Brake and Clutch Pedals - Part 3

It seems an ago when I first picked up these two parts and assembled bushes into the chassis and respective pedals.

Now I have got some of the more fiddly, hard to reach carpet fitted it seems as good a time as any to think about fitting the brake and clutch pedals into position.

The two pedals pivot from a central shaft which runs through the bushes of each pedal, with spacers between the bushes. 

The last larger spacer on the left (as you look at the assembly from the front back) needed some trimming in order to fit into the remaining gap but that aside these all went together well.

The brake master cylinder pin still requires shortening to length but until I have got the brakes fully setup I cannot finalise this length with any degree of confidence; but fitting these two pedals into position gives the chassis a more purposeful look and you can begin to visualise the driving position more clearly

The accelerator pedal fits later in the build hence why you cannot see it in the pictures below

Brake lines

Feel some momentum building up now, I know I have laboured on about the differential getting fitted but it really was a landmark n the build and allowed for other aspects of the construction to move on.

So back to brake pipe routing whilst everything is accessible.

First one I installed was the rear to front run which follows a route down the transmission tunnel from the rear splitter to the master cylinder. I elected to start at the splitter which on reflection was probably not the ideal start point as there is alot more bending over and under chassis frame as you route towards the master cylinder.

Space is also a consideration at the rear as alot of services need to pass through a tight gap - handbrake cables, low pressure fuel hose, wiring loom etc so I was particularly conscious in ensuring I left sufficient room at the rear when routing the brake pipe.

It proved useful to temporary fix the pipes with cable ties until I have settled on the final positioning so i have some flexibility left/right/up and down before firming up and P-clips into position - again all the more important bearing in mind the tight space at the rear.

What I did come across reading a fellow builders blog was the master cylinder holes need marrying with the correct pipe run:

• Front hole nearest piston - rear brake line
• Middle hole - Off side brake line
• Lower hole - nearside brake line

realising the error in starting at the wrong end in routing the rear pipe, the offside pipe I started from the master cylinder, routed to the transmission tunnel followed round the footwell panels, over the steering column and down underneath the chassis rail toward the front of the chassis, again all temporary fixed into position with cable ties

Final pipe, the near side routed from the master cylinder, across the transmission tunnel round the footwell panels and again down the underside of the chassis rail to the front.

**important**

In routing the rear pipe to the master cylinder when you get to the master cylinder ensure you have the pedal box panel and fire wall to hand to check the pipe does not foul the bodywork - this will save some grief later on down the build if the bend on the pipe is at too greater a radius that it catches the pedal box  

Fork End & Pin to Master Cylinder

I managed to grab a couple of hours in the garage Sunday afternoon following an overnight stay the previous day/night in Northamptonshire for a wedding. Not wanting to get too engrossed in anything complicated I turned to the fork end pin and considered that a quick job to tick off the list.

Basic process was to two fold:

• drill a hole in one of the pedals to take the fork and pin
• cut off and champher the bolt which goes into the brake master cylinder

So drilling first, I established an 8mm hole was needed for the pin so elected to drill to 8mm in steps, opening the hole in the pedal to 5mm, 7mm then finally 8mm.

Securing the the pedal into a vice, the drilling went well and I soon had a nice sized hole for the fork and pin to locate through.

turning to the bolt, I am conscious at this early stage I don't want to cut off too much as I don't yet know how the pedal will interact with the master cylinder and in turn how much travel will need to be applied to the brake pedal to apply the brakes! The fork does have an element of adjustment on the thread but better to be safe than sorry I chose to only remove approx 20mm of the bolt to start with - more can be done at a later date if need be.

Simple junior hacksaw to the bolt soon had that cut to size and I chamfered the end with help from the bench grinder and some emery paper.

A dry fit of the assembled fork, pin and bolt suggests as an initial start point it will be fine, the fork is screwed onto the bolt approx half way so I do have some further adjustment available. 

With this assembled I could finalise the positioning of the master cylinder relative to the bolt thus ensuring a smooth, even, level motion of the bolt into the master cylinder when the brake pedal is pressed. Once this datum had been established the master cylinder bolts were tightened up.

Job done! - a nice hours work and further progress.

Brake Master Cylinder

I took the opportunity to fit the brake master cylinder into position on the chassis. A simple task of two nut and bolt fixings. Not fully torqued up at this stage as I need to establish final position in relation to the brake pedal, fork pin and bolt which acts as the piston into the cylinder.

These all need to be lined up straight and true to optimise braking action.