Reply to "Locating bits and pieces"

Mike, only dirt-track sprint cars use side-to-side brake proportioning. Road cars always use front-to-back proportioning. Be sure to plumb any valve in such that it limits REAR brake pressures; Ford/DeTomaso plumbed our non-adjustable system in backwards for unknown reasons, and degrades Pantera brake performance. Wilwood sells a nice aluminum one, and the iron or brass Kelsey-Hayes valve was stock on '80s-up Corvettes. All need to be plumbed into your brake system, and it's desirable to NOT put the valve so its accessible to a driver. If you watch racing, you will certainly see several crashes per year from highly paid, professional drivers screwing around with their brake balance while underway. Recommended units are all knob-adjust valves; I do not recommend the lever-type-with-detents on street cars. Its too easy for someone to inadvertently bump it and radically change brake balance.

As for brake light switches, the common VW unit has the wrong thread to bolt into a DeTomaso. To simplify things, I recommend a full-electric switch that attaches to your brake pedal under the dash with no hydraulic plumbing at all. A cheap GM switch for an '80s Z-28 works well with the addition of a simple home-made bracket, and avoids the problem of most stock electro-hydraulic switches failing internally and leaking brake fluid. I had one fail that squirted fluid several feet out of the switch top. Not easy to diagnose the 'leak' on the other side of the engine compartment, and made quite a mess attacking paint...