Reply to "Installing Brake Kit"

Well, the right way to fit the brake hoses is to reduce the number of connectors, so I had the local industrial hydraulic hose company make new brake lines for me. But the #3 fittings were back-ordered. So, on Thursday I went back again and said let’s try and figure this out a different way, and they did, and hiked the price up another $36, but who cares, I got my four new brake lines Thursday.

I talked Master Mechanic Mike into coming over Thursday night. The solid half of the rear brake lines had a 90 degree bend, and didn’t seem to fit right, so I got my new tubing bender out of the JC Whitney box and it was a large tubing bender, too large. So, I decided to do it the Italian hand made way and bent the solid lines to curve under the half shafts and go behind them, dodging the sway bar brackets and that’s where the flexible stainless steel braided lines hook up now. Looks like ‘factory’, just like the graceful curves in the in the engine bay brake lines. I was ready for MMM to show up, and he was tired and ‘just going to look to see that I’m doing it right’. Right. I was scheming to get to the next stage, so when he showed up with my twin 6 year old nieces, I had their favorite Pepperoni pizza ‘on the way’ and had the fittings for the hoses tightened, the front hood up, the brake fluid gallon bottle cap off, and asked him to mash the brakes a few times while I bled the brakes. He obliged. Brakes bled, I grabbed the 3/4" ratchet and billet axle nut tool and started tightening the axle nuts on. Then, everything started going right. He adjusted the torque wrench for me, since I couldn’t figure it out, and I was under the car attaching the tool to the axle nut. It fit like fine Italian driving glove, and he got in the car and I had to keep yelling ‘on’, ‘off’, ‘on’, ‘off’ using the ‘on’ ‘off’ as a vocal ‘ratchet’ for the torquing procedure. Just like I hoped, there was no need to start the engine and use the vacuum assisted brakes, the new brakes held 360 ft.lbs. Of torque, no problem.

Master Mechanic Mike couldn’t help being inspired and getting involved. So he started attaching the parking brakes. Snag. Later in the week he brought over his stand mounted gring wheel, and I went to grinding the the parking brake bracket. No dice. The parking brake caliper hits the aluminum rotor hat. This left choices and decisions. No parking brakes, the line lock parking brakes, or new mounting brackets for the parking brakes. I just took the parking brake brackets to the machinist. He’s quoting an hour and a half to weld up the hole, weld straps on the outside, drill new holes and tap them, then do so finish work. Hope that works. I can get the brackets back Wednesday or Thursday.

The problem is nothing works like the plan in my head, but experience tells me that’s the way it always is, so allow some extra time. Part of the problem is the new rotors are ½" wider in radius, 1" wider diameter. Even though the new cross drilled, slotted rotors are only 1/8" wider radius than the ones supplied in my e-Bay Pantera Big Brake Upgrade Kit.

I discovered a new problem too. The tightened down brakes bind on the calipers. That means the larger diameter rotors ar hitting the inside of the calipers on the top half of the calipers. Master Mechanic Mike and I are going to tackle that problem tonight. There’s three solutions, grind down the inside of the calipers, make new brackets, oval out the holes on the calipers and/or the brackets. I prefer to get expert consultation before making decisions like that.

I also removed the front rotors and tried to use the air hammer that came in my air tools kit to press out the studs. No way. MMM’s air hammer did the trick, but his air hammer is 4" longer than mine and probably cost as much as my $89 air tools kit with all the air tools and attachments. He drove the studs back in the same way this morning. That’s another thing I’ll find out about tonight is whether the rotors are going to be rubbing the calipers on the front. Good news, the front bearings look fresh and good.

There’s some pictures of the rear and front so you can see what I’m talking about. I’m starting to think I should have just bought the brake upgrade kit from a Pantera vendor and maybe I wouldn’t have so many headaches with this project, even if I did all the pressing in and out of the rear axles and bearings at the local level for the hands on learning experience.

I’m feeling a little ‘stressy’ as my Polish buddy says. I want to get this project finished in time for Vegas. If not, I’ll be doing hot laps in my Toyota Tacoma 4 wheel drive with the G-Tech Meter at Vegas and nobody wants to read about that in Pantera International.... Slam time, yeah right. Slam for about 45 minutes, run into another problem and wait for Monday to order parts, then wit for the next weekend to get the parts and start slam time again. I’m the one getting slammed, slammed by the calendar.... But I’m 90% sure I’ll finish, with the help of Master Mechanic Mike and a few other people who get parts to me or machined for me.... I just want to do as much of it myself as possible, without making mistakes. No turning back now.

Opps. I forgot the cord that goes from my digital camera to the back of the computer at home, so I’ll load the pictures later. Sorry. Everything just takes ‘Mr. Do-It-Yourself’ here a little longer than normal to get the project completed. Guess you’re glad you’re not me, having to deal with little snags all the time. Man, I better check my zipper, make sure I zipped up my fly, I’m so absent minded these days. XYZ, remember that?