is installed, but prior to bleeding."
Cool. I don't have to pull everything apart again. Boy was i ever the optimist. Fifteen frustrating minutes later i finally realized the instructions were wrong. So i pulled it off and bench bled it.
I had noticed earlier that some time during the past some one had used vise gripe to loosen the front bleeder valves so they were pretty well rounded off. No problem. I'll just pull one and head on down to the local parts store and pick up a couple of new ones.
I work swing shift and my son and all my friends work days so i ordered a DIY brake bleeder kit. Several cans of break fluid and about two totally frustrating hours later i still couldn't get all the air out of the system. All connections were tight, no leaks anywhere and all the bleeder valves were tight. I closed the garage door and walked away.
Last Saturday my son stopped by to help me bleed the brakes. We did it the old fashion way. Same deal. I went back over all the connections. All the bleeder valves were tight. No leaks anywhere. I finally decided it had to be the bleeder valves. I pulled one and compared it to the original. They looked exactly the same. I installed the old bleeder valves and within a few minutes it had a nice firm pedal. After a drive around the block the brakes worked great.
My hard earned lessons for the week:
1=Don't always believe what you read.
2=Just because it looks "exactly the same" dosen't mean it is.
Now i can finally move on to my next project: replacing the tunnel ram / 800 cfm Holley with a Weiand intake and a 600 cfm Performer carb.
I mocked up the master cylinder so i could figure out the brake lines and figure out where to mount the reservoir. It was originally mounted inside the car next to the left kick panel but i just wasn't to crazy about it's location. I didn't want to drill holes in the chrome firewall so i fabbed up a bracket and mounted it to the transmission just behind the left cylinder head then ran a short line to the master cylinder and made a new brake line from the master cylinder to the junction block. And since it looks like a chromed brake fluid can it doesn't look to bad (it's actually the reservoir off of "Some type of old British car").
I decided to take a brake and have some lunch before pulling the master cylinder off to bench bleed it. While wolfing down a burger and an order of nice greasy fries i grabbed the instruction booklet off the work bench and started thumbing through it. I came to the Bleeding Instructions:
"Master cylinders should be bled while mounted to the brake pedal assembly. NOTE: The master cylinder includes a bleed screw for easy in-place bleeding and that either outlet may be used for the bleeding screw/outlet fitting. Connect all brake lines after the master cylinder is installed, but prior to bleeding."
Cool. I don't have to pull everything apart again. Boy was i ever the optimist. Fifteen frustrating minutes later i finally realized the instructions were wrong. So i pulled it off and bench bled it.
I had noticed earlier that some time during the past some one had used vise gripe to loosen the front bleeder valves so they were pretty well rounded off. No problem. I'll just pull one and head on down to the local parts store and pick up a couple of new ones.
I work swing shift and my son and all my friends work days so i ordered a DIY brake bleeder kit. Several cans of break fluid and about two totally frustrating hours later i still couldn't get all the air out of the system. All connections were tight, no leaks anywhere and all the bleeder valves were tight. I closed the garage door and walked away.
Last Saturday my son stopped by to help me bleed the brakes. We did it the old fashion way. Same deal. I went back over all the connections. All the bleeder valves were tight. No leaks anywhere. I finally decided it had to be the bleeder valves. I pulled one and compared it to the original. They looked exactly the same. I installed the old bleeder valves and within a few minutes it had a nice firm pedal. After a drive around the block the brakes worked great.
My hard earned lessons for the week:
1=Don't always believe what you read.
2=Just because it looks "exactly the same" dosen't mean it is.
Now i can finally move on to my next project: replacing the tunnel ram / 800 cfm Holley with a Weiand intake and a 600 cfm Performer carb.
uke:
