Brake Pedal Adjust? Options

[richardL]

I was able to regain about 1/4" or so (as measured where the studs come through the grooves in the bottom of the cluster), which reduced the brake pedal freeplay accordingly. I am still some way from getting the pedal board on.

I need a better drift so I can actually hammer with some leverage. Its almost impossible to get to these places because of the roll hoop which really restricts access. I'll see what I can get hold of tomorrow morning (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smash.gif)

Richard

[davep]

Well, that about settles what the problem is. Now the solution. I would be thinking about using a small bottle jack to push the wall back where it is supposed to go. The metal will be weakened by the accident, and the fix. This wall has been found to be weak anyway. I would be looking at adding a reinforcement plate between the MC and the wall.

It sure looks like the cluster needs a rebuild. You can use the original plastic bushings, or aftermarket brass/bronze/whatever. Twenty years ago I used a brass set, but they were a little loose, and I didn't really like them.

Is the rubber boot off of the end of the MC wet in any way? Usual failure of the MC was to leak past the back seal into the boot. Typical life of an MC used to be 7 to 10 years.

[richardL]

I had thought of a jack but I need to brace it against something to get the force at the right place - any suggestions?

The cluster already has bronze bushings. Most things on this car have been rebuilt sometime in the last 10 years or so.

There is no leakage in the MC boot.

Richard

[davep]

I would use the crossbar (front seat support) but spread the force around using a 4x4 or similar. You may need to go back to the engine wall also. Just spread the force around, you don't want to create a new problem. Hopefully your jack can work on its side.

Do you have any idea how the damage was caused? There should be evidence elsewhere.

[richardL]

I don't think the crossbar is a strong as the firewall. I bashed at it for several hours and was able to flatten it a bit more but not enough to get the new pedal board on - it still overlaps by maybe a 1/4 inch.

I needed to get things back together so I could work on the carbs, so I reassembled it all for now and got the car running last night.

I still have a dubious temp guage, it reads around 120 but doesn't go any higher and I can't believe that, so I will fix that and then try to play at carb balancing.


Thanks for the help,
Richard