[Spridgets] Holy Sprite brakes

Jim Johnson bmwwxman at gmail.com
Mon Jan 19 00:14:27 MST 2009


Geez!!  It took you long enough!  I've been waiting all this time for you to
find that bit I put in there while no one was looking!   ;-)

Cheers!!
Jim

On Sun, Jan 18, 2009 at 4:00 PM, Frank Clarici <spritenut at comcast.net>wrote:

> As some of you know, Fr Jack's brakes were giving us headaches the day he
> drove the car for the first time.
> Stuck ON brakes meant no power on the road and really quick stops if you
> let off the gas.
> I adjusted the master push rods 6 ways from Sunday and the brakes were good
> for a 1/2 mile then lock up.
> I kept on adjusting, re-adjusting, and even switched rods all with weird
> results.
> Yesterday we brought the Holy Sprite to my house, a journey of about 15
> miles and the first push on the pedal went almost to the floor, second push
> was fine, 3rd locked up the brakes and they would not release.
> But they did release after a few miles only to lock up when I had to stop.
> So today I replaced the master with a fresh rebuilt unit, I adjusted the
> rods by the book and the brakes are perfect.
> No lock up, no to the floor, they are as they should be.
> So I figured I messed up the first master when I rebuilt it, flipped seal,
> forgot the brake valve or stuck it in the clutch side, whatever, but
> something had to be wrong.
> I tore apart the master and everything was fine, correct valve in correct
> bore, seals perfect, WTF?
> Then I see something shiny in the master sitting in the brake side
> reservoir. It was a 1/2 x 1/4" piece of aluminum foil with plastic on it,
> sort of like a gum wrapper or something, just a scrap sitting between the
> cups of the piston blocking the fluid return hole.
> First question was how on earth did it get there? Must have been the
> rebuilder (me) who never looked.
> Now all those weird pedals and all those adjustments made perfect sense.
> A movable blockage on the master will do this. In time the fluid weeped
> past the tin foil making the brakes work again.
> All is well with the brakes now, next is the Holy Smokes engine which
> burned 2.5 qts in 118 miles of use.
> I have the spare all rebuilt and ready to drop in right after the Newspaper
> does their interview and photo shoot
> this Tuesday.
>
> Just one more WEIRD problem that nobody would have ever figured out.
> So keep the tin foil out of your master cylinders guys, it's a real PITA.


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