Brake Performance

Had some problems with poor brake performance and a spongy pedal. Bled all of the brakes and found a lot of air in the front brakes along with the rear.

On the rear I found that when I press the brake pedal and lift off bubbles pass back into the reservoir and sucks air into the system. Leon had a similar issue with his car and he sorted the problem by changing the master cylinder. As I had a spare 0.75 master cylinder that I didn't use for the clutch, I decided to swap it over. 

This worked a treat and the bubbles stopped. I then bled the rear brakes by removing the rear callipers and rotating them so that the bleed nipple faces upwards. Then re fitted the caliper.

For the fronts I bled each side to remove the air. Once complete the pedal felt a lot firmer.

Handbrake Surround

Fitted some edging strip to handbrake surround. Fixed in to place with tiger seal and held in position with tape. Once dry I removed the tape and cleaned off the excess. Re fitted the leather gaiter and the handle. 

Handbrake Bolts

With the handbrake in the forward position due to the reversing motor, the centre tunnel cover is a real pain to fit. I decided to to get couple of m8 bolts welded to the underside of the bracket to allow easier fitting and a more permanent solution.

As I don't have a welder, I called a friend to give me a hand, Steve came over and spot welded the nuts in place. Great job and saved me a load of hassle.

Fitted the centre tunnel and bolted the handbrake in to place through the top.

Handbrake Switch

Fitted the handbrake switch, wired one side to the chassis and the other to the signal wire to the dash. When the wire is grounded the handbrake activated lamp lights on the dash. 

Shortened the spring and connected to the handbrake lever.

Handbrake

Not happy with the method of fixing the handbrake cables to the handbrake mechanism by looping the cable through the bar and using cable clamps. I found that the clamps slipped and decided to find a better method.

I drilled out the bar to 8mm to accommodate two M8 bolts. I then drilled a 3.5mm hole part way down the thread of the M8 bolt to allow the cable to pass through, then I used a washer and a M8 nylock to clamp the cable to the bar. I then adjusted the cables so that the handbrake is not activated and the callipers are free to move. 

Rear Brake Bleeding

As the Sierra rear brake callipers are fitted inverted on the MNR, bleeding the brakes seems to be a bit of a pain. I disconnected the two mounting bolts and moved the calliper to the other side of the disc and held it temporarily in place with tie wraps. 

I then loosened the bleed nipple and bled in the same way as the fronts. Once complete I moved the calliper back and tightened the fixing bolts.

Front Brake Bleeding #2

Filled the reservoir with brake and clutch fluid, used Halfords DOT 5.1 high performance fluid. Have friends that use it on hill climb in thir Westfields without problems, so though I'd give it a try. Can always try something different if it overheats, but have a suspicion that there will be little chance of boiling due to the light weight of the car.

Got a bleeding kit from eBay which worked a treat, just connected the tube to the open bleed valve and then pumped the pedal until clear fluid flowed and then closed the bleed nipple. On the Willwood callipers I bled the inside and then the outside.

Front Brake Bleeding #1

Struggled with bleeding the front callipers due to the odd size bleed screw, established that the bleed screw head was 1/4 inch. Managed to get a spanner from eBay that fits perfectly. Will bleed the brakes over the weekend.

Hubs and Brakes

Fitted the hubs and brakes. Packed all bearings and pushed grease in to all possible spaces to ensure that they are fully covered. Pressed the bearing dust covers in to place and then packed with more grease. Fitted the hubs and then fixed with hub nuts.

Assembled and fitted the brake discs and callipers. Drilled a holes in the bodywork to allow the brake hoses to pass through, will need to get some grommets for a better finish where the hose passes through the body.

Brake Reservoirs Fitted

Mounted the brake reservoirs and made off new -4 braided hoses. Will probably paint the stainless steel mount at a later date. Fitted black billet hose separators to tidy up the bulkhead area.

Brake Pipes Completed

Finished off the brake pipes, re fitted some of the ends with Banjo fittings to reduce the bend radius on a couple of the joints. Clipped and riveted the pipes to the chassis with gaps between clips less than 6 inches. Used 6mm black plastic P clips and 3.5mm black rivets.

Brake Pipes

Made up some brake pipes in AN -3 stainless braided teflon hose with Goodridge ends. Cut to length and trial fitted, think I'm going to go for banjo fittings at the master cylinder end and possibly at the feed to the 4 way t piece for a cleaner finish and easier maintenance in the future.

Pedal Box Fitted

Installed the pedal box, used a template to position hole centres then cut with 38mm hole cutter. Fitted master cylinders with a 0.75" for the clutch, 0.70" rear brakes and 0.625" for the front brakes. Set the bias bar to the mid point. Bolted the pedal box to the chassis floor with M6 bolts and Nylocs.