- Time for an update on those finicky brakes that I have been complaining about...
- When I last wrote, I was planning to install the 4th gen F-Body Master Cylinder and see if it improved my braking. I had to order a set of stainless brake lines from Inline Tube since I needed a metric flare and fitting on the end of the lines, and I couldn't find those anywhere locally. Inline came through with a 36" and a 12" piece of line, so I set out to bend things up.
- Bending the lines and installing the master cylinder went pretty smoothly. The only real problem was bleeding the master cylinder. It didn't come with any plastic adapters for the metric holes, so I had to get creative. :) But, I bled it and got everything installed. The new aluminum bodied master cylinder and stainless lines really look great! :) Let's just hope they work...
- After bleeding the lines front and rear (Speed Bleeders are GREAT! one man bleeding... :) I took the car out for a drive. I went slowed to make certain that I still had brakes. :) I did, so I picked up the pace and drove some more. I could tell that my pedal was moving further than before (that's expected with the smaller bore master cylinder), but the car didn't seem to be stopping any quicker. After a few hard stops, that was confirmed. I was NOT happy!!!
- At this point, the phone call barrage began! I called Wilwood, I called Master Power Brakes, I called Martz Chassis... I can't even begin to remember how many phone calls I've made (I will once my phone bill comes though! :( ). I received all kinds of suggestions about what to do. Gary at Martz Chassis did suggest one thing I'd never heard but that made sense. He told me that with a dual chamber master cylinder, I needed to open a back bleeder when I bled the fronts so that the backpressure from the rears wouldn't prevent the pedal from making a complete travel. Hmm... Makes sense. So I tried this, but unfortunately it didn't help...
- Both Master Power and Wilwood reps repeated asked me if I had measured the pressure at the calipers with a brake pressure gauge. So, I bought one. I took measurements, and I ended up seeing pressures between 800 and 1150psi at the front, depending on how hard I tried to put my foot through the floor. On the rear, I saw between 340 and 680psi, depending on the setting of the adjustable proportioning valve. All ok, so I'm told...
- The Master Power guys were convinced I needed more vacuum to operate the booster. Apparantly, you need 18" or vacuum or more, and I know my motor doesn't make that at idle. So, I purchased a vacuum pump from them. Unfortunately, installing the vacuum pump didn't help. I couldn't generate any more pressure with the pump running than I could without it. Grrr....
- At the same time, the Wilwood reps were telling me that I needed a different brake pad. I was using the Wilwood "Q" compounds on the front, and the "T" compounds on the rear. Supposedly, the Wilwood rep tells me that I'll never lock up the front brakes with the Q's, as they are a ceramic compound and not made for strong stopping (ie: they are a street rod compound is what he told me). So, I ordered a set of their "D" compound pads from Summit, overnighted to get here on Saturday. Ugh!
- I installed the "D" compound pads and took the car for a drive. I will say, it definitely stops better than it did before, especially during panic stops. However, these pads dust like crazy! UGH! AND, I STILL can't lock up the front tires with these pads. I just don't understand that... So, another call to Wilwood... The rep convinces me that I need to stop worrying about locking things up, and worry more about the stopping performance of the car as a whole. I can say that it stops a lot better with these pads, so maybe I need to stop worrying about things now...
- At this point, I'm going to leave things alone and see how it drives for a while. I'll post an update when/if I notice any more problems or decide that things are ok. I just know that I'm extremely frustrated with my braking on this car, especially considering the quality and price of the components that I've chosen! More to come on this topic I'm sure...
