TheSamba.com :: View topic - '70 Convertible

Mon Mar 16, 2009 7:51 am

That's a tough question... I guess I would put it this way - much less foot pressure required and I would venture a guess at stopping in half the distance or so. Before I could not lock the front wheels under braking and now I can under very hard foot pressure. The pedal has a totally different feel to it than before. It will take a bit of seat time getting used to it.

Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:47 pm

And now for another installment of "How The Brakes Turn".... (when they are not supposed to).

While some of you were out having a jolly time on the mellow Mojave Road run, I went up to Silverwood again with some friends (all Jeeps). I led them through most of the trails we went through with the club a few months back. The one deviation from that run was a steep ridge route at the very beginning that lead up to the top look out point we all stopped at on our club run. All was going fine going up a double cresting hill with slopes downward on both sides of the trail. I was almost at the top when I ran out of momentum and did not get on the throttle soon enough. I stalled the engine with the front wheels almost at the top of the hill with a steep angle upward. I immediately clamped on the brakes, but those new four piston calipers locked up the fronts right away. The rear drums however would not lock at that angle with the weight of the car. I started to roll backwards dragging the locked front wheels as I went. This made me lose all steering capabilities, and after boucing over the uneven trail the steering wheel ripped out of my hands. Gravity is a law you absolutely cannot break, and I was now just along for the ride. My car slid downhill faster and eventually right off the side of the trail. It was somewhere around a 150 - 200 foot drop down the hillside, and luckily for me, a bush stopped my downward slide. I was now holding the brake pedal with all the leg I could muster, and was teetering on three wheels off the side of the trail. The earth was still pushing out from under the wheels and I could feel the car slipping further backward. I was in serious trouble!! If it let go, I was going to roll all the way down the hill end over end.

This was the first time with this car that I have been truly afraid... I was soooo close to rolling the car several times down this hill. In this picture it does not do it justice, how steep it really was. The right front wheel is actually in the air...

The bottom line to all this is I need to ditch the drum brakes all together. The rear brakes did not do any good whatsoever, and front disks worked too good. I am going to buy a two piston caliper kit for the rear, and switch the four pistons to the back and put the two piston ones up front. CNC recommends using a 2 lb. residual pressure valve on each master cylinder as well. This is another $850 to finish the brakes, but after what I experienced Saturday morning it seems like chump change!

Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:07 pm

Sounds like a wild ride. I'm glad It wasn't as bad as it could have been.
I bet you were sportin a Skidmark when you finally stopped :lol:
And then you had to get pulled out by a Jeep. :oops:
Glad all is well.

Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:32 pm

Thanks! First time in this car I was scared to death.... I knew if it went it was going to hurt (maybe worse).

Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:37 pm

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: OMG!

I am glad your OK. Why wouldn't the rears lock up as well? Is the pressure going to fronts not allowing any fluid to the rear brakes? I was going to put on some disk brakes on the front of my car but am re-thinking this if I have to spring for disks all around. Is there some type of equalization valve you can use to direct more pressure to the rear brakes?

Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:40 pm

Bob - call me. I'm too lazy to type that much. :roll:

Mon Apr 27, 2009 7:01 pm

OR you could just carry an anchor and throw that out the window. Just a thought :roll:

Sat May 16, 2009 3:40 pm

I have been tinkering with the car some more, fighting the internal struggle on whether or not to tear it down. The "to do" list is getting long again. Right now I am using it for daily driver status but soon it will go up on jacks for awhile.

I got a small speaker from a friend to use for the CB radio. Is was nice and compact, and free! Before I would need to put in the clutch and let the motor drop to an idle, and have the volume up all the way, to hear anything at all. Now with this speaker between the seats under the roof I can hear it cruising on the freeway at 70 mph, with ear plugs in!! The location works great.

I also have wanted to make a panel to cover the package tray area. I have one ammo box there now, and plan to add two more of the same size. The current one has tools, the other two will carry spare parts and a first aid kit. The panel is an "out of sight, out of mind" diversionary tactic to help keep wandering finger away. Also makes for a great place to carry an ice chest. I am going to mount some angles around the perimeter to keep the chest from sliding. The panel is made from 1/8" aluminum.

And my very favorite addition this weekend goes to this little gem. DG's fire extinguisher mount (from STF). I had it powder coated red and went out and bought an extinguisher. These mounts are the bomb! All the cool kids will have them before long. Excellent piece of work, DG!!

Sat May 16, 2009 3:49 pm

that extinguisher mount is pretty cool. and for reference, that first picture of it is upside down, right?

Sat May 16, 2009 6:22 pm

No, it is right side up. The pin and cable are up on the car too.

Sun May 17, 2009 5:46 pm

Looks good Skid. When i get rich I'm gonna have DG build me a whole car :lol:

Sun May 17, 2009 8:02 pm

I have been sliding down hills backwards way too many times and I found the only solution is a dual handle turning brake. Even if you get rear discs (which I recommend regardless) it will not help the front. The front will still lock up and you will lose all steering. The fronts will lock up going backwards no matter what you have your bias set to.

We found with a dual handle turning brake you just grab both handles to slow down while you are still able to steer. I have got to the point where I don't even touch the brake backing down steep hills.

Mark

Mon May 18, 2009 8:52 am

Same expierence as crash, I grab both turning brake handles and hang on. :wink: Seems allot of the climbing hills around here have huge holes up near the top where the 4x4s get stalled on the hills and spin the tires till they've jacked the hill up.

My fr/rear bias is setup pretty decent for going forward. By using the turning brakes much of the time you can coax the vehicle back into the center of the trail plus your front isn't locked up so you can steer (for what thats worth). Skid, I think the fact that you're dealing with a relatively light front end compared to the back and also fack that you're rolling backwards combines to create that situation. I'm running drums up front and 2 piston disks in the rear, I'd imagine the power of disks up front compared to drums in the rear compounds the situation. Good call on swapping them out.

Mon May 25, 2009 3:03 pm

I spent the morning tinkering with the car. I replaced the fuel filter, and added a prefilter in front of the fuel pump as well.

The main fuel filter (between pump and fuel rail)

The prefilter (between fuel cell and pump)

I still need to add another prefilter in the return line between the fuel rail and the fuel cell. I need to buy a few more fittings the right size though.

I added two more ammo cans to the package tray area. I have tools in one, spare parts will go in the second one, and a good first aid kit will go in the third. I order to keep unwated fingers in my stuff, I take an "out of sight, out of mind" approach since the car is a 'vert. This hides the storage area well. I can't decide on painting it or covering it with stickers...

Mon May 25, 2009 6:31 pm

Do those fuel filters have the flow rate to accomodate the fuel pump you are running? Some of those will kill your pump if they are too restrictive.

Mon May 25, 2009 9:05 pm

They were recommended by Outfront Motorsports when I got the motor from them. I assume they wouldn't tell you to get something that was not rated for the set up.

Tue May 26, 2009 3:33 am

Just asking because I burnt out my old fuel pump with a filter that was too restrictive.

Sun Oct 04, 2009 2:21 pm

Over four months without an update... needed to resurrect this almost dead thread. My baja is going to join the "not running" club very shortly. Sometimes life conspires against the desired chain of events. With every weekend in October scheduled, including the first weekend in November, it looks like the timing is right to start the tear down that was planned from the beginning. For those of you that came to the SoCal Bajas meeting last week, you probably saw me walking with a limp. Last Friday the doc put me on crutches until I get to an Orthopedic doc. Being my right leg, and no power brakes on the baja, I cannot drive the car anyway. So up on jack stands she goes. Not sure yet if it's a torn muscle or tendon related, but even without all the schedule issues I wouldn't be able to take it out anyway. Lots of maintenance planned on the front end first, which will probably include the beam coming off. The mantenance will also include paint all the way to the dash underneath. I am not sure at this point how salvagable this desert season will end up but the car will come out of it with several improvements. They truely are never done... Pics will follow as the tear down commences.

Sun Oct 04, 2009 10:48 pm

Sorry to hear about the leg Skid, hope all is well.

Mon Oct 05, 2009 8:55 am

Skid,

Hope your leg turns out to be something minor and that you heal quickly. If you need any help let me know. I can lend a hand up until mid-Dec and then I have to plan for the move to Nashville. Was hoping for one last ride with you before we leave but shit happens.

DB