Brake system. I had been waiting to finish this last as the "complete" copper hard line set I had purchased from the UK was for a right hand drive car and the tubing that went from the four way union to the master cylinder was way too short......by about 3 feet!
Drew is masterful at bending tubing in his hands and we knew we had to route the last piece of brake line around a few things so we waiting until almost everything was installed to make and run this last critical piece. Plus, the flares on the tubing needed to be the bubble type so a normal flare tool doesn't work. Neither of us owned one so I bit the bullet and bought a nice one. I also ordered nickel cooper line as it is a bit stronger but still bendable.
- Bubble flare tool
- Custom bending brake line
While Drew was bending away, I was measuring and fitting the new Optima battery for a hold down system that would bolt to the floor and still allow for the fiberglass battery cover to be used. I need two threaded rods 8 1/2 inches long to complete it, but I'm close to finishing. We tested more electrical circuits and confirmed the horn now works but still don't have turn signals. Must be a loose connection under the dash. Will check that tomorrow.
We took all the wheels off to bleed the brakes. There is a back story to the brake system. When I bought the car it had a newer tandem master brake cylinder. There were also many coupler fittings in the brake line all over the car. The brakes were very dangerous. You had to pump like crazy to get any pedal and even then they wouldn't stop you very well. I bled the system twice after I bought the car and couldn't get it to work any better. All the calipers were working and the pads were all fine. I knew I would rip the whole brake line system out and replace in its entirety plus a new master cylinder.
Bled the entire system twice to ensure no air bubbles. The pedal is nice and hard and all the calipers work very well.
- Bleeding the brake lines
Torqued the wheels back on the car and just for the heck of it I put the chrome hub caps on. Getting closer to completion. Tomorrow night is the installation of the cooling system.
- Hub caps back on!
- Finished for the night
My garage is a mess! I need to finish this project so I can spend a day (or two) cleaning it up and organizing !