front brakes

[oprn]

Parts are here, old drums cleaned up nice but... I need 6 bolts to put the backing plate on the spindles. 9mm x 1.25. Apparent none available, got a guy searching but he thinks no such thing available in Canada.

Don’t see them on the site I got the brake parts either.
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We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[liquidrush]

I was lucky, mine came with the bolts and they even have holes for safety wire as well. A quick google search finds some on ebay, titanium ones on amazon and others at fastenal. If push comes to worse and you can't find them you can always install thread inserts and go to a more conventional size. The spindles are cast iron and will drill ands tap easily. I suspect the bolts are out there though, look at porsche too, I think they used the same ones. As an example, you could use something like these, you'd enlarge and tap the hole, thread these in and you'd use a very common 3/8x24 bolt. You'd need six inserts, a tap and the correct size drill bit. To me this would be a last resort though.

https://www.mcmaster.com/90248A082/

[oprn]

Looks like I won't find any. I already have a tap and die in that size so i could try making them. Or like you say just drill out the spindle and tap it to a common size.

If I can't find a bolt in that size good luck finding an insert!
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We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[Scruffy Buggy]

My rail has rear discs and no fronts. I mentioned wanting to add fronts and it was pointed out to me that they had a tendency to lock up and take the steering away in the dirt. I guess that is why you see so many with rear brakes only. I decided to live with it since mine will most likely never see the highway.

I have never heard of or experienced discs locking up before drums. I think that analogy is reversed.

[jimmyhoffa]

I have front and rear brakes with an adjustable bias dual brake master cylinder. This has allowed me to play with the balance and also evaluate if I "need" front brakes. I determined that I do.

It is common that I am doing 80-85 MPH wide open and then the trail tightens and to dive into the trees. I am threshold braking as late as I am able. I find that a little bit of front brakes contributes massively to how fast I can stop, but I agree that I do like a heavy rear bias for the same reason of steering loss. I also like the feeling of the rears locking first coming in super hot to a corner in loose dirt, both so I can feel the back get loose and flick the wheel to "rotate" into the corner. The rears locking also serves as a warning that I am nearing front brake lockup as the rear starts to step out and chatter on the braking bumps into a corner.
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1974 Chenowth 2RL #1244 Street Legal
My other car isn't ridiculous.

[oprn]

Ya that's fine in the dirt but you definitely don't want that kind of action on the street. Set up like that is ok for you because you are expecting it but put someone new behind the wheel and that kind of handling will spank them right quick. You rear brake only guys have obviously never tried going down a steep hill and stopping either. With the weight all shifted forward the rears do diddly squat in that situation!

The fronts on a normal car do the biggest part of the work because of weight transfer. Our rails with the rear engines and light fronts not so much but still it's a very significant amount. I am expecting my stopping distance to be cut close to 1/2. Much more than that on the down hills.

I think the no front brake fad started in the sand and there the drag of the sand stops you fast enough on it's own.
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We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[PhillipM]

Yeah, our rail runs 50:50 static braking power, and has the valving set to shift that forward to 60:40 under heavy braking/high grip conditions. There's a lot of weight shift even on a rear heavy rail just from the high CoG.

[oprn]

I like it! I would be very interested in knowing what bits you used to achieve this!
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We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[jimmyhoffa]

For what it's worth I actually think my discs are a little more "locky" than my Type III rear drums were. I do have Carbotech 1521 pads in my Wilwood rear calipers which have known good cold bite. They're probably not as progressive as their higher heat pads though so that could be my issue there.

Just in case it was misunderstood, my general sentiment is that front brakes are absolutely necessary for any sort of safe driving outside of the dunes, as long as your are thoughtful of how you set the bias in the dirt and on asphalt. I adjust to favor the front more heavily when I drive my Chenowth to work on the street unless it's in the rain, then I got back to dirt settings.
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1974 Chenowth 2RL #1244 Street Legal
My other car isn't ridiculous.

[oprn]

I am finally getting back to adding front brakes to my sand rail. I installed all the brake parts a couple months ago, yesterday and today the brake lines got installed. this evening I will attempt to bleed them. The fresh engine is in, waiting on a new timing light as my 35 year old one bought the farm the other day and refuses to flash anymore.

Getting excited to try them out and see what the balance is like.
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We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[oprn]

Putting in the brackets to anchor the flex lines was a bit more involved than I anticipated. First off the stock ones are made out of some pretty thin stuff, I am good with a little sturdier anchors and all I really had to work with was much thicker so some mods had to be made. I machined a wider grove in the flex hose ends to account for that.

Then positioning them on the frame took a lot of extra time and thought to get them so that the hoses did not bind or rub as the front wheels went through their full range of motion both vertically and lock to lock.

And finally bend up and install the brake lines to the master cylinder.

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We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[oprn]

Well, well! Surprise, it looks like my fears of premature front brake lock up were unfounded. It's the rears that lock up first! Looks like I need to limit the pressure to the rears. The configuration is '64ish stock front drum drakes and '68 Bus rear drums, single piston '65ish Bus master cylinder.
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We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[oprn]

I am looking for recommendations on an adjustable brake pressure regulator. I see they are priced from $20 to over $120 for what appears on the outside to be the same thing. I don't mind paying good money for good parts as long as I am not paying extra for the same part due to a poor choice of venders. What has been your experiance?

Thanks!
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We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[dustymojave]

Post up links for what you've shopped. Hard to help if I don't know which you're looking at.

My Chenowth buggy has an adjustable for the 4-lug EMPI disc brakes that were on the front, It was working well, until the spindle broke and took out the brakes with it. So I upgraded the spindles and the brakes don't fit them. I back-dated the front brakes to VW T1 drum brakes. But the car is waiting on new shafts for the front Fox coilover shocks and I can't test the brakes yet. I expect it will need an adjustment to the bias.

I can take a pic and share it in a couple of days.
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Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[oprn]

I was looking Amazon and it shows this picture 5 times for 5 different prices. No manufacturer stated. Now I know they don't make their own parts...

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We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[oprn]

Well the proportioning valve is a bust. Not letting any brake fluid through to the back brakes. I took it apart and here is what I found.

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We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[earthquake]

I was wondering if one of these would work for a proportioning valve...

https://www.surpluscenter.com/Brands/Prince-Mfg/1-...7960-4.axd

make sure to get one of their catalogs too

eQ
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74 CLASS 11 LOOK-A-LIKE
69 DUNE BUGGY
79 INTERNATIONAL SCOUT II
05 SCION XB SERIES RELEASE 2[#437]
95 Chevy C3500 dually
98 Ford E150
Link to Kelly J. Nolte 3/20/53 - 11/6/08
https://time-zonelabs.blogspot.com/p/about-kelly.html
DEATH TO CHINGERS!
[From a military recruitment poster in the novel "The Stainless Steel Rat" By Harry Harrison]

[PhillipM]

Doubtful, pressure valves work by getting the flow to expand into an area against the spring, not with a restriction orifice.

Buy a tilton one, they're cheap enough and well made.

[oprn]

[oprn]