More Brakes

I have to go back to blogging the old way because Flickr is being stupid and its not automatically linking.  The good news is the posts wont be one for every picture.  The bad news is this method is slow and I hate it! 

Bulkhead fittings fitted. I am going to route the three primary lines through these, and figure out how to run the reservoir lines later.

I already showed the picture of the broken hydraulic  clutch line.  I bought some spare brake lines from Napa, and it turns out they are pretty cheap.  I was a bit more careful the second time around and salvaged that piece, but opted to use the higher quality Elderman lines for the brakes.   Last night I finished bending and routing the two lines, and here are a couple shots of the finished product. 

Overall I am pretty happy with the way they turned out, although I may rebuild the clutch line.  I shouldnt care too much, as these lines are not visible after final assembly. 

Cobra-0651

Cobra-0651, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Fun with brake lines!

Cobra-0641

Cobra-0641, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Got to have some fun with the build now and then!

Cobra-0637

Cobra-0637, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Hmm, looks like the flexible hose is going to need an adjustment.

Cobra-0636

Cobra-0636, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Pulled the front wheel out of the box for a test fit. Tight fit, but all is good!

Cobra-0635

Cobra-0635, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Final bends on the front brake line connector, all bolted up.

Cobra-0265

Cobra-0265, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Driver's side front brake line.

Cobra-0264

Cobra-0264, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Passenger side front brake line.

Cobra-0261

Cobra-0261, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

First pass at the front brake line connector. A redo is in order.

Cobra-0260

Cobra-0260, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

First round of clearancing done. Time to bolt it back in the car and see how it fairs.

Cobra-0258

Cobra-0258, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Testing the pedal mounts. Looks like I will need to do some additional clearancing around the bolt holes.

Cobra-0257

Cobra-0257, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

The clutch pedal currently hits this pedal frame about halfway through its stroke. This is a known issue with Wilwood's new pedals. I will try to get away with just trimming the pedal frame and not cutting the car frame.

Cobra-0254

Cobra-0254, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Gas tank bolted up.

Cobra-0252

Cobra-0252, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

I used the jack to hold the tank up in place and attempted to get the rear bolt in. After about 20 minutes of bending, re-bending, and pressing, I almost got the bolt through, but no room for the nut. This could be designed better by factory five. Why not have a lower mount, or longer bolt? I jammed my thumb in the process, but I did finally get it bolted up.

Cobra-0250

Cobra-0250, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

I got tired of stepping over the gas tank, so I decided now was as good of a time as any to bolt it in. First up are the straps

Cobra-0249

Cobra-0249, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

I was so impressed with the pneumatic rivetor that I decided I would permanently mount my first panel. I added a couple of new holes and went to town. This went together with ease... However, I YET AGAIN screwed up but failing to remember why this panel wasnt mounted yet. The inner footbox panel needs to be tucked behind this one and I don't want to mount it up until right before I get the engine in. So, I drilled out the bottom rivets and pulled the panel back so I could slide in the side panel later. Shouldnt be too big of a deal.

Cobra-0247

Cobra-0247, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Test fitting the front brake line. I will need to get the front wheels un-boxed to ensure this positioning is going to work, but if not I have a couple of options.

Cobra-0248

Cobra-0248, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Front flexible mount riveted in place. Sweet!

Cobra-0246

Cobra-0246, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

The mounting point of the front flexible mounts.

Cobra-0235

Cobra-0235, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

While I was at the bending and flaring, I took a minute to paint the front flexible hose mounts in POR 15 as I did not get the stainless fronts from Breeze.

Cobra-0236

Cobra-0236, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Said first custom brake line in position.

Cobra-0234

Cobra-0234, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

My first custom built brake line

Cobra-0233

Cobra-0233, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Eastman flaring tool in action.

Cobra-0241

Cobra-0241, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Pneumatic riveter in action. I believe I paid like 30 bucks for this thing from Harbor Freight, and it did wonders on these stainless rivets. Worth it so far!

Cobra-0227

Cobra-0227, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

One may be able to justify this as the most precise measurement ever, but alas I measured nothing. This is a picture of the suspension fully depressed- at least as far as I could get it against its own current body weight. I decided this was too close for comfort and I did not want to tangle up a rear brake line while I was racing around Laguna Seca, so a do-over was called for.

Cobra-0225

Cobra-0225, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

I purchased some stainless steel flexible hose mounts from Breeze. They included stainless rivets, which I just about killed myself getting them riveted in with the hand-held riveter. When I do the driver's side, I am going to bust out the pneumatic one and see how that goes. After spending the better part of an hour trying to determine the best point to mount the bracket to I chose this spot. What is the old adage? Measure twice cut once?

Cobra-0224

Cobra-0224, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Cobra-0223

Cobra-0223, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Brake time! I am starting on the brake lines, so I decided to get the rear wheel bolted up for a test fit to check a few different flexible brake hose configurations. This thing is going to be a monster when its finished!

...maybe I should tidy up my garage a bit

Cobra-0187

Cobra-0187, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Just another shot of the pedal assembly half-assed in to place.

Tonight I settled on using AN fittings for all of my brake line connections. I spent a good two hours on Pegasusautoracing.com mapping everything out. Its amazing the price variances from one part to the next. For example, a AN3 to NPT straight fitting is 1.99, but a AN3 to NPT 90 degree fitting is 6.67! The price difference is huge and adds up quickly when you are talking about 6 - 10 fittings. So I am going back and forth on whether or not one less bend in the steel lines is worth 5 bucks. I havent ordered anything yet, but I am getting close. I did however order the eastman flaring tool, which will take the #1 spot as the most expensive tool in my garage upon its arrival. Note: I am not counting the air compressor- although I probably should!

Cobra-0186

Cobra-0186, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Next I mocked up the master cylinders. First line of business is to figure out which size goes to what circuit! My guess is that the largest goes to the clutch, the second largest goes to the rear brakes, and the smallest goes to the front brakes.

Cobra-0182

Cobra-0182, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Another shot of the pedal arms. The adjustable pedals will go on last. The steering shaft will need to go as far to the right as possible to minimize the risk of interference with the brake pedal.

Cobra-0180

Cobra-0180, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Pedal arms hanging down... they look sweet!

Cobra-0178-2

Cobra-0178-2, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

This is a shot of the steering shaft and brake pedal clearance. The steering shaft is the object running top to bottom just out of focus on the right side of the picture. The brake pedal is the round object. I am directly above the assembly looking down, and it looks like there is maybe 1 mm of clearance between the two. In order to fix this, I am going to oval out the steering wheel mounting bracket later and get the steering wheel as far Right as possible. Yes, I am pretty sure this is going to further debilitate the driving comfort. We shall see later.

Cobra-0176-2

Cobra-0176-2, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

I am using Forte's pedal box frame and Wilwood forged pedals. The box frame could be better. It is slightly bent and a few of the welds need to be ground down more. I am spacing the bracket off of the footbox front panel in order to increase the clearance between the brake pedal and the steering shaft. As it is now, it is an extremely tight fit!

Cobra-0177-2

Cobra-0177-2, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

I have to remember to clean the oil of the calipers and anti-squeak the pads before its all said and done.

Cobra-0173

Cobra-0173, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

back of the spindle.

Cobra-0172-2

Cobra-0172-2, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Another shot of the caliper. The top just slides in under the bracket.

Cobra-0171-2

Cobra-0171-2, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Here is a shot of the pin that holds the caliper on. I am still not sure as to why the tolerances are better than as shown. I also dont know why there is a second groove in the pin, unless this pin is designed to use with multiple brake kits.

Cobra-0170

Cobra-0170, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Ta Da! front brakes are on! Nevermind the mud on the studs and center cap.

Cobra-0169

Cobra-0169, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Working on the front brakes. The Cobra front calipers are interesting because there are no bolts that hold the caliper on. Instead its pressed in at the top and secured at the bottom with a pin and C clip. Its a very simple design and simple is good!

Cobra-0150-2

Cobra-0150-2, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Near complete driver's side rear axle.

Cobra-0149-2

Cobra-0149-2, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Here the caliper is bolted on. I am using Hawk pads.

Cobra-0148-2

Cobra-0148-2, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

I assembled the passenger side rear brake caliper yesterday. These are Mustang Cobra 11.65" rotors,so an adapter bracket was needed to offset the Thunderbird knuckle, which used 10.172 rotors. These offset brackets are Forte's. I was really happy with them, and with the calipers supplied by Forte's as well.

Cobra-0144-2

Cobra-0144-2, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Here is the passenger side rear caliper. I am in the process of removing the "junky" stock pads.

Cobra-0143-2

Cobra-0143-2, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Although I am still waiting on the brake pads, I figured I would start going over the brake components for the rear assemblies. These are Forte's custom spacers to fit the larger cobra brakes. These are made out of aluminum and are nice and light.

Cobra-0141-2

Cobra-0141-2, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

I could not fit any of Breeze's seals in the passenger side. Other than that the assembly was fairly easy and took a fraction of the time the driver's side did. But I suppose that is the way it goes.

Cobra-0138

Cobra-0138, a photo by akpingel on Flickr.

Last night I moved on to the passenger side rear suspension assembly. I ended up getting the shim bored out to the correct size without too much trouble. A little white lithium grease to cut down on the squeaking and I was ready for assembly