OK, exhausted myself (of course working under jack stands is never fun) last night trying to reinstall the master cylinder so I could hook up Eric Shea's beautiful pedal assembly As anyone who has done this knows, the plastic lines up to the reservoir connect to about a three inch long brass line that fits into two press fit rubber boots on top of the master cylinder. Well you can't press them in after the cylinder is attached to the bolts coming thru from the pedal assembly. So what I have tried and tried to do is to pull the lines down about an inch or so, push them in and then have my son gently pull the lines up from the top while I push the master cylinder onto the bolts and into position. It just ain't working. Either the plastic lines kink (not good) or the damn things pull out of the master cylinder before I can get it into place. After trying this approach for about an hour I decided it was time to go watch TV. Any suggestions for a better method? Oh, the damn grommets want to come out of the lower panel when you push the lines, making for more mischief. I gotta remind myself I do this for fun and enjoyment.

are the hoses still connected to the fluid resevoir tank??

I disconnect the hoses from up top to allow more freedom down below.

No,they are loose. Hell, there ain't no reservoir tank in the car yet!!

The only way I managed to do this is with the master bolted up and the lines loose. I know it's a big bitch to put those grommets in. This was my trick that took me an hour to figure out. You can't pry those in very easily but if you use a fuel injection hose clip it makes life much easier.

Put some soap or lubricant on the grommet and then put the clip around it and start squeezing it. The damn thing may slip so you have to compress the grommet perfectly, once it squeezed enough center it over the master hole and press in fast, it should slip out of the clip and in the master.

It may take you a couple of tries but this was by far the best way I managed to get those lines in.

This is just a guess as I haven't put mine back on yet. But how hard would it be to put the lines and the MC together outside the car and then feed the lines back up to the hood?

It's almost impossible because of the twist that the metal part of the lines take down under the car with the limited space also. Maybe the Cap'n should chime in...

If I can remember correctly here is what I did (after lots of hit and miss).

1) Pulled down on the lines (loosened the reservoir tank) to get a bit of slack in the lines. And yes the grommet came out.
2) Attach the rubber boots to the lines next.
3) Put the mc on to the bolts (at the ver end), then using finger power pushed the boots (with lines attached) into the mc. This took a lot of effort on my part. If I were to do it again I think I would put ky gel on them (the gel shouldn't hurt the boots and it will evaporate - don't use vasoline (sp? ) it is a petroleum product).
3a) Put the grommet back in place. You might want to lube the lines when pulling them back up.
4) Push the mc all the way back onto the bolts and tightened everything up. Make sure that you have the push rod centered in the mc before you push the mc back.
5) Adjust the brake pedal
6) Adjust the brake light switch

I have pictures of the brake light switch. I don't know how to post an exact link to the response but it is on page 17, the 9th entry.

Light switch

Good luck,
Mike

QUOTE (Grimstead @ Jun 18 2005, 09:15 AM)

This is just a guess as I haven't put mine back on yet. But how hard would it be to put the lines and the MC together outside the car and then feed the lines back up to the hood?

That's the ticket! I've also attached the hoses to the MC then bolted the MC to the pedal cluster, that was a pain. I have also bolted up the MC then attached the lines. Any way you do it, it is a pain - but Grimstead's idea beats them both!

This WAS one of the hardest things I did on my first 914. Then I got smarter.......

1. Take out the mc and the mc feed lines
2. mark the feed lines front and back (you will thank me later)
3. Take the feed lines off the old mc and transfer to the new one on a bench. These are easy to press in on a bench. A real PITA to try to do under the car.
4. Take your new mc with the feed lines in the correct holes (front and back) and feed the feed lines thru the correct holes below the fuel tank. Take your time as they can twist out here.
5. Bolt it on.

M

Tip: Make Eric do it. (the "other" Eric )

Have a beer, shout encouraging words like "Look'n good" and "That's it... almost there" or "Need a hand with that?" (the later needs to be timed perfectly as the tool grunt is just about finished with the task). Sit back and relax.

QUOTE

This is just a guess as I haven't put mine back on yet. But how hard would it be to put the lines and the MC together outside the car and then feed the lines back up to the hood?

thats the easy way to do it

OK, I was afraid this might be part of the problem. So since a certain dumb ass didn't mark the lines front and back, how the hell can I tell which is which now? I am sure the wrong lines in the wrong hole will screw up the set up. Help.

Screw in the reservoir and then just put the lines up through and see how best they will fit/line up. Swap them back and forth etc... You'll figure it out.

OK, looks like my father's day project.

it's not fun... what I did was "loosen up the grommets first... kinda opened/stretched them with my finger(with a little WD40 on it) and that REALLY helped!

QUOTE (Engman @ Jun 18 2005, 09:24 AM)

This WAS one of the hardest things I did on my first 914. Then I got smarter....... 1. Take out the mc and the mc feed lines 2. mark the feed lines front and back (you will thank me later) 3. Take the feed lines off the old mc and transfer to the new one on a bench. These are easy to press in on a bench. A real PITA to try to do under the car. 4. Take your new mc with the feed lines in the correct holes (front and back) and feed the feed lines thru the correct holes below the fuel tank. Take your time as they can twist out here. 5. Bolt it on. M

That is THE way to do it. I spent the better part of a weekend trying to figure this one out. By FAR the best way to do this is on the bench. For those of you with a gas tank in the car - you're S.O.L. I suggest removing it.

William, I just installed my new MC and lines last month, here's the pic underneath the car....

Here's a shot underneath the fuel tank (removed)...

Here's a link to my web site showing the installation...

Eric, here's the shot of my pedal cluster installed that I promised you...

Thanks for a great product...

ok here is how YOU do it !!!very simple now but it took me a couple of hours to figure it out...... install the master cylinder in then take strong mason string and loop it around the plastic line 3-4 inches up. have two lines dangling down. wrap your fingers around the string and pull down straight and hard and your done!!! oh!! lube the ends first....

Thanks for all the help guys. Let's see how we make out tomorrow.

QUOTE

Thanks for a great product...

Thank you!

Proud to have them on that car Now that I think about it; to have them on Doug's, William's and your's is quite an honor. Made my day.

Eric,

I installed mine yesterday. VERY nice product!

I'll send you another pic when I can get better lighting.

William - THANKS for posting this topic. I installed my master cylinder yesterday And did not properly seat the lines in the grommets. I pushed the metal lines into the grommets as far as I could and assumed that was as far as they should go . After seeing this post I knew that I did not have them inserted correctly.

Nothin like doing things over! I removed the master cylinder and started over.

Tonight I followed Mark's steps.

QUOTE

This WAS one of the hardest things I did on my first 914. Then I got smarter....... 1. Take out the mc and the mc feed lines 2. mark the feed lines front and back (you will thank me later) 3. Take the feed lines off the old mc and transfer to the new one on a bench. These are easy to press in on a bench. A real PITA to try to do under the car. 4. Take your new mc with the feed lines in the correct holes (front and back) and feed the feed lines thru the correct holes below the fuel tank. Take your time as they can twist out here. 5. Bolt it on.

I was able to get the metal lines inserted into the master cylinder easily on the bench. Then I fed the lines up through the 2 grommets that are located under where the gas tank goes. They fed in pretty easy just had to keep both of them moving. I fed the lines in until the front of the master cylinder hit the steering rack. Then I just compressed the bellows on the rear of the master cylinder and then the rear slid right through the opening. Be sure to get the brake rod aligned! ( I missed getting it aligned trying to do this myself Got help and this was easy the second time.)

Here's how I hooked up the lines.

another

top side

I did this no problem. The MC was bolted in too.
How far down do you have to push the lines in? Hopefully I did it right.

I just compared the routing of the brake lines in Rob's pic and the routing that I did.

They do not match. Does it matter???

If I'm following the routing correctly, Rob's pics show the line from the front of the master cylinder reservoir connected to the rear connection on the master cylinder. My pics show that I connected the line from the front of the master cylinder reservoir to the front connection on the master cylinder.

Will either routing work??? Or, do one of us need to ....

Good question...

Here's a

Thanks for the continuing pictures. Kinda wondered about front to front and back to back thing too. Does it make a difference? Got lazy today and let it slide. Somedays you just want to do easy stuff - spent about an hour trimming the seal that goes across the inside of the top of the windshield. Here's a tip to everyone - save the old rubber - I had the old piece and the cuts on each end were quite complicated. Would have never shaped it right without the old piece.

QUOTE (Doug Leggins @ Jun 19 2005, 01:32 AM)

I just compared the routing of the brake lines in Rob's pic and the routing that I did. They do not match. Does it matter??? If I'm following the routing correctly, Rob's pics show the line from the front of the master cylinder reservoir connected to the rear connection on the master cylinder. My pics show that I connected the line from the front of the master cylinder reservoir to the front connection on the master cylinder. Will either routing work??? Or, do one of us need to ....

Doug, I've been documenting the removal of all parts, so I installed them the way the came out, but I don't think it will make any difference if they are switched, remember, this is only a reservoir, not a proportioning valve, so you should be OK.

Rob - I agree. I don't think that it will make any difference which is front or back, as long as the routing of the plastic/metal tube is fine. I took the cap off of the reservoir today, pulled the screen and took a look inside. The bottom of the reservoir is divided into two sections but I don't think that it will have any affect on the front/rear issue.

I took a look at my 72 parts car today to compare. It still has the gas tank in it so I couldn't see the complete routing. I recruited some help to check it out. I went under to look at the lines coming through to the master cylinder. My helper grabbed a line near the master cylinder and moved it around. We did one at a time. I was able to see the corresponding line wiggle on the bottom side. Turns out that my routing on the 73 matches what I found on the 72.

QUOTE

I did this no problem. The MC was bolted in too. How far down do you have to push the lines in? Hopefully I did it right.

There is a Tech Artical on the PP site, "Upgrading To A 19mm Master Cylinder". Pic #4 shows the lines inserted into the grommets.