Rear brake pipe

The original brake line going to the rear drums was a little bit too short, so it had to be redone. After a few hours of bending, from underneath and above the car, adding the connectors ... here we go.

Alongside the gearbox and then it disappears around the clutch, connected to the brake master cylinder. Brake pipe bending is not my forte and some of the bends have to be revisited.

Quite a frustrating result after three and a half hours of labour ... I had to mount those posh brake fluid reservoirs to make me happy again.
Cheers.

Put the pedal to the metal

Amazingly enough how time flies... Those brake pipes take a lot of time to be bent. Although not completely happy with my work, it is a start. Once it is clear which flare has to be pressed, it's a matter of buying the right connectors and go on. This is only the front circuit with both brake master cylinders mounted provisorily. I'll decide later about a second try to make it look better, for now it's ok to locate all the different components of the brake circuit.

With the pedal box on the floor, the throttle activation must be re-engineered. After preparing the pedal mechanism to receive the clevis, an additional bracket performs as end stop for the Bowden cable. The cable arrives from the top and is pulled down by the pedal.

The nipple at the end of the Bowden cable is held by the clevis fixed to the pedal. All this has to move freely to evitate blocking or uneven pedal movement. That's why a lot of effort has been spent into designing this particular piece of kit.

Midday I will hop over to the braking workshop and buy some more stuff (connectors, half-nuts, a.s.o.) to continue work next weekend.

Cheers.

Brake pipe flaring

To achieve a perfect sealing of brake pipes, the ends have to be flared. Different standards are used and therefore, the aforementioned kit offers the possibility to manufacture different flares. First step is to cut the pipe to the desired length.

Even a well done cut should be deburred to avoid chips entering the pipe and block the fluid.

Then choose the right inserts by comparing with the pipe you want to reproduce. In this case, the pipe is 4.75mm and the flare is DIN.

The tool is assembled with everything needed to compress the copper/nickel pipe at it's end(s).

Pipe from the left stuck in the matrix, hydraulic screw with chosen punch, handle to turn, above grip to hold the tool by hand. There exist other flaring tools to be placed in a vice, this one has the advantage to be taken to the car. First try:

On the left compared to the old flare, on the right a different flare (double bubble) for trial.

Although this is no rocket science, I really have to warn everybody not owning the right skills or tools to let this work be done by professionals. I'm doing it on my own for the love of tools and the feeling to have achieved something by myself. If you're not sure, leave it to a specialized workshop.

Cheers.

The LOFI principle

... or, why you have to put first into the chassis what you last took out. Clear? LOFI stands for: last out first in. Some of the brake lines mount easier with the engine out, so after a little attention with Scotchbrite, the first part of the brake system went in (T and RH brake line).

 

Where possible, I will re-use the old brake lines. For those not fitting in the new installation or in bad shape, I will replace them with new ones. To do this, you need a flaring tool kit and some special spanners (flare nut crowfoot wrench), new brake line and... keep those old lines, they are precious templates.

 

Mounting the pedalbox took me almost all the Saturday afternoon. The accelerator pedal mechanism is now ready to receive the clevis linking the bowden cable to the throttle.

 

This meant grinding and drilling to assure the clevis to move freely when activating the throttle pedal... which I hope doing a lot !!! After the mod I repainted the machined end with chassis paint.

Cheers.