Factory Five Roadster Hydroboost Brakes Install - Project Snake Charmer Part 13
You can use a deep socket chucked in a vise, the rounded tube of the car's frame, a metal pipe, and so on to get the radius you want. Don't forget to secure the brake lines with the kit's rubber-coated clamps. We clamped our lines roughly every 6-8 inches to prevent line vibration and fatigue. | 
Finally, our Roadster will get a Hydroboost setup. After several months of delays with "vendor A," we called Paul Clark at Hydratech Braking and had an FFR-specific Hydroboost setup at our door within a week. The new assist unit comes attached to a billet mounting bracket that uses the four mounting holes for the pedal support. The assist unit comes with an adjustable brake-pedal rod, and with a few turns of the threaded rod, the pedal adapter slid right over the pedal and brake switch. | 
Here you can see how Hydratech modifies its Fox Mustang mounting bracket to clear the steering shaft on a Mk III chassis. The throttle cable just kisses the assist unit, but it has not created any problems with throttle response or feel. | 
Many of Hydratech's kits feature preterminated hose kits. Since there are many variables building a kit such as our FFR Roadster, Hydratech provides extra-long lines and several fitting options. If you've never assembled Teflon-lined, high-pressure, braided hoses, they're a little different from a standard, rubber-lined, braided hose. After cutting the hose to length, slip the female hose nut over the hose end. Insert the brass ferrule between the outer braid and the Teflon liner, and seat the Teflon into the ferrule with a tapered punch. Apply assembly lube to the fitting and thread the fitting and female nut together. The high-pressure hose from the power-steering pump goes to the high-pressure inlet of the assist unit. | 
Many of Hydratech's kits feature preterminated hose kits. Since there are many variables building a kit such as our FFR Roadster, Hydratech provides extra-long lines and several fitting options. If you've never assembled Teflon-lined, high-pressure, braided hoses, they're a little different from a standard, rubber-lined, braided hose. After cutting the hose to length, slip the female hose nut over the hose end. Insert the brass ferrule between the outer braid and the Teflon liner, and seat the Teflon into the ferrule with a tapered punch. Apply assembly lube to the fitting and thread the fitting and female nut together. The high-pressure hose from the power-steering pump goes to the high-pressure inlet of the assist unit. | 
The assist unit has three connections: high pressure in, high pressure out, and a return line. The return line is a low-pressure connection and is routed to the power-steering reservoir. You can either install a second return fitting or tee the return hose into the return hose coming from your steering rack (which is what we did here). Make sure the return hose from the assist unit enters the base of the tee and not one of the top legs for proper operation. | 
We installed the supplied surface-sealing AN -6 adapters at our Flaming River rack, and assembled the pressure hose (from assist unit to rack) and the return line (from rack to pump housing). The return-line fitting gave us two small problems: One was that the rack-fitting size overlapped the fitting for the rack transfer tube (the two metal tubes in the photo that move the fluid in the rack). We had to carefully grind down the fitting, which took all of 5 minutes. The second problem was how to work with an AN -6 fitting and a return line that used hose barb. The answer was to use a spare Mr. Gasket push-lock AN -6 fitting from our fuel system install, which worked like a charm. | 
With the Hydratech Hydroboost unit assembled and plumbed, we mounted the master cylinder, finished the last two brake lines, and were ready for a testdrive. For master-cylinder choices, we went to the experts at Master Power Brakes and spec'd one of its street-rod master-cylinder kits (PN MC1005PZ; $199.95). This is a 1-1/8-inch-bore master cylinder for power four-wheel disc brakes and features a remote reservoir system-something we felt was required on the Roadster due to the semihidden location of the master-cylinder mounting. The MC1005PZ features both left and right fluid ports, which allows you to plumb your brake lines to either side of the unit. | 
The remote reservoir comes with a mounting bracket, fittings, and more than enough hose to mount the reservoir just about anywhere you want in the engine compartment. We fabricated a simple aluminum plate to mount the reservoir low enough to clear the hood. The 3/16-inch rivets will secure the bracket to the frame member. After bleeding the brake system and the power steering system, we remounted the side pipes and testdrove our Roadster around the block three times. After the first lap, several neighbors came out to see the "go-cart" go by. Now it's time to get our plan together for a trip to the painter. |
Discuss in Our Forums
|
|