help: fluid level in master brake cylinder?

[Cpt.Fred]

good morning, all of you!

i put my brakes back together on saturday with the newly machined pistons and bleeded them. everything went well, but after 5 minutes i had small puddles of brake fluid under my front drums:mad: ripped everything apart again and will get new sleeves machined till the end of the week. *ouch* my wallet hurts...

but afterwards i realized that i didn't have the faintest idea how much brake fluid i had to put into the master cylinder. i didn't find and "min-max" markings

on the reservoir, nor did i find anything in my service books.

do i have to leave a little air inside the reservoir for backflow, or do i fill it right up and put the plug on?

thanks!

frederic

[Plymouthy Adams]

in a working system without air the master cylinder exchange is one for one..what ever it pumps froward to the cylinder is returned by the spring action of the shoes to the master when you let up there will be no extra any point along the line. do leave a bit of head space for expansion due to heat however..as this will be the only reason for a higher change in fluid level..as the shoes materal wears in use the distance between the two surfaces increase as will the need to displace more fluid when braking, the pedal will go closer to the floor till adjustment is made to the brake shoes..at that time the reservoir will be lower as the displaced fluid remains in the cylinder as the piston and plunger will move outward following the adjusted shoe.....so technically in a system that had no leak or no wear would have zero need for reservoir..

[Cpt.Fred]

great, thanks tim!

that means i can put a metal tubing into the plug and a glas reservoir to my firewall. then i can always see the fluid level and quality and don't have to creep and criouch during refill...? i guess so.

might even look nice, too.

[Plymouthy Adams]

there area number of makers of remote reservoirs that are adaptable to these old master cylinders, a resourceful individual with a few common tools on hand could easily fabricate a setup. One cannister source that quickly comes to mind and should be available on the european market is the Sunbeam Alpine remote reservoir..it is only remote by a few inches..but the fitting is there and basically all you need to do is connect and fabricate a bracket..it is just a simple L-bracket

[Cpt.Fred]

ok, i'll have a lookout for that. i'll post some pictures when i have it built in!

a friend of mine has a good metal workshop, he should be able to build one from scratch... now for some sunbeam googeling:)

[Andydodge]

Fred.... 1950's & 60's Girlock brake systems made for most British cars use a number of remote reservoirs........andyd