STOP! 3

I’m pretty stoked about how this turned out.  If it drives like crap… at least it’s not an eyesore.  Some comments.

1.  Note that the master cylinder is not centered on my plate.  I moved it up as high as I could without modifying the firewall.  This allowed me to get a little more leverage at at the pedal, and still keep my pushrod centered in the MC.    The pushrod was actually the most challenging part of  the booster removal.  I hunted around for a long (like 100mm+) M10 bolt for a good amount of time, before fabricating something that made my hair stand on end.  Making brake parts is a little bit scary.  In the end I threw my fabricated rod away when I found some super long M10 torsion rod bolts left over from my RN66.  I even managed to modify that bolt so that the round knub off the brake booster (for the purpose of pushing the MC piston) thread nicely into the end.

2.  I’ve never had a rear reducing proportioning valve before, but everyone that I know who has… has complained about it.  I think/hope that the problem has been that those rear reducing proportioning valves are based on no other means of proportioning being fit.  Everyone I’ve known has always just T’ed them into the rear brake line and hoped for the best.  Because these valves can only reduce pressure, the already conservative factory bias can only get more conservative.  The answer of course… is to T them into the front… which isn’t that easy because… THERE ARE TWO front lines.  Furthermore, without a booster I want to be minimizing pressure reductions… if the oem proportioning valve drops rear pressure, and I install an aftermarket valve to reduce front pressure… then how much harder am I actually going to have to push the pedal?

So… I shopped around and found that Wilwood makes an adjustable proportioning valve designed to replace the OEM block.  It only costs $10 more than the typical rear only valve.  I’m sure it was a lot harder to install though.  Making hard line isn’t that fun.  I also made a plate to adapt it to existing bolt holes on the strut tower.  Lazy people could just drill some new holes…

I think it will have been worth it though.  Although I’ve been able to drive around it well enough, 5 degress of negative camber certainly helps front tires lock up.  I’ve also noticed that in wet conditions there isn’t enough grip to transfer the usual amount of weight to the front axle, which makes the front bias seem even more heavy.

3.  I am worried… that the pedal is going to be way to hard though…