Message text written by Tim Gaines
>I recently had a lucky experience with brake failure; it could easily have
gone very badly. On my short trip home from work in my TR6, the brake
pedal went very mushy on the last stop I had to make before reaching my
driveway. By the time I reached my garage the pedal was going to the
floor, and I actually made the final stop with the hand brake. When I
checked the reservoir, it was full, and there doesn't seem to be any
leakage anywhere. The front disc pads are okay and the rear drum linings
are pretty good too. I'm thinking that the rubber piston seals in the dual
line master cylinder must be shot, both front and back. It isn't likely
that both would go at once, right? So my recent thought that I seemed to
be pushing harder on the pedal to stop should have been my clue to check
things out!
I am getting ready to place an order for the repair kits: MC, drums, and
calipers. But it just occurred to me that I also need to replace the rear
brake pipes that go from the flexible tubes to the drums; one of them is
smashed nearly flat. Neither VB nor Moss lists those as being available.
VB has steel pipes in various lengths, and Moss has a whole replacement kit
in a copper nickel alloy "that resists corrosion." Do you any of you folks
have experience with the steel lines? Do they corrode? And, since I am
sitting here at work, far from my TR6, does anyone know the length of those
rear pipes?
<
Tim, if you are running original equipment, consider how important the
brakes are (imagine a panic stop in traffic with only the hand brake) and
then look at brand new master cylinder, brand new rear wheel cylinders, and
kits AND pistons for the calipers. While you're at it new brake hoses are
not a bad idea. I know this is a significant chunk of change but do this
and the brake hydraulics will essentially be new and the last set lasted 30
years!
I did this in 1996 and I have had zero issues with the brakes since (other
than the dreaded piston kickback, but I am inclined to think that is normal
with these cars)
Dave Massey
1971 TR6
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