Juice brakes

I probably would have gone that way, but when I saw all the cutting and grinding required, I opted to go the Randy Gross route with "stock" cast drums. So far I haven't been sorry for that decision, plus it was about half the cost of the MT conversion.
 
vernlee said:
PotvinV8 , yeah those brakes are sweet alright , but I'm not ready to sell the farm yet to get one , about all I'm lacking at this point to have everything to finish the job is the proper Master Cylinder , it will be manual braking , so I'm told it must be a manual MC , with a small bore , dual port , any suggestions ?
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You actually want a large bore master. I think the '40 master was 1 1/16" bore if memory serves me right. Standard swap for a dual master is the '67 Ford Mustang for a drum/drum setup, that's what I used. If you get lucky, it will have the residual pressure valves built into the master, so one less thing to mess with. You can stick a paper click in the port and if it feels spongey, that's the valve.

Have you figured out how you're going to actuate the master? Stock Model A pedal is set up to pull as opposed to push, which can make things interesting.

Good luck and enjoy your A!
 
PotvinV8 said:
You actually want a large bore master. I think the '40 master was 1 1/16" bore if memory serves me right. Standard swap for a dual master is the '67 Ford Mustang for a drum/drum setup, that's what I used. If you get lucky, it will have the residual pressure valves built into the master, so one less thing to mess with. You can stick a paper click in the port and if it feels spongey, that's the valve.

Have you figured out how you're going to actuate the master? Stock Model A pedal is set up to pull as opposed to push, which can make things interesting.

Good luck and enjoy your A!
Click to expand...

What is the bore on the 67 Mustang drum/drum master cylinder? I need a 1 1/16 bore or the pedal travel is too much and the brakes go neatly to the floor. Asking at the parts store is a waste of time.
 
Potvin V8 , I have yet to figure out my MC linkage , I'm thinking of locating the battery in the trunk then welding a lever to the bottom of the brake pedal so that it is pushing instead of pulling , I see a lot of different ideas out there , shouldn't be to hard to come up a plan . ( yeah Right )
 
My '40 master cylinder is on the passenger side of the car. Bolted on the front of the cross member and actuated by the mechanical brake crossover shaft.
 
midgetracer said:
What is the bore on the 67 Mustang drum/drum master cylinder? I need a 1 1/16 bore or the pedal travel is too much and the brakes go neatly to the floor. Asking at the parts store is a waste of time.
Click to expand...

The bore on my master is 1-inch. My pedal doesn't travel halfway through its stroke before it becomes solid. You probably need to play with the pedal ratio.

I have my master mounted on the crossmember and fabricated the linkage to pull on the master cylinder. This design allowed me to control the amount the pedal traveled vs. bore stroke in the master by adjusting the pivot points and thereby changing the pedal ratio similar to a hanging pedal setup.

50464117037_0aa5332e3b_k.jpg
[/url]1930 Ford Master cylinder and brake lines-91 by PotvinV8, on Flickr[/IMG]
 
Jim Brierley said:
I'm getting tired of explaining all this stuff! 39-48 brakes fit the A spindles with a kit, we used to just use a Model A piston ring and a hard-seat for A valves to space the bearings. Yes, the backers need some slight elongation, doesn't weaken them. Afraid of cutting a slight slot in the rear backers? Gimmee a break! Are hydraulics better than mechanicals??? If not we'd be driving our Toyota's around with mechanicals, and spending a lot of time and/or money trying to keep them working right! Afraid of rust? Use silicon fluid. How many late-model cars have break failures? Not many, almost zero. Opinion from a very experienced 83 year old phart.
p.s., don't know about F-150 brakes.
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Hydraulics are better than mechanical brakes because they are self equalizing. A Toyota engine is better than a model A engine. An automatic transmission is better than a model A transmission . But you won't see them in my car . For me the joy of Model A ownership is all the things that some people want to replace (as is their right). For me fiddling with the original design is like painting a moustache on the Mona Lisa- Having said that I won't compromise safety -My mechanical brakes are properly set up with original parts properly adjusted. On our mandatory annual safety test they match brake performance on modern cars .
Opinion from a less experienced 57 year old younger perhaps more idealistic phart



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Karl said:
Hydraulics are better than mechanical brakes because they are self equalizing.
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Original Ford juice brakes were NOT self-energizing until at least 1946 when Lincoln introduced their Bendix-style hydraulic drum brake. Take a look at a '39-40 backing plate and you'll see that the lower pivot for both shoes are fixed.

On our mandatory annual safety test they match brake performance on modern cars.
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I'm calling BS on this. There's no way your Model A with mechanical brakes stops anywhere near as efficient as a modern car of equal weight equipped with 4-wheel disc brakes and ABS. That's just silly. The tires alone would improve the braking abilities many times over the stock Model A.

Show me a 60-0 brake test and then show me the third, forth, and fifth result...LOL
 
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