1962 T-bird single to dual master cylinder

[lj37]

Eric, Nice to see another MGA enthusiast. Your car looks great. Good luck on the 215 project it's a lot of work. I've had 3 MGAs, a early '74 B, and a '52 TD that I did a complete body off on. I only have the MGA V8 now and it's the most fun to drive. There's lots of information on the internet. Google, British V8, photo galleries, MG sports cars. My son and I are both on it.

There's also the mgaguru.com, and MG enthusiasts' club

I havn't talked to booster Dewy. I think I have enough information from this web site.

I was at a car show yesterday with my '57 MGA. There was a fellow there with a '57 Ford that he had converted to front and rear discs. He said he used Granada 14" wheels on the front. He gave me lots of infromation.

Lyle

[simplyconnected]

Lyle, your '62 won't accept the Granada spindles, but you can use the 14" wheels. The Bronco wheels may be easier to come by.

By all means, talk with Dewey. That was good advice. Ask him about fitting a dual M/C to your booster. The difference is in the mounting bolts (some have two while others use four). If you buy a modern setup, they all use two-bolt M/C's. If you rebuild an old booster, Dewey can make it a two-bolt setup. He knows all the Ford setups from all years.

Also, ask Dewey how much boost you will need if you go to front disk brakes.

I have the feeling you will take the plunge and retrofit with a disk/drum setup just so you don't do this job more than once. We have been there so don't hesitate to ask questions. - Dave

[DKheld]

Thanks for the nice comments on the car guys and sorry about hi-jacking your brake question Lyle but just couldn't resist when I saw the MG info. As nice as our car is it can't hold a candle to your Buick 215 A - DANG !!!!! I'm on the MG forum and ole' Barney has already thrown me under the bus - ha - he missed though.

Not Tbird related but you guys ought to see Lyle's car - might give our Tbird's a run for the money (and probably lots of change). May need to bring in the big guns with Dakota Boy's car for the competition.

http://www.britishv8.org/MG/LyleJacobson.htm

Lyle,
Even if the Granada spindles would have worked on your car I would have advised against it. That was the only route available (that I could find) 10 or so years ago when I did my '60 conversion. Problem is alignment - you have to find a real good shop that can wing it and not just set the alignment by the numbers given in the book. There are conversions for the '60 now that allow you to use the standard spindles. If you convert try to find one that uses the original spindles if only for the alignment reason. I'm running what I was told is late 70's 14 inch LTD wheels. Bought them out of a salvage yard so never saw the actual car they came off of but was told it was a disc brake car. Dave's right though - more likely to find a Bronco in a salvage yard these days than a LTD - they're long gone.

And one last pic (a better one) of the finished MG with the happy recipient in the center and the Overhaulin' crew. That grin on my BIL's face wrapped all the way around....twice.

Eric

PS - Dave - we only resealed the motor - actually tore it all the way down minus removing the crank but the money decided for us that a rebuild just wasn't going to happen this time. It had great oil pressure, no noises and didn't smoke so we figured he'll get 20K more miles or about 5 years out of it just resealed (valve stem seals too) so we felt good with that. We actually started out just going to paint a few body panels and get my BIL motivated to restore it. His plan was always a driver not a show car. We just got a little carried away.........



Ok - 2 more pics

[lj37]

Eric, Thanks for the kind words. Heve you looked at my sons car? Google Bill Jacobson super charged 73 MGB V8. It's about 300 HP. He converted it to fuel-injection last year. It will give you some 215 ideas when you do your brother-in-laws MGA.

Dave, I called Dewey and he's on vacation until next week.

Lyle

[lj37]

'62 brake master cylinder single to dual

I started working on my brakes. It looks like I may have found my lock up problem. I removed the master cylinder. The brake pedal was close to the floor. When I started the engine the pedal went hard to the floor. With the engine running or off I can not lift the pedal off the floor. I can not push the push rod into the booster. I assume this is a bad booster. It looks like a nasty job to remove the booster. Before I do I thought I would ask, has anyone had this problem?

Lyle

[simplyconnected]

Lyle, MBM has a good tech section for brake system diagnostics:

The first narrows 'which part of your system is bad'.

http://www.mbmbrakeboosters.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2:diagnosing-brake-system-problems&catid=7:diagnosing-brake-system-problems&Itemid=15

This section deals with the booster.

http://www.mbmbrakeboosters.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12:what-to-do-if-you-suspect-your-brake-booster-is-not-working&catid=7:diagnosing-brake-system-problems&Itemid=15

[lj37]

Thank you, very good information.
Lyle

[lj37]

I removed the driver seat and then removed the booster. The booster is complety stuck on. I called booster Dewey and asked him about repairing the booster and what he thought about a dual master cylinder. He highly recommended a dual system. I asked him about the push rod leanth. He said he sells a new Ford dual master cylinder and would mount it to my booster and set it all up for me. It looks like a good way to go so I don't have to mess with it. The booster repair is $135.00 and the master cylinder is $95.00 plus $19.00 shipping. He also said dot 5 is OK to use. I'm taking his advise and shipping the booster to him today. Thanks again for all the help you guys have given me.
Lyle

[DKheld]

Lyle,

Glad to hear Booster Dewy was able to help you out. He has rebuilt 2 boosters for me. The last one was rebuilt 10 years ago and is still working fine - believe it or not it was about the same price then too. I didn't buy my dual master cyl from him but figured out the one he was selling for the '60 Tbird looked similar to one for a 77 Lincoln Mark IV. That is the dual master cyl I ended up using on my modified booster. He did send me a modified push rod because on the '60 Tbird the push rod is rounded and the Lincoln Master cyl requires a flatter end - works great though. Hope yours works as good as mine.

Eric
registry 5347

[lj37]

Eric,
Dewey told me that any '67 to '72 Ford master cylinder should work. What he's chargeing me is not much more then I would have to pay anywhere else and he'll set it up and make sure it will work right. Now I'm thinking about changeing '57 Ford Sunliner to a dual system. But for now it's working OK.
Lyle

[simplyconnected]

If you go with DOT-5, make sure you THOROUGHLY wash your system out with alcohol, first.

DOT-5 and DOT-3 (OEM fluid) are not compatable. If you have older seals in your wheel cylinders, they will bloat and stick in the 'on' position, setting your brakes. The same happens with your pressure switch for your Stop Lights. Install a new one that has never had DOT-3 in it, or expect to change it in ~two years when it sticks.

I'm not trying to sway you, but why change? OEM's still use DOT-3 in new vehicles (and have for >70 years). If they used inferior brake fluid, lawsuits would abound.

[lj37]

My system already has dot 5 in it. It was flashed with alcohol and has all new cylinders.
Lyle

[klattu]

I did the 3 to 5 conversion way back when it came popular... did not flush, and fluid turned into Jello... only on my VW rail, but was a mess and very many new words were found. Went back to 3, and never looked back.

[lj37]

The system has to be flushed. Dot 3 and 5 will not mix.

Here in the wet Pacific North West my old cars don't get driven everyday. So the brake system collects moisture that leads to corrsion, and that l means leaky wheel cylinders. I got tired of doing brake jobs every couple years. I've been told that with Dot 3 I need to flush and bleed the system every 2 to 3 years and I don't like doing that. So that's why I use Dot 5, put it in once and forget it. Booster Dewey said Dot 5 will not hurt the seals.

I received my brake booster back from booster Dewey. They did a nice job. Dewey also send me a dual master cylinder for $95.00 plus $13.00 shipping for the booster and cylinder. The booster was $135.00. The master cylinder is brobably a '67 Ford but I didn't ask, I just wanted something that I was sure would work. I converted a '66 T-bird a couple years ago to a dual, and I use a '67 M/C and it worked great. I did have to modify the shock tower brace.

I know about the problem with dot 5 and preasure stoplight switchs. I haven't had many problems with my '62 T-bird but I have with my '57 Ford. No problems with my '57 MGA. All have Dot 5. A friend that has a '52 ford that has used dot 5 for 15 years with no problem told me to put a drop or two of motor oil on the end of the preasure switch before installing it. I tried that and still had to replace the switch in a year or so. I replaced the switch about a year ago and used a couple dropes Marvel Mystery oil and so far no problems.

While I had the drivers seat out of my T-bird to work on the booster, I made a bracket and installed a stoplight switch that works off the brake pedal. NAPA part # SL161.

Everything is working fine.
Lyle

[DKheld]

Lyle,

Glad to hear the project came together and the best part is that it is working fine.

Eric

PS - just picked up a '60 MGA with a locked up motor - humm - guess I better start looking for a Buick 215 ...... (heh heh)