I'm looking at disguising a modern racing brake & hydraulic clutch pedal setup on my car and want to keep the remote reservoirs on the engine side of the firewall. So the problem is, how do I give the remote reservoir a pre-60 look? Does somebody make a finned aluminum remote reservoir or repro an early racing/sports car unit? It's an open engine hot rod, so the reservoir's gotta look decent. Searching the HAMB reveals a few old cars had em, but I'd ***ume they're an ugly iron casting like a master cylinder, or fragile gl*** that's a safety hazard similar to gl*** fuel filters. I know somebody who could make me a reservoir out of aluminum with fins, but would prefer to buy a proper seal design cap & bung to build around. Where would a guy find such a thing that wouldn't scream 2007 nascar spec? What's a vintage looking item I could bury a modern reservoir inside? A fake beehive filter maybe? Or for that matter, use the beehive as the reservoir? Last, would you run both brake masters, and the clutch master to the same reservoir? I don't see any reason not, well maybe other than losing the clutch and brakes at the same time. That could be bad, but could you split the beehive into a dual reservoir somehow, seems too deep to weld a divider into the bottom??? Thanks for any replies, and especially thanks if you have a picture of your solution to the same problem
I don't have any photos, but some Piper and Beechcraft aircraft use what amounts to a modified metal pt or qt can for a brake hyd fluid reservoir, or you can look in the Aircraft Spruce & Specialty catalog online. They sell three different aluminum, and one plastic style reservoirs
You could check the products from CNC inc. They make aluminium master cylinders and reservoir. Their master cylinder would look really good after the embossed "CNC" on them is removed. They also have a cover with a twist on cap. Their website is www.cncbrakes.com. You can see the final result of having 3 of them on the 32 roadster "Speedway Special" of Steve Moal in the Street Rodder issue of March 2006. By the way, it is my first message here and I really like the discussions found on this website. I hope it is the kind of master cylinders you were looking for.
Slave cylinders for the clutch were not unknown. Many foreign cars had slave cylinders. As these are just another master cylinder, I'd look at a single master cylinder from an early '60's car. I'd try and match up the cylinder size with the unit recommended with your system. Paint it and chrome the cap and replace the seal when you're done. The same would be true with the brake system. Many mid '60's cars had dual master cylinders and this should be a minimum requirement for safety. Again, paint and chrome to match. Many M/C covers are available in chrome from various part suppliers.
my hudson has an underfloor brake master cylinder with an elbow tapped into the top cap with a garden hose running up to an old tin with a twist top that you would find paint samples or industrial chemicals in mounted to the firewall. im planning to use another one of the tins with a not-so-ratchety line between the res and the cylinder for brake and clutch.
This is kind of interesting, maybe a pair and the clutch could share with the rear brakes to avoid a 3rd reservoir. http://www.cncbrakes.com/images/1485.jpg Just to clarify, I was only asking about sharing the reservoirs, not the master cylinders themselves. It would have 2 small masters with completely seperate hydraulics front/rear Just trying to avoid having a visible master cylinder, it would seem racier if there's only race/high performance parts on the firewall. Blue collar, do you have pictures of that can? These aircrafts are kind of tasty, the alum would be cool but hard to use, but priced right. The plastic ones almost look old. hmmm http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/lgpages/reservoirs.php Does anyone know how important it actually is to have the expansion gasket in the lid? thanks for the replies thus far
all my engine bay photos have it just out of frame. here is a tin that is the same style- just imagine it without the wrapper, or find old timey ones for another interesting little detail.
Thanks Stu, hadn't thought about that. Have been thinking about how hard it would be to drop a couple of those small round cnc brake reservoirs in some drilled aluminum plates, thus making one finned reservoir ***embly that could p*** for vintage from 20 feet away. bump for the sunday crew
look for an early vw res they where tin with a rubber cap and had a 1/4" tube on the bottom cool one on ebay for an early jaguar http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Jagu...ryZ34199QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
I think sharing one reservior for all three M/C's is OK provided it has enough total volume for the job, and you use a stand pipe inside of the reservoir for the clutch side so in case it fails, so it won't drain all of the fluid out... If I remember, the expansion gasket was to keep the fluid from sloshing and to keep the volume of air in the M/C reservoir to a minimum to avoid contamination(moisture/humidity) How about one of the early/mid 70's FoMoCo vacuum tanks for a reservoir? They looked like a pound and a half coffee can, or something like that...
look also at an old Volvo like the 544, it had a neat little reservoir up on the firewall....if you like old furrin parts on your car...
Squirrel, linky no worky!?!?!? So a sealed reservoir without the expanding gasket is OK? My fear is it would develop enough vacuum/pressure to start affecting flow or possibly start applying the brakes/clutch when heated up? Or have I over****yzed this?
Triumph TR's from late 56 on used Girling disc brakes. They had a remote reservoir that was mounted right next to the brake and clutch master. About the size of a beer can, with fittings in the bottom. You can see it in this diagram, item 21; http://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/ViewProducts.aspx?PlateIndexID=29145 Kind of expensive, but you should be able to find use ones cheap. Kurt O.
No, better to ****yze it now than later. Vac***/Pressure is a good point... I believe the effects of either are cancelled out by the other to a point... I would think the larger volume of the modern disc brake m/c also lessens the effect of either, and the RPV's are what, rated at something like 2 to 10 lbs? So, it'd have to build at least that much pressure, plus more to apply the brakes... So, now you get to be the test engineer... Just as a idea, how does the Wilwood m/c vent? The old cars I've seen with screw on caps on the m/c's and all the aircraft ones(can or alum housing style)that I've seen, all have a venting provision in the cap/fill plug. That might be the easiest, most reliable thing to do if you're building one from scratch...
A single reservoir defeats the purpose of a dual reservoir master cylinder system. If you spring a slow leak in any of the lines, or blow one, the fluid leaks out and then you have no fluid to control any of the systems. I had this problem on my '62 Chevy truck: the clutch line had a slow leak, and the fluid would bleed down. (fixed now). I don't remember what year your car is, but I've often thought three '57 Chevy master cylinders in a row would look cool: front and rear brakes, and one for the clutch. Or a '60-'62 Chevy truck master for the brakes, and a '57-style for the clutch. They're all square and boxy...kinda utilitarian. And the '57 Black Widow NASCARs had an extension on the top of them to add more fluid. IT was an aluminum cylinder that threaded into the cap opening on the master, and then the cap with the big nut on it threaded into the top of the extender tube. Maybe not the look you're going for, but to me it screams race car. -Brad
Yes, that's exactly why I suggested a stand pipe on the clutch side to preclude that possibility... Due to the fact that the reservoir is "remote mounted" and not on the m/c itself you will have inherent separation of the two brake master cylinders (using one supply line for each) from each others fluid supply if the reservoir is ever exhausted, providing a true "dual system" backup for safety.
You might try a reverse pedal setup, where the master cylinder points back towards the driver. Wilwood and Tilton provide such a setup, also you can find some on early 60's english sports cars like midgets, triumphs. You can then hide the remote resevoir behind the dash some where. I'm putting my resevoir under the cowl vent. Pop the vent and pour in the fluid (watch the paint though )
Not cheap, but a old style Hilborn fuel filter housing could make a vintage (and racy) looking reservoir.
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