Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I've always heard that, while small, there's a bit more swelling under pressure in a steel-braided hose than in a solid pipe and therefore flexible hose should be kept to a minimum in brake circuits. I never heard or tried to calculate the extra "give" but I want the system to have as firm a pedal as possible.

Galwaylotus wrote:I've always heard that, while small, there's a bit more swelling under pressure in a steel-braided hose than in a solid pipe and therefore flexible hose should be kept to a minimum in brake circuits. I never heard or tried to calculate the extra "give" but I want the system to have as firm a pedal as possible.

I agree (thats a switch huh), not the way I would go in any event but I am a person that still likes the .7 or .625 single master cylinder.

Gary

I agree too, except for the fact my white Elan had a terrific feeling pedal! You may have noticed in the pic, the stainless rod attached to the front upright coming from the firewall. Carl Grabowski fabricated a stainless firewall cover (you can see that in the pic also), and then fabricated the rod from the firewall to the upright. That way under hard braking there was no movement from the firewall. And when you pushed on the pedal, it was very firm and gave a very secure feeling. I believe the MC was .70 also with no servo.

I'd like to do it again on this car but I'm running out of time before Tampa in October.

Famous Frank

Other than the master cylinder/clutch plumbing I agree with the notion that the brake system should use hardlines everywhere but at the suspension to chassis points. As far as getting away from the silly bubble flares you can email me and I'll give you a parts list. It's basically just 7 AN-3 male/male adapters (3/8-24) and crush washers on your car. The clutch can use a teflon lined/braided steel hose and in that case it's neater to use a 90 degree end with a banjo at the master to create a line that does a 180 turn like the original Girling red plastic thingie at the master. I always cover it with shrink fit if I am making my own custom hose or the ones we have in stock are covered and assembled.