It wasn't supposed to be a restoration ....

[DieselSpider]

With the head off the pistons came out next. Is the number four con rod bent or ovalized? Time for a lot of measuring. Well, after measuring each the big ends on each rod in 5 places, 5 times, and averaging the measurements, then getting nerdy and doing the math again as RMS, I can say .... they are round to with in less than 0.0005" That is my limit of reliable measurements. The pistons and the rings look good too. I guess it wasn't a rod causing the knock.

Well, the rods are out, might as well....




So the connecting rods got their forge lines ground smooth and polished. Then the big and little ends got balanced. I didn't go
too crazy, +/- 1 gram.



My rig to weighing them. The big end goes on the bearings. Worked pretty good.
That should give me another 0.0001 HP.

Join me next time when maybe we finally find out why the motor knocked in the first place.

Axle - Don't know if its just me however your Google Image Links are showing blank and coming up with a 403 Error when I try to open them directly: "Your client does not have permission to get URL... Forbidden"

[axelbaker]

Axle - Don't know if its just me however your Google Image Links are showing blank and coming up with a 403 Error when I try to open them directly: "Your client does not have permission to get URL... Forbidden"

Just saw that .... looking in to it....... and it should be fixed now. I don't know why but every address for every image had changed.

[DieselSpider]

Axle - Don't know if its just me however your Google Image Links are showing blank and coming up with a 403 Error when I try to open them directly: "Your client does not have permission to get URL... Forbidden"

Just saw that .... looking in to it....... and it should be fixed now. I don't know why but every address for every image had changed.

On all the posts you made that day it still just says IMAGE every where you posted a picture.

[axelbaker]

On all the posts you made that day it still just says IMAGE every where you posted a picture.

WTF?! I see that too. It was fixed!

..... ok re-cut and pasted all the image urls again, lets see if it sticks.

[axelbaker]

So I am redoing my brake system and am slowly loosing my mind. I actually started this a full year ago. This is a very abridged version.

After sitting for 10 years I figured the brakes should be done. Good first project.

So I put a parts order together. Got new hoses, pads, rotors and caliper rebuild kits. Should be an easy weekend project. So I thought. How is it every single flare nut could be that seized? All of them! Pirelli hoses. Those are probably original. Eventually I got all the calipers off.

Oh, that explains the shit brakes. There is a bolt in the bleed screw hole with some silicone on it. Oh, and its not even the right thread pitch, shit, its not even metric! Never buy a car from a mechanical engineer.

Ok that's mangled. Need to find a caliper now. Forum to the rescue, Thank you Vic for the rebuildable rear caliper.

Calipers rebuilt. New hoses in, new fluid. Seems to bleed ok.

Test drive.

Fail. Some thing isn't right. Started ok. Now the pedal is mush. No obvious leaks. Ill get back to this later.

Time passes. Finally I find the drip on the firewall. The MC is leaking. Off with the MC. Great. Brake fluid in the booster. Off comes the booster, I really wanted to get that ugly black pain off it anyway. Much cussing later, every thing is reassembled and bled.

Test drive. Seems ok, kinda mushy but better. Then pedal to the floor.

Well, there a leak. That gush of fluid coming out of the rear hard line is hard to miss.

New cupronickel lines from Vick's. Fronts look good. I redid the whole back system. Man running that line from the MC down the tunnel was tedious. But wow, these lines look like art. If any one is doing new hard lines, I cannot recommend cupronickel enough. It is so nice to work with.

While I am down there I pull the bias adjuster. Hmm, I don't think this is working right. It looks like its been sitting on the bottom of the sea. It seems frozen solid.

New bias adjuster too, why not.

Back together again. Bleed the system, again, test drive, again.

Fail. Again.

The pedal is still mush!!! It's almost firm, but it get softer over time, and feels like I am pushing fluid out a leak if I push hard after building pressure.

So far I have:
replaced the rubber hoses, the entire set of hardlines to the rear, the rotors and pads, the master cylinder and the bias adjuster.
I've blown brake clean through all the lines.
All the calipers have been rebuilt, I did not replace the pistons.

I have bled the system every way I know how. The old fashioned way with 2 guys, gravity, and vacuum. I have bled every junction in the lines, master cylinder connections, the bias adjuster connection, at the "T" until no bubbles came out. I have bled it with the wheels on the ground as well as with the bias adjuster rod disconnected and tied in the up position.

So after all this, I still can't get a solid pedal. What am I missing?! Could I have go a bad MC when I replaced it? I got it from AR, so I assume it to be a good unit.

I have probably run 2 gallons of brake fluid through it already, no exaggeration. I've literally had the engine out and rebuilt since I started working on the brakes.

Thoughts? Tricks? Set the car on fire?

[axelbaker]

Sorry no exciting pix today.

Well, the car was not set on fire. It's that lesson of some times you need to go fix some thing else and then get back to that other thing.

So I finally decided i was sick of questioning my brake caliper rebuild job in the rear and just ordered some new calipers. It will later turn out I probably didn't need them but some times it just moves the project forward.

After the swap of the new calipers and bleed number 9523, the brakes felt slightly better but still wouldn't stop the car.

The next morning there was a puddle under the rear brakes again! I stuck my finger in it and for some reason thought it felt wrong. Not brake fluid. Smelled it.

Eureka! Diff oil!!!

2 min internet search told me this is common. I have actually never owned a rear wheel drive car, I didn't know diff oil could come out the axles.

Three new oil seals for the the rear end were ordered. When they arrived I decided I didn't want to deal with the pinion seal that I've been watching since I bought the car. It looks like it's got a leak but it's lasted 10 years, it can wait a week.

First day I began the job of pulling the passenger rear axle at my friends place so I could use his superior selection of tools. Turns out he and I had exactly the same selection of circlip pliers ... all of which too small. So after about 2 hours of cussing I managed to get the circlip out undamaged (mostly) with too small of circlip pliers and 2 screwdrivers. Only a few drops of blood were spilled.
The axle pulled out with out the slide hammer, in went the new seal. New bearings can wait till I do the pinion seal, but I definitely need bigger circlip pliers.

Bit of research turned up there are actually not many manufacturers of circlip pliers. Everyone sells the same ones with different logos. Turns out Lang makes them all (just like the ratcheting box wrenches) Quick tour of ebay scored me a unused pair for half price.


I highly recommend these if you are doing your rear axles. They ratchet and lock and do both internal and external clips.

Upon arrival of the new pliers I did the other axle in about 15 min.

The next morning for the first time since I've owned the car there was not a single drip from the rear end. Not the axles not the pinion not the brakes!

After a test drive the brakes were heaps better but still not perfect. Now they seemed to be good for a while then go soft.

So now things pointed to the booster. Yes every one said the booster before. But the brakes were squishy with the engine off so there was still some bubble some where. I think I might have had a small leak in the rear calipers but could never tell for sure because there was diff oil. Or they were fine the whole time.

Well a few short trips later I finally had my answer. Pulling up to the gas station I stepped on the brakes and got a massive suck sound and the engine died.

It is a bad booster!!! It must have been intermittent. I hadn't hear any sucking before but hey, it's not a quiet car.

So new booster ordered from AR to be here on Saturday.

In the mean time the car stops great with a pair of vise-grips on the booster hose. A real leg work out but i can lock up all 4 now.

[axelbaker]

So before the booster blew I had ordered a check valve from Midwest in case it was just the valve. I've had the booster off before it sucks. To make shipping I treated my self to new lug studs and nuts.

Best purchase ever!!!

No more trying to align the hub, disk, spacer and wheel!
(My Pana's don't have relief for the wheel pin things)

So I got the 56mm studs and the tall 17mm nuts. On a set of Panasports with the wheel spacers installed they are perfect. They are proper wheel studs. They have a shoulder that rests against the hub, are black oxide and have a nicely turned down end that takes a hex key. The nut covers all the thread, and the turned down ends stick out but are not proud enough to catch your ankle on. I highly recommend them.

[axelbaker]

New booster time!

I've had it out before .... it should go quick.

No, no I forgot .... first I need to get that #*$%$ nut hiding behind the little box thing .... oh and it has the throttle return spring on it too.... Not to jiggle it past every ting .... uhg .... It's like trying to pass a bladder stone. I don't remember how it did it last time ... I know I've done it. Hmm... maybe if I remove the alternator ... and the wiper reservoir ... OUT! Well, not too much blood spilled.

Let's setup the new booster .... set the rod length. 1.6mm ... that should work.

Well in was easier than out. Practice makes perfect? Everything back together. Test drive!

Brakes!! It stops! It stops really nicely! Wait .... wait ... what? I feel dragging .... getting worse ... oh, better pull over.

Hmmm.... now what? Brake out the vise grips again .... pinch the booster hose off. Hmmm still locked. Hmm.... crack the bleeders. Ok, unlocked now .... well that will get me home.

So what did I do wrong? Booster rod too long? Well I guess I have a project for tomorrow.

[ORFORD2004]

So what did I do wrong? Booster rod too long?

Probably

[RRoller123]

[18Fiatsandcounting]

The fact that the brakes "released" when you opened the bleed screw tells me that it's brake fluid pressure in the lines that is causing the problem, and not something mechanical like a caliper piston is sticking or your emergency brakes are hanging up, etc.

I'm not discounting an issue with the master cylinder, but one classic cause of brake fluid remaining pressurized in the lines is a rubber brake hose that has collapsed internally. I just fixed one of my older cars that would slowly lock up the rear brakes every time I used the brakes in a given trip, and the brakes would only release over a very long period (an hour). Each time I used the brakes, it got incrementally worse. The cause was a collapsed rubber brake line and the solution was a new one. In my case it was the center rubber hose that went from the single metal line under the body to the twin metal lines on the rear axle.

So, two questions: 1) did you replace the center rubber brake hose that feeds the two metal lines going out to each rear wheel, and 2) which wheels appear to be locking up, front or rear?

-Bryan

[axelbaker]

Well you have helped me locate a misprint in the shop manual I am using. Mine claimed 0.0408-0.758" or 1.035-1.925mm. Upon readjustment every thing works as it should.

[RRoller123]

Fantastic! We have found numerous errors over the years in many areas. This sheet actually came in the box with the booster, from AR.

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Just to make sure I have this correct: The protrusion of booster pushrod "E" should be 0.0325" to 0.0404"?

-Bryan

[RRoller123]

Yep, that's what the sheet says, seems to work.