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The brakes are finally
done. Greg from ABS Mt. Ommaney finally got around to finishing
the fronts. I think if I do this again, I will take the measurements,
and have a brake shop cut the pipes to length and flare them. I
would then hire a bender, and do the rest myself.
This picture shows the
Suzuki Swift master cylinder in place and plumbed. The brake lines
aren't a work of art like John
Cellier's Dax, but maybe next build!
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The calipers have been
fully re-conditioned, and the discs are brand new. There is some
discussion among clubman builders about the merits of light weight,
drilled and slotted rotors. The old heads I have spoken to have
advised me to stick with the original Cortina calipers and discs,
as they are more than adequate for a car that weighs 500 - 600 kg.
At least for this build,
I have taken that advice. After all, I am not going for a full on
track weapon here. Even
if I was, I'd want evidence that four-pot calipers and exotic discs
are worth the money.
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| With
the rear brakes, I decided to split the rear line with a tee piece
to each drum brake, instead of the original 'series' system which
has the line going to the left drum and exiting into the right, which
has more to do with cost cutting than good design. There's probably
not a lot in it, but I think it looks neater this way. |
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| We had a little accident, resulting in a damaged brake hose. This was fortuitous, as I had recently learned that braided brake hoses were now legal in Queensland (subject to certain conditions). What's more, the guy that did the hoses lived about 5 minutes away from us, so off we went. Neil Barker turned out to be a car nut, and very helpful. He has a Holden Monaro 350 in concourse condition, which he races regularly. Anyway, we dropped the old rubber hoses off, and the next day the new braided versions were ready to be picked up. They have a plastic coating with the requisite standards stamp printed on. Apart from looking the goods, they should give better brake pedal feel. |
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| Filling and bleeding the brakes proved to be another learning experience. I had sought instruction and information from several sources before attempting this job, however, noone mentioned that you have to bleed the master cylinder first! We spent 30 minutes pumping the brake for nothing. So some advice to builders. If you are starting from scratch, first bleed the master cylinder, purging the air from it, before attempting to bleed the rest of the system. We have used DOT 4 brake fluid, and apparently, the brake fluid should be replaced every few months, which is something I didn't know. |
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