Hi Charley,
The reason I haven't tested any part of the brake system at this point is that I
have 20 years and 200K miles of driving data to work with. In that time, I've
verified many times that all portions of the the brake system work and nothing
has changed lately. I asked for the list wisdom on this one before I did much
investigation because I wanted to know which I would be looking for--a problem
with my car, or a design defect.
Now that I know that I'm looking for relative braking power between the front
and rear brakes, I know what I need to do to test it, including what you
suggest. I know that there's no major failure in my braking system, but
something is marginal and I plan to quantify it before I change anything.
However, I was looking through parts catalogues today, and discovered something
that suggests that this may just be "the nature of the beast." Victoria British
offers upgraded rear wheel cylinders. Here's what they say:
"Under heavy braking, MGB roadsters and all MGC's have a tendancy for the rear
brakes to lock up. Replacing them with upgraded rear wheel cylinders reduces
the rear brake pressure and creates a better balance between front and rear
braking."
If I can't find anything that would diminish the braking power of the front
brakes, I may try these wheel cylinders. However, I still like the idea of an
apportioning valve so I can adjust the balance to any value, but that would
require major replumbing.
Thanks for the suggestion and send along any others you have. I'll let the list
know what I find.
Denise Thorpe
BTW, black widow spider webs are tougher than other webs, so I can tell by feel
when I'm in danger.
Charley & Peggy Robinson wrote:
>
> Hi Denise,
>
> Have you jacked up the front of the car and tested the front brakes to
> see how they work? Forgive me if I've missed something but all I've
> seen is conjecture.
>
> CR
|