Expert in Brake Hydraulics Needed

[Michael C Henry]

I'm not a know it all But I have 16 ' PSE wheels and the 10 3/4" Granada rotors and mid sized sinzed piston GM calipers front and original inboard Jag rear. I'm usung two 3/4" Tilton MC with adjustable balance beam . And of coarse they would want large rotors and calipers, wouldn't everyone? Larger diameter means more laverage but also takes larger wheels for clearence.

[CSXDreamer]

This is GreenSnakeDoc back on line. I had trouble getting my password two Fridays ago so I could get to this thread at home over the weekend. To make a long story short, I had to register with a new name to continue to participate. In the mean time, I've installed a 1 1/16" diameter master cylinder, which unfortuneately is totally mushy in that I can push the pedal all the way to the floor. Unlike the previous MC, this one will not "pump up" allowing a higher line pressure. I suspect I did not get all the air out of the MC when I bench bled it, then "bench bled" installed on the firewall. I would get a long stream of bubbles when the piston was depressed, so I tried clamping the clear vinyl hose with flat pliers so the piston would draw from the resevoir instead of taking the same fluid and bubbles back. First check after getting everything back together was a very, very soft pedal, right to the floor. So, I ran a quart of Dot 3 through the system, all four wheels, with speed bleeders, one at a time. I got a high, but fairly soft pedal that will eventually stop the car, but too dangerous in traffic. I'll have to run another quart through. This time, I think I'll open all four speed bleeders with a hose on each into a collecting jar. I've got so much Dot 3 on me this weekend my wife thinks it's a new brand of aftershave. Fortuneately, my Cobra is not painted, or I'll have to be doing a re-paint.

[Dwight]

GreenSnakeDoc, bleed them one at a time. You can not keep enough fluid in the master cylinder to feed all four at the same time. If you have brake fluid on your un-painted body, you will need to remove all traces of the fluid before you paint. Brake fluid is very bad on paint, steel, humans, just about everything.


I start with the rear passenger side because it is the farthest from the master cylinder. I use a short piece (2" + -) of clear tubing that will fit (hold) on the bleed valve. I insert the small tube into a larger one so the fluid will flow easier. I drill a hole into the top of a 1 liter plastic bottle and insert the tube. Then I top off the reservoir with fluid. I open the bleeder valve and let gravity do the rest. When I see it draining with no air in the fluid, I close the valve and go to the driver side and repeat the process. Don't forget to add more fluid to the MC each time. Then to the front passenger side and then the last one that is the closest to the MC. Takes 45 minutes to an hour but I can do it myself.
I have done this on several different Cobras. It works everytime.
Dwight

P.S. I'm not an expert! At anything!

[Maurice Butler]

if you clamp the flexable hose on the ones you haven't bleed you will speed the process up as well