Lotus Europa Forums > Technical Articles and DIY tools and tips
Yet another Tandem Master Cylinder installation
EuropaTC:
Hi Rick,
You're welcome, I'm glad it was of some use. In practice it's a fairly easy swop, I'm sure others have gone the same route before and I'm surprised it's not a more popular option because these parts are readily available. (actually the metric threads caught me out the first time I used this m/cyl, it was one of those "doh" moments ;) )
Brian
Bainford:
Thanks for the info Brian. Very interesting. Did your car have a remote reservoir from new? The reservoir on my car is not remote, though the m/c is mounted so low in the car that it almost seems as though it is no higher than the calipers. I am planning some improvements to my braking system, including redoing all of the brake lines to get rid of the mess in the engine compartment. The boosters have been removed from my car by the original owner, but the brake lines are a mess as a result. Fluid for the front brakes goes all the way to the rear to the 'brake fail' switch and boosters (when they were there), then forward to the calipers. My plan is to get rid of all this mess and mount the fail switch up front near the master cylinder. I may consider fitting a remote reservoir at that time to make brake service more convenient. The m/c is so low that I can't see how it works, and will be even worse when I fit the 1" lowered springs on the front.
For the record, my car is fitted with a .7" bore master cylinder from a Lotus 7, or some variant thereof.
EuropaTC:
--- Quote from: Bainford on Wednesday,October 31, 2012, 06:38:12 AM ---Did your car have a remote reservoir from new?
--- End quote ---
Yes, I thought they all did ? The new dual chamber reservoir is mounted pretty much in the same place as the original single chamber was, just on a new bracket.
I think 0.7" is the correct bore. Mine was originally that but at one point I fitted a 0.75" to see how the car felt with less pedal travel. In junking the servo I decided to revert to a smaller one just in case I couldn't press the pedal hard enough to stop ;)
I haven't installed a fail switch circuit. Yes, I know, only doing half a job...... But seriously I don't see why it's needed if you install a brake fluid warning system, which is the next part of the change, it just seems to complicate matters to me. I don't really need to know if the front or rear circuit has failed, a drop in fluid level is enough to panic me anyway !
Brian
Bainford:
--- Quote from: EuropaTC on Wednesday,October 31, 2012, 11:07:37 AM ---
I haven't installed a fail switch circuit. Yes, I know, only doing half a job...... But seriously I don't see why it's needed if you install a brake fluid warning system, which is the next part of the change, it just seems to complicate matters to me. I don't really need to know if the front or rear circuit has failed, a drop in fluid level is enough to panic me anyway !
Brian
--- End quote ---
I wonder if the m/c mounted reservoir is a federal thing.
The 'fail switch' is an integral part of the dual circuit brake system. The 'switch' (poor terminology, my bad) is a shuttle valve that isolates the failed part of of the system. In the event of a failure in one of the brake circuits, the shuttle moves within its housing blocking off the part of the brake system that has 'opened', thereby preventing further fluid loss and preserving the integrity of the remainder of the circuit. Of course, it also incorporates an electrical switch to illuminate the brake warning lamp on the dash.
I guess the problem with not incorporating this unit in the system would be uncontrolled fluid loss in the event of a system rupture. All of the fluid in the reservoir would be lost.
EuropaTC:
Oh, I didn't realise that circuit isolation was it's primary function, from the instructions on bleeding the system I'd assumed it was primarily a warning system and that the primary and secondary circuits would operate independently from the master cylinder. Again using that dangerous "assumption" I'd thought that a leak on a single circuit would empty all the fluid in that circuit, but as the reservoir has separate chambers for front and rear circuits, the losses would be restricted to the relevant chamber and highlighted by a drop in fluid level before it got down to the individual compartments. That just shows what having a little knowledge and guessing the rest does for you..... :-[
I'd better sort one out then, thanks for the heads up :beerchug:
thinking aloud - if your reservoir is mounted directly on top of the m/cyl and hidden in the wheelarch, how on earth do you manage to top it up or keep an eye on it ?
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