Thread: Classic Cars

FME with old Brits, Do everything new in the brake hydraulics. All the rubber.
They had natural rubber which was prone to disintegrate.
Hoses, master cyl, wheel cylinders, etc. Then flush out and bleed with synthetic fluid.
Check out Victoria British. Between them and Moss you should find everything.

I have an SU carb book here somewhere. Gonna need that. I will look.

Good ideas Tom. I have been reading up on some of the Girling issues. And all about dot5 fluid, which I’ve never used before. Wheel and master cylinder kits a plenty on eBay but I hear the drums are getting harder to find.
There are disk brake conversion kits out there though, if I hit a road block on the brake components.
I have a mighty vac fluid vacuum for when it’s time to bleed whatever brakes I end up with. But going to start with stock, As they were replaced in the last 5 years.
Never heard of Victoria Motors, but have a very full shopping list at Moss already.
Lots of cool swag on that site.

What would the advantage of DOT5 fluid? are you going to race it?

From what I understand the main advantage is the temperature rating.

TBH, I don't think it a very fast car, even with a TR4 motor.
The standard brakes should be fine when properly sorted.
They are what they are. Going 50 in that will be as fun as 100!
But then I am not a proponent of trying to modernize them much.
The quirks are part of the cars.
I DO like the downdraft Weber 2V kit and putting the side-drafts on the shelf.

I think Tom will not like that idea!

Originally Posted by 32t

What would the advantage of DOT5 fluid? are you going to race it?

From what I understand the main advantage is the temperature rating.

I can't answer whether or not it is for 'racing' all I know it's what my '97 Harley came from the factory with it and I've used when rebuilding the brakes on the bike.

Originally Posted by 32t

What would the advantage of DOT5 fluid? are you going to race it?

From what I understand the main advantage is the temperature rating.

The old Brits used natural rubber, Tim. Dot 3 was nobueno.

We had to use Castrol LMA or else the rubber would swell and all would be gooey, sticky, and prone to fail. Same goes for the hydraulic clutch system.
LMA (low moisture activity) sucked as it tended to 'crystalize' and hang-up stuff as well.

IF you can get all the old out, including hoses, and replace it with modern repop stuff you can rest assured all is synthetic rubber which will tolerate modern fluids.
The synthetics being the best, IMO.
I use the Castrol Dot 4 synthetic in mine after knowing all has been replaced with new. Dot 5 is overkill, I think.

Originally Posted by cudarunner

I can't answer whether or not it is for 'racing' all I know it's what my '97 Harley came from the factory with it and I've used when rebuilding the brakes on the bike.

MC's are a different matter, Roy. They need to have the high-temp fluid.

I tend to 'brake drag' my dirtbike in the woods. Keeping the power on and controlling with the brake. Sandy conditions.
The rear gets hot. Rear brake will go completely away after a while. Scary!
I found that keeping the dot 5 in and flushing out the calipers on occasion fixes that.

69 Bonnyville, 90' corner, dirt road, late for a date,sideways with front tires on the road the rear in the ditch, after about 1/8 mile to think about no brakes. When it got straightened out the right leg was twitching so bad the car was lurching.

The short version of a story I was told to explain why you don't want your brake fluid to boil.

Originally Posted by 32t

69 Bonnyville, 90' corner, dirt road, late for a date,sideways with front tires on the road the rear in the ditch, after about 1/8 mile to think about no brakes. When it got straightened out the right leg was twitching so bad the car was lurching.

The short version of a story I was told to explain why you don't want your brake fluid to boil.

Yup. Flushing out the toasted fluid from the wheel cylinders/calipers gets the roasted fluid out. After a while it cannot resist boiling.
An occasional flush is good for anything.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Yup. Flush out the toasted fluid from the wheel cylinders/calipers gets the roasted fluid out.
An occasional flush is good for anything.

Good sound automotive advice Tom!

I also practice it every morning after getting out of bed for the day!