The brakes were OK but
did feel spongy and had a long stroke, actuating close to the floor. Lived with that for
several years until I saw a TV program that talked about residual pressure valves and
what would happen if you didn't install them. The peddle would feel
spongy and go close to the floor. Hmm!
Right after that
comment I recalled when I
was building the car I had noticed two residual pressure valves had been installed by
TCI in the rear brake lines - in series. I even called TCI and asked
if that would be OK. They said no problem. After all these years
was it possible they did not have a residual valve in the front line?
Quickly went to the garage and jacked up the car side. Sure enough
no front residual
valve!! They had installed two - but both in the rear line!
Fortunately Wilwood
sells a residual pressure valve with one standard brake fitting on one end and an
1/8" to 1/8" pipe fitting on the other (above photo.) This was perfect
to install on the Tee fitting that houses the brake light pressure switch!
No need to pull out my double flair fitting tool! Just removed the
brake line from the Tee fitting and installed the Wilwood Residual Pressure
Valve (see picture left.) Bending the original brake line to fit was
no problem.
That Was The
Solution! Better overall braking and a higher less spongy peddle.
The
TCI Chassis was purchased with OEM disk brakes on all 4 wheels.
Thought they would be better and it would be easier to install an emergency brake. The fronts turned out to be Camaro circa '78 -'80. The
rears needed to have a parking brake. These were from an '80 to '85
Cadillac Seville with Eldorato rotors.
Most Street Rods use a
Master Cylinder mounted under the driver seat. Good idea but it does
limit the diameter of the power brake booster. Ours is the
conventional single 7" diameter unit (yellow arrow in picture right.)
They are now also available in dual booster units which I would recommend. The
car is relatively light so the amount of boost needed is not critical but
the overall effect reminds me of not having power brakes with a drum brake
car. Stops OK but far from my Z51 2008 Vette!!
was
a mistake! Couldn't get the
sponginess out so purged all the
silicon and switched to Dot 4. Lots of work and several quarts of Dot
4 to get it all out!
Click for YouTube Video
Overview of Car
