I didn't know you could buy pre-bent brake lines for Spridgets anywhere.
How does one get ahold of these from Classic Tube? ie, Does anyone know how
to order them (phone #, address, e-mail, or ?)
Thanks in advance,
Bob
-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Maclean <macleans@earthlink.net>
To: Bryan Vandiver <Bryan.Vandiver@Eng.Sun.COM>
Cc: spridgets@autox.team.net <spridgets@autox.team.net>
Date: Thursday, July 15, 1999 2:45 PM
Subject: Re: Bugeye rear brake upgrade and clutch problems.
>Bryan,
> In my experience, you should NOT flush the brake lines with anything
other than
>brake fluid. If there is still too much gunk inside, you might consider
new steel
>brake lines. Not as daunting a task as it sounds. There are several
options
>available to replace them. You can get them bre-bent from Classic Tube,
get a kit
>of lines from Moss Motors that you bend into shape by copying the original
lines or
>you can buy a flaring tool from MiniMania and Classic tube will sell you
any length
>of 1/8th steel tubing and make your own kit.
> As to the synthetic brake fluid, if you are using Lockheed RUBBER
parts in your
>master cylinder and slave cylinders, you might be experiencing swelling of
the
>rubber. Synthetic fluid and rubber parts don't seem to mix very well.
> If you go back and flush the system out a couple of times with Castrol
LMA
>Brake Fluid, rebuild the master cylinder and slave cylinders with new
rubber kits
>and use the Castrol fluid exclusively, I think your brake problem will be
solved.
>Mike MacLean-60 Sprite
>
>Bryan Vandiver wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>>
>> I'm just putting the finishing touches on my bugeye restoration project,
and
>> have run into some issues with the rear brakes, and clutch.
>>
>> I am using a rebuilt 7/8 inch dual master, that was bead-blasted, and
honed. I
>> cleaned out all the brake and clutch lines with carb cleaner, and then
blew them
>> out with compressed air. Since I was upgrading to front disk brakes, I
thought
>> it would be best to upgrade the rear as well, so I pulled the brake
backing
>> plates off a '78 rb midget (as well as the parking brake linkages), and
>> installed a new set of 3/4" brake cylinders. I am using my 'original'
bearing
>> hubs, and brake drums ( dated 7/58). once I installed everything, and
bolted on
>> the wheels, I noticed a lot of binding on the rear wheels ( in fact, I
could
>> barely push the car out of the garage). After taking off both drums, they
both
>> appear to be contacting the later brake backing plates. I compared my
early
>> brake drums to later ones, and they have the same exact distance from the
back
>> lip of the drum to the mounting surface. Has anyone done this, or run
into this
>> problem??
>>
>> As for the clutch...
>> This is the 'stiffest' clutch I have experience in any car, is that
typical of
>> sprites??
>> I have a ribcase trans, but the new clutch slave cylinder is the 'early
style'
>> 7/8" (moss 180-655), to be compatible with my original clutch line and
master.
>> All other clutch components are '1275 type' including the slave cyl
'push-rod'.
>> The 'new' clutch kit was part# COM710/kit from MiniMania.
>> Besides being very tough to bleed, are these clutches really that hard to
>> disengage? I can't imaging driving with this in traffic!
>>
>> BTW - I am using 'sythetic brake fluid' since I am using all new
components, and
>> all lines were'flushed' first.
>>
>> Regards - Bryan Vandiver (San Jose, CA)
|