martybose

Well, I just finished re-engineering my ECI master cylinder kit. As Don had noted, there were 3 issues: 1. there was way too much freeplay when the pedals were installed per directions 2. there were no stops for either pedal 3. the bolt pattern didn't match the original master cylinder where it bolted to the frame in the first picture you can kind of see where I had a section of steel plate added and an additional hole drilled (upper left in the photo) to correspond with the third bolt hole on the master cylinder. In the second picture you can see the rather beefy stops that I added for both pedals, and you can sort of see the spacers I used. I took 4 of the spacers that Don had found at McMaster-Carr and made them work. I used one on the clutch side, another in between the brake pedal and the lever adapter for the master cylinder (which required custom filing on the OEM brake lever where it connects to lever adapter), and two on the right end of the brake pedal shaft. I wound up with virtually zero freeplay on the clutch side and less than 0.015" on the brake side, instead of the over 0.100" on both sides that I started with. I also moved the brake pedal marginally closer to the stock location. Overall a successful venture, although one that shouldn't have been necessary. Hopefully this weekend I can get everything painted and installed so I can finish plumbing the brake system. Marty

I'd check to see how thick the heads of the valves are. You might be able to take a pass or two off of the top of the valve to get some more clearance. Or you cut the valve surface deeper into the valve and sink it a bit farther that way. Marty

Way back when we experimented with different pin buttons on a 10 second doorslammer that I wrenched on. We abandoned teflon after the second time that they distorted enough to turn sideways and punch out a cylinder wall. Aluminum ones never had that problem for us. Marty

Well, you already know the width (the spring width), the length (the spring perch), so all you need is the height (your choice), and the diameter for the center hole. I would suggest jacking the chassis up on one side, backing off the U-bolts and let the axle drop, and measure what you have! Also, make sure that the front/rear location of center locator is in regards to the spring per4ch, as it may not be centered ..... You also need to add something on the top to fit into the spring perch hole so the axle can't slide. Marty

You're correct on all counts. The ported vacuum at the carb is low at idle, increase significantly at part throttle, then decreases as the throttle open wide. I wish I could remember where I saw it, but there was an old Mopar article that showed the interaction between the centrifugal advance, vacuum advance and road speed. As I recall, they actually counteract each other as the car speeds up. I guess I'm a bit of a rebel because I have my car set up with manifold vacuum for the very reason you mentioned. Marty

You have to be careful with marine engines, as most of them used raw water cooling. That meant that they had outside water going through the block, and particularly if it was salt water they will be highly corroded internally. Marty

Too bad you didn't try a 15% mix without the water wetter first; I'd bet that some of the improvement came from the 50 to 15 percent reduction of antifreeze. Marty

I've always used a Felpro gasket that is copper on the bottom and blue teflon on the top. I've always coated the bottom with Gasgacinch (now sold by Edelbrock) and left the top bare. No problems in the last decade or so. Marty

there's also the minor detail of the temp gauge. Have you tried putting a candy thermometer in the top tank to find out what it shows? I had always thought that my car ran hot until I found out that my gauge read 20 degrees high. Several years later I got a new gauge and calibrated it before installation; much better! Marty

The sparkplugs on my Edmunds aluminum head are 1/2" reach. Didn't figure it out until I stripped a 3/8" plug out of one hole. I had the entire head redone with 1/2" timecerts while it was off. Marty

The problem he is having with removing the head is with the factory studs, not the aluminum head per se. Now the sparkplug threads, that one is the aluminum head! Marty

Not necessarily true; the 6V halogens that I had until a few years ago were 60/55W. I had to install 6V relays because the added wattage was smoking the headlight switch! Marty

Do you have the correct pulleys on the crankshaft and the waterpump? If not, installing a skinny belt in a wide pulley will cause them to ride at the bottom of the pulley groove with no load on the sides at all, which is not a good thing! Marty

Or your PM mail; I sent you one about this a few days ago ......... Marty

I actually shortened my upper A-arms by about 1/4". The left side came out fine, but the right side went too far, so we heated up the spindle and bent it a little to get it back into the range I wanted. Marty

I should be receiving a set of these shortly. Although I don't have Don's opposite side problem, I had a clearance issue anyway. It turns out that if you put an OD unit in a P15, the OD solenoid is only about an inch away from front brake connection on the Mustang master cylinder, so I went with the same banjo setup that Don found. Thanks again for the research, Don! Marty

I sure understand Ed's position. Way back when (like a decade ago) I took my car to a local shop where they ran my car over a measured mile, checked the calibration of the speedo head and got everything working, or so I thought. When my daughter gave me a GPS, I took it for a ride in the 47. Turns out that my speedo is dead accurate at 60 MPH (the speed it was checked at), but reads in the low 20's when I am travelling at 30 MPH. So when I thought I was driving 30 in a 30 zone, I was actually closer to 37! I'm much more careful driving in town now. Marty

How neat to find it! If memory serves, that makes it a 289 ci R3 engine, but I'll be darned if I can remember the horsepower. Marty

I would humbly suggest that a full face shield (at least, by itself) is not the best solution. I work in a shipyard, and we have a continuous problem with eye injuries like you mentioned with our welders, who tend to work in close quarters with grinders and their welding hoods up. Full face shields only worked if we taped rags to the full face going over the welder's head, so that if he flipped it back it didn't dump stuff on the top of the shield onto his forehead and into his eyes. of course, at that point he has no protection at all from the guy grinding 6 feet away from him. The better solution was a form-fitting, foam sealed anti-fogging set of goggles to wear under the full face shield, which are left on until he leaves the welding area. Then he has to carefully clean up his face before he removes the goggles. YMMV. Marty

Not sure what year they are, as I found them on eBay, but I'll bet the D24 guys know. Here's what they look like: Marty

One tip about the horns; when I decided to put a pusher fan setup in my car, I found that I could replace the two straight horns originally in my Plymouth with a pair of the 90 degree bent horns from a Dodge. They mount to the same brackets but gave me a lot more room in front of the radiator. Marty

I pulled the floorboard out of my 47 while working on installing my ECI master cylinder conversion. One of Don's photos caught my eye, so I started looking closely at my car and my parts books. Imagine my surprise when I figured out that not only doesn't my car have the return spring on the brake pedal, but I'm also missing the one on the clutch throwout arm! I'm guessing that the over-center spring on the clutch system has been keeping the pressure off of the throwout bearing, and the spring that is in the stock master cylinder has been returning the brake pedal, but I'd like to get all of the right parts anyway. It's difficult to tell what's missing, since the parts book shows them in isolation instead of connected. From Don's photos I know I am missing the eyelet that is on the master cylinder pin, the spring itself, and whatever the spring connects to. From my parts book I am apparently missing the clutch lever spring and the bracket that it connects to. Does anyone have a parts car that has all of this stuff that I could buy? While I'm sure that I could cobble something up, I'd rather not. Marty

As should be obvious from Don's thread, the issue is which disk brake setup you are using. Evidently different calipers require different diameter master cylinders. Perhaps you should ask whomever made your conversion for a recommendation. Marty.

When I was talking to them about what I wanted, ECI said that I would not need a rear residual valve because the master cylinder had one, but that I would need their holdoff valve. He explained that it is one of the functions normally in a combo valve. The holdoff valve goes in the front brake line (AFTER the front residual valve, which is needed), and what it does is prevent the front brakes from getting any pressure until there is about 100 pounds in the line, since that is what it takes to get most drum brakes to contact the drum. He said that without it the front brakes would start working with any pressure, and the rears wouldn't even be contacting the drum. With the holdoff valve the back brakes are engaged before the fronts, which he said is much safer. YMMV, of course. BTW, if anyone else is having problems with the fact that one of the master cylinder connections takes a larger 1/2-20 IFF fitting instead of the more standard 3/8-24 IFF fitting, I found a solution. Dorman makes a nifty brass adapter that is a 1/2-20 IFF male to a 3/8-24 IFF female, so that you can use a standard 3/8-24 brake line. Dorman part number 43390. I bought a box of 5 for $27 delivered from Rock Auto, and only need 2, so I have some available if anyone needs one. Marty