Amazon: - Brake System Upgrade - Page 7

dheming · Jun 26th, 2010, 20:20

Update: I have a week off between classes and I'm now fully moved into my new shop. The Amazon has been there a few days and she's up on jack stands being slowly taken apart. The real work is finally beginning.

First to come out was the brake and clutch master cylinders. I knew the three new Wilwood master cylinders would be a tight fit on the small pedal box so I made a pretty accurate cardboard template to check layout. My goal is to cut out most of the front of the stock pedal box and replace it with a new sheet metal piece. I want it to look stock so the edges will have the same bend radius as the original one. Also the windshield washer reservoir is too close to the master cylinders so I'm going to move it down by the steering box. It's current mounting bracket is all rusty so a new one will be replicated in stainless. Should be fun:

Now with the brake MC out of the way I could finally test fit the custom brake arm. The upper part is okay but the arm itself is a bit angled to the right, making the bottom pretty close to the gas pedal. I'll just have to weld the pedal plate biased to the left like in the pic:

I worked late last night and got the stock rear end completely out. Today the 1800 rear end is going in so I can start taking measurements for the custom stuff. So far so good.

john h · Jun 27th, 2010, 10:06

Nice to see the hard work starting to come together on the car.

I hope you'll do some pictures of the rear suspension build as well.

Cheers

John

dheming · Jun 27th, 2010, 19:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by john h

Nice to see the hard work starting to come together on the car.

I hope you'll do some pictures of the rear suspension build as well.

Cheers

John

Thanks, it does indeed feel good. Don't worry I'll definitely be including extensive pictures of the rear and front suspension modifications in this thread or maybe a new one. Last night I ordered a single Spohn Del-Sphere and its spanner wrench to play around with. Hopefully there is enough clearance inside the frame rail mounts to use it since it's ideal for my needs.

john h · Jun 27th, 2010, 19:13

What's happening with the front suspension?

John

dheming · Jun 27th, 2010, 19:49

For now just converting it to coilovers to match the ones going in the rear.

dheming · Jul 6th, 2010, 20:59

Update: Didn't get as much done over the holiday weekend as I'd like to have. Pretty much just worked on cutting the pedal box up. Also I got to finally measure the bend radius of it's corners and it's right around 3/8" which is convenient. I'm going to slice 3/4" steel tube to recreate them.

Oilline · Jul 11th, 2010, 12:19

Hi Derick

Why have you had to cut out the front of the pedal box? Is it just to get a full flat face instead of the v shaped rib that's in the middle? I was thinking of bolting on a plate to take my master cylinders. Your way would look more stock though.

dheming · Jul 12th, 2010, 02:00

Yeah, the stamped "V" part was right in the way. I considered just using a bolt on plate but thought it would look kinda like a hack job. My goal is indeed to make it look as stock as possible even though it's a lot of extra work this way. You know you've done a good job on a mod if you have to point it out to the average person looking at your car.

dheming · Oct 2nd, 2010, 08:14

Small update: I finally came up with something I'm happy with for the upper coilover mount. My main goals were to obviously have it be strong and relatively easy to make, but to also not require a huge amount of modification to the stock upper spring perch or frame rail. This is what I'm thinking:

From these scaled drawings I built a wooden model so I could play with it and see how it looked on the wagon. There are a few little details I want to change, but I'm pretty happy with the design overall. Once the design is finalized I'll get the parts water jet cut from mild steel and then TIG weld it all together:

dheming · Oct 2nd, 2010, 09:06

The bottom mount will be much simpler. I'm still playing around with variations but this is basically what I'm thinking using 1/4" steel plate that will be TIG welded to the axle/control arm bracket:

So to give an overall view of what I'm planning with the rear coilover conversion:

Jun 26th, 2010, 20:20	#61
dheming Member Last Online: Jun 29th, 2022 04:38 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Corvallis, Oregon USA	Update: I have a week off between classes and I'm now fully moved into my new shop. The Amazon has been there a few days and she's up on jack stands being slowly taken apart. The real work is finally beginning. First to come out was the brake and clutch master cylinders. I knew the three new Wilwood master cylinders would be a tight fit on the small pedal box so I made a pretty accurate cardboard template to check layout. My goal is to cut out most of the front of the stock pedal box and replace it with a new sheet metal piece. I want it to look stock so the edges will have the same bend radius as the original one. Also the windshield washer reservoir is too close to the master cylinders so I'm going to move it down by the steering box. It's current mounting bracket is all rusty so a new one will be replicated in stainless. Should be fun: Now with the brake MC out of the way I could finally test fit the custom brake arm. The upper part is okay but the arm itself is a bit angled to the right, making the bottom pretty close to the gas pedal. I'll just have to weld the pedal plate biased to the left like in the pic: I worked late last night and got the stock rear end completely out. Today the 1800 rear end is going in so I can start taking measurements for the custom stuff. So far so good. __________________ "Why is it that there's never enough time to do it right, but there's always enough time to do it again?"

Jun 27th, 2010, 10:06	#62
john h VOC Member Last Online: Apr 22nd, 2024 13:49 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Huddersfield View Photos By: john h	Nice to see the hard work starting to come together on the car. I hope you'll do some pictures of the rear suspension build as well. Cheers John __________________ XX

Jun 27th, 2010, 19:13	#64
john h VOC Member Last Online: Apr 22nd, 2024 13:49 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Huddersfield View Photos By: john h	What's happening with the front suspension? John __________________ XX

Jun 27th, 2010, 19:49	#65
dheming Member Last Online: Jun 29th, 2022 04:38 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Corvallis, Oregon USA	For now just converting it to coilovers to match the ones going in the rear. __________________ "Why is it that there's never enough time to do it right, but there's always enough time to do it again?"

Jul 6th, 2010, 20:59	#66
dheming Member Last Online: Jun 29th, 2022 04:38 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Corvallis, Oregon USA	Update: Didn't get as much done over the holiday weekend as I'd like to have. Pretty much just worked on cutting the pedal box up. Also I got to finally measure the bend radius of it's corners and it's right around 3/8" which is convenient. I'm going to slice 3/4" steel tube to recreate them. __________________ "Why is it that there's never enough time to do it right, but there's always enough time to do it again?"

Jul 11th, 2010, 12:19	#67
Oilline Member Last Online: Jun 11th, 2017 19:24 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Skipton	Hi Derick Why have you had to cut out the front of the pedal box? Is it just to get a full flat face instead of the v shaped rib that's in the middle? I was thinking of bolting on a plate to take my master cylinders. Your way would look more stock though.

Jul 12th, 2010, 02:00	#68
dheming Member Last Online: Jun 29th, 2022 04:38 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Corvallis, Oregon USA	Yeah, the stamped "V" part was right in the way. I considered just using a bolt on plate but thought it would look kinda like a hack job. My goal is indeed to make it look as stock as possible even though it's a lot of extra work this way. You know you've done a good job on a mod if you have to point it out to the average person looking at your car. __________________ "Why is it that there's never enough time to do it right, but there's always enough time to do it again?"

Oct 2nd, 2010, 08:14	#69
dheming Member Last Online: Jun 29th, 2022 04:38 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Corvallis, Oregon USA	Small update: I finally came up with something I'm happy with for the upper coilover mount. My main goals were to obviously have it be strong and relatively easy to make, but to also not require a huge amount of modification to the stock upper spring perch or frame rail. This is what I'm thinking: From these scaled drawings I built a wooden model so I could play with it and see how it looked on the wagon. There are a few little details I want to change, but I'm pretty happy with the design overall. Once the design is finalized I'll get the parts water jet cut from mild steel and then TIG weld it all together: __________________ "Why is it that there's never enough time to do it right, but there's always enough time to do it again?" Last edited by dheming; Oct 2nd, 2010 at 08:17.

Oct 2nd, 2010, 09:06	#70
dheming Member Last Online: Jun 29th, 2022 04:38 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Corvallis, Oregon USA	The bottom mount will be much simpler. I'm still playing around with variations but this is basically what I'm thinking using 1/4" steel plate that will be TIG welded to the axle/control arm bracket: So to give an overall view of what I'm planning with the rear coilover conversion: __________________ "Why is it that there's never enough time to do it right, but there's always enough time to do it again?"

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