mercury calipers

craigb · Mar 16, 2014

Master cylinder swap

Bill, thanks so much for the information and the photo's of the adapter! As we all know, photo's are worth a thousand words! This is what I envisioned but I had not thought of everything involved especially threading the countersunk screws.

I will move forward with this because it opens up the ease of purchasing of a master cylinder since most have horizontal bolt patterns. Currently I am looking at a 11/16th bore Master cylinder for a 1994 Lexus GS300, I just need to confirm the outlets are on the correct side.

By the way... even though they say they have a 11-1840 master cylinder for a F10 for sale... they don't have it and its a waist of time ordering one. Everyone I asked checked with A1 Cardone and came up empty handed.

I figured since I have several old cars with single masters cylinders I am pushing my luck, especially since I had a rear brake line pop on my "56 Ford Victoria last summer and blew across a busy street when coming up to a stop sign. I was lucky... very lucky to slip though cross traffic at about 30 mph.

Making the Sunbeam with the V6 go fast is so much fun, I am looking forward to making it stop a little easier! Thanks again for the photo's!

Sorry about hijacking the Mercury caliper thread,, I guess it all goes hand in hand though.

Bill Blue · Mar 16, 2014

Took a quick look at the GS 330 MC at Rock Auto. Sorry, but that cylinder is not 11/16", but 1 1/16". (that's one and one sixteenth inches). In addition, the outlet is on the engine side. Rock Auto is a suburb site for parts searching. Easily to navigate and generally excellent pictures/descriptions.

Most MC's are in the one inch category. I think that is because of low friction calipers (retract the piston a little further) and ABS. This especially true of larger cars. Might try looking at the smallest cars.

Bill

John W · Mar 18, 2014

coupe said:
Hey John, The fitting number was edd-271300 from summit. A 3/8 inverted flare to 10 mm-1.0 bubble flare. some alpine flex lines were straight 3/8 with copper crush washers, they will tighten down but are longer if you don't like that union then look for a fitting that suits your application.
coupe

Thank you sir! Ordered these today.

craigb · Mar 18, 2014

Bill, check out this master cylinder and tell me what you think.....

It's listed on ebay, so just search the following item number, 141133197006

it fits a Lexus 300

Bill Blue · Mar 18, 2014

craigb said:
Bill, check out this master cylinder and tell me what you think.....

It's listed on ebay, so just search the following item number, 141133197006

it fits a Lexus 300

Craig, the poster has either misread or misposted the bore size. I checked two sites, O'reillyauto and rockauto. Both say the Lexus MC is 1.062" (one and one sixteenth inches). The guy simply misread 1 1/16" as 11/16". Or possibly, some "auto correct" program screwed up his post. Such things happen. Way too bad, as 11/16" would probably be almost perfect in the Alpine.

I've been messing with master cylinders for over 40 years and in general, ones for full sized vehicles tend to be in the 1" range. So I think the 1.062" size is really correct.

Going back in history to the Ford Falcon, it had 7/8" MC. Even with manual brakes. However, going down in size to the 1979 Fiesta, we find 3/4". Even has ports on the correct side! Rock Auto has some in stock and priced reasonably. Might check them out.

Bill

Bill

craigb · Mar 18, 2014

Bill, I went a head and ordered the Fiesta master cylinder from RockAuto.com, but I think it may be without the reservoirs. Do you have any suggestions on where to get something that will fit?

Bill Blue · Mar 18, 2014

craigb said:
Bill, I went a head and ordered the Fiesta master cylinder from RockAuto.com, but I think it may be without the reservoirs. Do you have any suggestions on where to get something that will fit?

By something, you mean reservoirs? If so, I have no idea. The Tilton reservoirs fit the F10 MC's, but I don't have a clue how they might work on the Fiesta MC.

Bill

John W · Mar 18, 2014

Bill Blue said:
I've been messing with master cylinders for over 40 years...

Bill

What's needed is a bolt on dual master with fabricated adapter, pipes, etc.

I was bolting on my Bill Blue brake light switch and someone commented "that's just a common light switch with a little bolt on plate and a couple wires and connectors." I thought, yep, that's all it is...I wished Bill would have had one more of these!

craigb · Mar 18, 2014

So I got the dreaded "Sorry, we screwed up and there is no inventory for the Fiesta master cylinder" from RockAuto. Another dead end. But I think Napa might have one in Arizona, so I will try that.

I am sure I can get an aftermarket master cylinder near the .70mm, but only a single and not a double. Since I am doing this, I really want to improve the safety since I have been "surprised" without brakes in the following vehicles.

1956 GMC school buss full of 10 year old berry pickers.
1956 Chrysler New Yorker
1956 Ford Victoria (last summer)
Oh crap.. there's a pattern here! It's the year of the vehicle and not the master cylinder after all!

Actually the list goes on..
1952 chev panel truck
1996 Ford f350.. just no power to the brakes, but it might as well have been total brake loss...
I am sure there are more, but.. The Sunbeam is small and without brakes it would be a real downer.

Bill Blue · Mar 18, 2014

Craig, I am really surprised about the Rock Auto response. They show several "Wholesaler Closeouts" with inventory.

Oh well, the chase continues. I looked at VW Beetle units. Sort of weird looking, but 3/4" and I THINK the output is on the correct side. Others might check them out.

Bill

Imperialist1960 · Mar 19, 2014

Brake system research

Try Raybestos Technical Service at 1-800-407-9263

They can probably search their database by bore diameter to help ID an application that fits your needs.

A1 Cardone probably has a number as well, but I've gotten good service at the above number on several brake retro-fits on other projects.

Bill Blue · Mar 19, 2014

I found another 3/4" MC. 1975 Chevy Vega. They are the old integral reservoir, cast iron style. But they are dual circuit. Horizontal mounting holes so an adapter will be needed. Rock Auto shows a decent inventory, but who knows. My money says they don't.

Bill

EriktheAwful · Mar 24, 2014

Has anybody tried a first-gen RX-7 master cylinder? It has vertical mounting holes.

http://mazdatrix.com/j-3brake.htm

I just scrapped my last first-gen RX-7 (of the five I had) to make room for my new-to-me Alpine, and I didn't save any of the master cylinders. I do have a handful of clutch master cylinders and the mounting holes are only off by about a millimeter, so I'm thinking the brakes should be a pretty close fit. Dual circuit, comes with a reservoir, and there's even a hookup for a low-brake fluid light if you want to wire it.

craigb · Mar 25, 2014

I got a call a few days later from Rockauto after I was notified they didn't have stock on the Fiesta master cylinder. They said they did have it available by other manufacturers. So I ordered one on the spot and got if few days later, It wasn't much money but it does not have the reservoirs, and looking back at the inventory I see some of them may come with reservoirs. FYI

I will look to see if I can get a reservoir that fits and if its too much of a pain, I will order another one with reservoirs.

Bill Blue · Mar 25, 2014

Checked into the RX 7 masters. They are larger (13/16") and have the ports on the engine side. Well, 13/16" is better than 7/8" and the engine side ports may not be important, depending on your application. I was able to use the engine port configuration with the Pinto 2.0 engine, but would not recommend it. Very tight. If you can use the engine side ports, that opens up the choices a bit in the 3/4" size.

Bill