Paul's 69 2 Door project

[Charlie69]

On the master cylinder, I hope you adjusted the height of the rod sticking out of the master cylynder to acoomodate the thicknes of the closed cell foam gasket.

[Trophy24]

Rod will be adjusted for correct depth when the new master shows up. I figured I had to do that anyway.

[S30Jay]

Nice work..... That is so clean!

[Trophy24]

So time for the master cylinder part of this thing.  I was surfing around looking for the "right" master cylinder for this car.  It has to work with 4 wheel disc.  I obtained a 280zx master some time ago, but wanted something that didnt look like it came out of a junkyard.  From what I could find, a 280Z unit would be about the right size bore for the brake booster assisted pedal feel.  Trouble is the 280Z does not have rear disc brakes...

So what is the difference?

 

Mechanic A says the residual pressure valve has a different spring that is for disc brakes.

Mechanic B says if you use the wrong spring, your rear discs will drag and overheat because there is too much pressure in the brake lines for the rear.

 

Who is right?

A

B

Bolth

Neither

 

Answer: Bolth!

 

Just put that in for my fellow mechanics who love ASE testing! Ha Ha

 

So I pulled out the valves from my new 280Z master cylinder.  You can see the difference in the check valve springs.

 

 

Hmm, wonder what the spring looks like in the B210 master for the front circuit?

 

This looks promising!  Turns out the 280ZX spring were the same too.

 

I think this will do just fine for the rear circuit.  A good reason not to throw away your old master cylinder.  Yes this does justify my hording of old car parts.

 

Now that the master is set up for 4 wheel disc, it is time to make it fit with the brake booster.

Since I am going up in size from 3/4 to 7/8", some modification will be necessary for the spacer.

 

I checked to see if the 280ZX spacer would work, since it is for a 15/16" master.  No luck, the bolt spacing is too wide.  Boo!

 

Here is an idea of how far off the spacer is.  Time to zone out with the dremel tool in hand and make this happen.

 

Before and after modification.  Turned out pretty round for grinding it out by hand.

 

Fits like a glove now.

[Trophy24]

Thanks to Charlie69 for the reminder to us all to adjust the pushrod on the brake booster any time you change your master cylinder!

 

Here is how we do it at work.  It is a simple tool, but it makes this super easy.

 

Measure the depth of the hole for the pushrod (dont forget to add space for your gasket).  This picture is a little funny, when I measured it, it was straight I promise!

 

Then set the tool on the booster to see how long the pushrod is.  Mine had to be shortened slightly.  Now it is just right.

 

New 4 wheel disc ready master cylinder installed and ready for plumbing.

[Charlie69]

Nice little tool, makes getting the height correct easy.

 

I went witn a 1981 310 booster because it put the master cylinder mounting holes horizontal instead of vertical, and by doing this I have a much larger assortment of master cylinders to choose from.

 

 

[fisch]

Man so much win in this thread!

[Josh K.]

Where did you get the push rod setting tool?

[Mattndew76]

Josh you know you can make one ;)

[Trophy24]

https://www.toolsource.com/toyota-lexus-tools-c-1321_831_840/brake-booster-push-rod-gauge-p-111861.html

 

Here you go guys

[Trophy24]

Put the brake system switch through the blast cabinet to take off the big chunks before taking it apart

 

 

Here is what they look like on the inside

 

 

All cleaned up and ready to install.

 

 

My rolls of fuel line and brake line should be here this week.  Time to bend up some lines

[Draker]

Looks great! So much attention to detail.

[Trophy24]

So not much progress on the plumbing. Deciding what to use for the brake line mounting across the firewall. Think I have a solution I will be happy with.

 

In the meantime I have been working on something else. I finally decided the wheel I wanted. Then I had to find the right size. After a lot of searching I found a pair in Japan.

 

 

Did an artsy shot using my buddy Mark's car as a background

 

 

15X7 for the rear so I can run a decent size tire back there. I have some 195/50R15 already.

[240zness]

^those aren't disappointing even in this thread

 

you've done it again. Incredible work on the car

[Trophy24]

I have not created brake lines in a long time. One of the survival skills I learned fixing cars in Milwaukee, WA where everything rusts away and gets removed with the flame wrench. I don't miss that part of my life at all!

 

After researching materials for tubing is decided to go with copper/nickel alloy. Time to hone my skills with some practice tube flaring. Here is a bubble and a double flair on a practice piece. Turned out pretty good for howblong it's been.

 

 

Time to install the steering box brace. I picked it up some time ago. Other designs have since come out that I would prefer, but I'm not about to buy another one. It used to be polished, but since there were a lot of scratches, I put it through the blast cabinet for a satin finish.

 

 

 

 

 

Time to mock up the brake lines with the trusty coat hanger method. I started out with the short ones to get the feel of it

 

[Trophy24]

For real this time. Used some wire to match the length on the coat hanger and cut a piece from the roll of tubing. Spent too much time making it straight before bending it again ha ha.

 

 

Add a stainless tube nut before the first bend happens! Then re create your coat hanger model.

 

 

 

Installed an old brake line to mock this up. Going with braided stainless later.

 

 

There we go. Good fit

 

 

 

And progress for tonight

 

[carterb]

Great work Paul!  It's really coming together.  This is going to be quite the showpiece.  I hope you are not afraid to drive it when you are done.

--carter

[Trophy24]

Thanks Carter

 

I'm not really going for a show car. I am just particular about how I do things. Maybe too much so judging by how long this is taking. Ha ha. It will be driven for sure.

[Trophy24]

Ok update time. Spent a lot of time on these, but I am happy with how they turned out. Had to figure out where to put the willwood proportioning valve and then make a mounting bracket.

 

Front of car brake and clutch lines done!

 

 

[Stoney]

very impressive

[Draker]

Wow.. nice work!

[carterb]

Happy Birthday Paul!

 

 

Your car looks even better in person!  You are doing incredible work.  I can't wait to see it with paint!  Canby 2018 go go go!!!

 

--carter

[Trophy24]

Thanks Carter. It was great to have you over for my datsun birthday party. We were bummed you couldn't bring Granny. Hopefully she will be on the road again before too long.

I am currently prepping the car to go out for paint. I will post that milestone as soon as it happens. The goal is Canby 2018!

[Trophy24]

I may jinx myself, but my pictures have not yet disappeared from my thread. I even got the ransom email. Just in case, they have been backed up.

Here is my first picture from a new hosting site:

 

I picked up some new fenders from Futofab. I selected the fenders without holes because I thought I had some new 69 front markers that came with the car.  Time to mock them up and find the correct hole placement. Turns out they are new Japan style marker lights. I could have ordered the fenders with holes already there. Oh well.  Here is the placement for the hole I have to cut in my brand new fender. 

[Trophy24]

And here it is in place. I like how it turned out