1938 brakes

M

melisa

Member
Looking ahead to my 1938 coupe project. When I purchased the car the brake system was partially converted to hyd. The wheel brakes are hyd and the lines are run. What I need to complete is the master cylinder set up. Does anyone have the adapter that connects the frame to the master cylinder and any additional parts. I'd post on the wants list but not sure what I need. Tks Melisa
 
The 38 frame is very similar to the 39. You could use the 39 master cylinder bracket and pedal setup.
 
My '38 has hydraulics using a '40 pedal. I didn't do it, but I can see that all required was enlarge the x-member thru-hole and drill mounting holes.
 
40cpe said:
My '38 has hydraulics using a '40 pedal. I didn't do it, but I can see that all required was enlarge the x-member thru-hole and drill mounting holes.
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I could believe the '39 set up but think you made an error in saying yours was a '40 unless there were a few extra things done with it. The '39 has the clutch lever at the right of the pedal assembly and the '40 has it over the pedal. Of course it is your car and I haven't seen it in person so I should probably keep my mouth shut.

Charlie Stephens
 
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Richard Lacy sells a kit with a bracket that bolts in behind the center of X member for mounting a MC. No cutting or drilling required. The kit also has a linkage rod that connects from the stock 38 brake cross shaft to the MC. I believe his kit also completes the ebrake cable hookup. I used one of his kits on a '35 tudor I'm building and liked the idea of not having to convert my stock pedal assembly to a '39 assembly which does require some cutting and drilling and other mods on a stock 35 frame.
 
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Charlie Stephens said:
I could believe the '39 set up but think you made an error in saying yours was a '40 unless there were a few extra things done with it. The '39 has the clutch lever at the right of the pedal assembly and the '40 has it over the pedal. Of course it is your car and I haven't seen it in person so I should probably keep my mouth shut.

Charlie Stepehns
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Charlie, The car came to me with a chevy engine and a '39 pedal setup. I have my engine and trans out now to rebuild the trans and go back in with a flathead. I removed the '39 pedal assembly and have a '40 unit ready to go back in. I installed the tab style clutch release shaft in the transmission. After I set the trans back in I'll locate and install the ball and equalizer shaft. This is all in an effort to minimize the pushing effect on the driveline when releasing the clutch. I also intended to put a '40 column shift in but can't figure a way to put the banjo wheel on the '40 column. I want to keep the banjo steering wheel and light switch.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Stephens View Post
I could believe the '39 set up but think you made an error in saying yours was a '40 unless there were a few extra things done with it. The '39 has the clutch lever at the right of the pedal assembly and the '40 has it over the pedal. Of course it is your car and I haven't seen it in person so I should probably keep my mouth shut.

Charlie Stepehns
40cpe said:
Charlie, The car came to me with a chevy engine and a '39 pedal setup. I have my engine and trans out now to rebuild the trans and go back in with a flathead. I removed the '39 pedal assembly and have a '40 unit ready to go back in. I installed the tab style clutch release shaft in the transmission. After I set the trans back in I'll locate and install the ball and equalizer shaft. This is all in an effort to minimize the pushing effect on the driveline when releasing the clutch. I also intended to put a '40 column shift in but can't figure a way to put the banjo wheel on the '40 column. I want to keep the banjo steering wheel and light switch.
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What you describe is the few extra things I was referring to. I assumed Melisa wouldn't want to go that far.

Charlie Stephens
 
Fellows, Tks for the input. I like the idea of the 39 brake and clutch assy. sounds simple and straight forward. Will be watching for any other hints to make this as simple as possible. Again thanks to all. Melisa
 
I first installed a Richard Lacy kit in my '38 and it worked pretty good. It was easy to install too. Later I switched to '39 pedal assembly. The '39 assembly line up perfectly with the floor boards but may hit the top of the frame when fully depressed. Just make a dimple in the frame if needed to fix this. I also found that the left end of the clutch release shaft didn't line up very well with the pedals. To cure that I just made up a longer shaft. If your pedals work well you may want to consider using the Lacy kit. Its a direct bolt on and includes all the parts plus '39 pedals (that are decent) are getting hard to find.

PS: I only switched to the '39 pedals because I had to when I installed a T5 transmission with open drive line.
 
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Bill, tks for the info, I found a set of pedals on evel bay for the 39 ford. Again I what to thank all for the great info. What a great site and wonderful people. Melisa
 
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