The car left the factory with drum brakes in every corner and non-boosted single bowl master cylinder, just like so many of it's siblings. The drum brakes are fine in normal operation, but for more serious braking front discs would add stopping performance. A brake booster will make the operation nicer and the dual line system would add safety. Due to the condition of the old brake tubes, flexible hoses and master cylinder the decision is easy to make for rebuilding the brakes from the beginning.
I want to reserve the option to use Ford's 14" rims which narrows the options for front discs and calipers and when a minimum amount of modification is wanted the options to find suitable master cylinders + boosters with dual lines are even fewer, especially when the use of original type z-bar clutch link rods shall be used. Browsing the discussion threads over the topic told me that the one available from NPD is the only one that bolts to the original pedal assembly and fits between the firewall and shock tower and the only modification is to make a minor notch in the export brace.
My plan for brake system consists of
REAR BRAKES
The lever was cleaned and painted. The front parking brake cable was shot and so was the parking brake lever handle so new ones were ordered. The Scott Drake cable looked fine but the same can not be said about the handle (# 2760-1 , Made in Taiwan). The new one does not look the same, it is not curved as the original and the hole for locking pin is drilled in the wrong angle so the handle would hang looking stupid. Therefore a new hole needed to be drilled to make this inexpensive piece acceptable for installation.
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| Parking brake lever waiting for installation |
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| This is the rattling latch that needs to be released... |
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| ...to be able to install the ball end of the cable |
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| The pulley, pin and clip |
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| The old and the new handle |
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| Note the position of the locking pin hole |
Now the parking brake actuator assembly can be installed under the dash. (ironically I do not have a picture of this phase at hand right now), the front cable brackets can be secured to the firewall and to transmission tunnel cross member. The transmission support cross member needs to be installed in order to go further under the car.
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| Rear cable to bracket |
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| Cable support at the outer side of rear frame rail |
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| The equalizer lever, rod and bracket |
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| Equalized spring attached to frame rail |
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| The rims were painted to finish the install |
OK. Basically the car now has parking brake working. The adjustment and use of the brakes will only happen when I am finished with master cylinder, hard lines, flexible lines and front brakes and bleeding.
