[6pack] More brakes

[Mark J Bradakis]

On 8/2/19 6:33 AM, Richard Lindsay via 6pack wrote:
>
>    I already finished work on the front system and cleaned up the area.


Gee, sounds familiar.  Something I wrote maybe 25 years or so ago.  It 
was a TR4A, but you get the idea.

And I wish it had a date in that header.  The sol at hoosier.utah.edu was 
the father of british-cars at autox.team.net.  And no, the sol doesn't 
stand for that, it is for Scions Of Lucas.


From: uunet!hoosier.utah.edu!mjb (Mark Bradakis)
Message-Id: <9103180729.AA24594 at hoosier.utah.edu>
To: sol at hoosier.utah.edu
Subject: Repair Escalation


It was just a small leak, certainly well within the capability of a doting
Sports Car owner to add to the litany of Things To Look At before a drive.
A dribble of brake fluid from the master cylinder, easily kept in check with
a wipe of a shop rag and topping up the resevoir is not a matter of grave
concern, but The White Car is my autocrosser and I do tend to drive it in a
vigorous manner.  So naturally I could not let something which could lead to
braking troubles go unattended for too long a time, so into the garage with
the car, and out with the tools.  Sure, it is only a trickle now, but I bet
the Grand Canyon was once a simple crease in the sand.

I've rebuilt hydraulics before and anticipated no problems.  Given the right
parts, the rebuild would be a quick and easy repair, the sort that makes one
feel that the years of dirty fingernails have actually led to some sort of
competence.  And if the old cylinder was simply too well used to be filled
with clean fluid and fresh seals there was always the nearly new cylinder
from The Rust Rocket, installed when that car handled the competitive 
duties.
So plans were made and kerosene for the little heater was purchased, as the
repair was to be undertaken over the Christmas holidays, which turned out to
be among the coldest on record in Salt Lake.

The first part was easy, getting the cylinder drained and the lines off, and
loosened from the bracket.  The manner in which the TR4A master cylinders
attach to the bracket makes it difficult to manuever them out of the 
bracket,
so it seems like the thing to do is go ahead and remove the bracket along
with the cylinders.  Which of course entails removing the entire pedal 
assembly from the inside of the car.

Once the bracket is off, I am faced with the results of years of constant
erosion.  Like the Colorado river working its way into the Arizona bedrock,
brake fluid has transformed the surface of the engine compartment.  Most
of the damage is covered with a few years worth of dirt and debris, and only
comes to light as I mine away the upper layers.  Out comes the windshield
wiper motor, the windshield washer bottle and a few bits and pieces.  Off
comes more dirt and grime, more paint in an odd plastic state, not solid
enough to protect against the elements, not soft enough to be easily 
removed.

And you know, while I am cleaning up this area, I may as well do the entire
inner fender here, and get rid of some of these runs in the factory finish.
It looks like the Triumph apprentices were given the chore of painting these
areas which few would see in the showroom.  And I could get to the side of
the footbox better were I to take out the battery.

Removing the battery may have been the turning point.  I wonder how long
before the nice plastic battery box would have ended up bouncing off the
gearbox cover and onto my feet during spirited maneuvers.  There is not much
holding the battery in place.  Some rusty sheet metal, covered in spots 
by the
dull, brownish white substance which was once the paint on this car wanders
from one side of the battery box to the other, trying its best to look
structural.  This has got to be repaired, as long as I am in the area.

Very little distance separates the top of the gearbox cover from the 
bottom of
the battery tray, and since I was meaning to work on the gearbox cover seals
I may as well pull that out.  Contemplating the repair of the area it is 
easy
to see I'd never get good access to the repair area with the motor in 
the way.
So the motor comes out, along with all the stuff that entails, like the
radiator and bonnet.  And as long as the bonnet will be off the car, I might
as well redo the Delft Blue racing stripes, now that I have decided I do
indeed like that pattern.

In short, here it is, Saint Patrick's day, a bit past the Christmas 
holidays.
The White Car sits in the garage, the bare tub from the firewall forward
sporting a freshly laid coat of white paint [I am painting the engine
compartment of my car WHITE??], and the first autocross race is a week from
today.  You know, I think I *still* haven't ordered that brake rebuild kit.

mjb