changing master cylinder from single to dual-stage

[Guest]

Hey Greg,
You done a nice job! Nice and clean!
Richard D. Hord

[Guest]

Looks good ...

dirty job, but worth the effort. I really like the color on your Bird. Suits it to a "T" as it were. Are you doing any upgrades to the 9"? Mike

[Dakota Boy]

All the parts, including the 9", got cleaned and painted with black VHT spray-can epoxy.

I removed the ladder bars and cut off the brackets that were welded all over the dang axle housing. All those bars were doing was binding everything up. I'll run the car with just the leafs, then add some traction bars later if needed.

[Guest]

9" ...

you might want to consider adding a panhard bar to your set up. Mine doesn't have one and I'm getting some wheel rub on high speed cornering. I will be adding one when the new drive line goes in. Mike

[Dakota Boy]

More wire-wheeling today....

It is absolutely NASTY under here... I look like a coal miner right now. A lot of the stuff is "oily", and comes off pretty easy. It's a 1/4" thick in spots. Jeez...did they put it on that thick at the factory????

The drivers side floor board area is more "dry" and that stuff wont come off at all. I'll just wire-wheel it a bit to clean it, and put a light spray of undercoat over it.

One more day and another BIG HOG wire wheel on the angle grinder, and I should be done. Would've done more today, but there were only about 20% of the wires left on the wheel.

This photo was just as I was getting started.

[Dakota Boy]

Panhard bar?

I think I just cut off an old home-made panhard bar mount on my axle housing. It was a big weird wedge shaped block, on the passenger side, with a 3/4" threaded rod coming out of the back side.

[Guest]

Not to difficult ...

to make a nice one, or you can get a donor from the junk yard from almost any of the full or mid size cars. If you wanted something different, some of the late model crown vicks used a watts link setup. One or the other will make the car a lot less twitchy when pushed hard. Have you been picking a lot of steel wire out skin and clothing? Mike

[Dakota Boy]

hmmm..... the only time I'm going to want to really flog this car is at the drag strip.
I'm not sure a panhard bar is really necessary there.

Plus, if I install a bar, then one of my dual exhaust pipes would most likely have to be relocated.

[simplyconnected]

90% of every restoration job involves cleaning parts. Dakota Boy, you have my deepest respect for going through the process of cleaning your undercoating off. It's an ardous job most would avoid if at all possible.

But, look at your work... you stripped everything out of the way and did it right. The result is absolutely gorgeous! I admire your tenacity. Be safe, and use proper tools and safety equipment, my friend.

What kind and where did you get your wire wheel? I have yet to do my '55 Ford. - Dave

[Dakota Boy]

Step ONE: mentally prepare yourself and accept the fact that you WILL get absolutely filthy doing this. This step is a whole lot easier if you are a former farm kid from South Dakota....

4-inch "crimped wire wheel" (not the braided wire wheel) and a DeWalt angle grinder for the wide open spaces.

Smaller wheels of various shapes and a hand drill for the small spots.

Then use a leaf blower to blast most all of the dust away.

Finish removing any loose particles using the wife's vacuum cleaner with hose/brush attachment (dont let her catch you doing this).

Then Eastwood Rust Converter (spray cans).

Then Permatex Undercoat (non-rubberized version; sold everywhere; less than 5 bucks for a tall spray can).

[Dakota Boy]

Rear end is ready to install, and I gave the shocks a fresh coat too.

[simplyconnected]

You ought to see the production Painters on the line... They Vaseline their faces, hands, necks, then completely cover up in lintless suits head to toe, and start spraying cars. 500/day, every day. You've seen their work...

On the weekends, Cleaners jackhammer the sticky overspray off the walk-grates then grease them up for Monday morning. Ford uses bake-cure enamel but this stuff never made it to the (250*F) ovens. It's a real mess of nasty, goo-y, gray.

Thanks for the info on the wire wheels. Are the wire 'bristles' real co****?

[Dakota Boy]

yeah, you need the co**** wire

I've seem the fine wire units, and they would probably be useless for this task

[Howard Prout]

Back to the MC issue. I don't see a problem just changing to a dual MC. It will give a safer braking system. You will have to find or make a bracket to convert from the original four bolt pattern to the two bolt pattern of the new MC. You will also need a longer push rod and have to do so re-plumbing. I like the idea of an adjustable push rod so that it can be made just the right length. The only down side that I see to just doing a MC conversion is that when you change to a new booster & MC you will need to do some more re-plumbing, but that isn't difficult. At that time you will need a new bracket to raise the booster and MC enough to clear the left valve cover. In the thread discussing "Disc Brake Conversion" you can see the bracket and related components I made. It works quite well although I am still doing some tinkering with it.

[Dakota Boy]

If you can point me towards a source for this adjustable push-rod, and I think I'm done with this topic for a year or so!

or did you just make one by cutting the existing rod, threading the cut ends, and using a "barrel adjuster" sort of doo-dad?

One more question: is there any reason not to route the passenger side front brake line along the back, across the transmission hump, instead of going all the way around the front under the radiator? "engine heat" concerns maybe?