>Dear Fellow Roadster-ites,
Are you questioning my authoritay?!!
No, seriously....very nice write-up and experiment.
Now, if you accept (and that is your question) that the gaps in the shoes
should be at opposite ends on the backing plate (think of the rotational
symmetry), then if you have a set of true roadster shoes with an emergency
brake lever slot in only one of the two....THEN THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY IT
CAN GO ON.
And that is the way I attempted to describe. [I have two sets of these
cores which I have saved for relining, which I used for reference]
As I said, these shoe cores are rare. If and when you go to get shoes from
PepBoys or whomever, ask for early 510 shoes ('cause you can bet they won't
even list the roadster) and then replace them as described... 'cause it
ain't obvious as with the old shoes.
Yes Toby, your pedal will always feel marginally more firm with the brake
pulled 'cause now you've taken up what play there was in the rears. But
there won't be much if you keep the rears adjusted, as it appears you do.
Dennis, check your brake pipe routing. I'm just finishing a "customer car"
that had thoroughly cobbled up piping. Had to replace the two metal lines
on each side (and swap caliper sets side to side on the car). It's too much
to describe here...the shop manual has good pictures of the piping. [Learn
to identify "bubble flare" from "inverted flare" ends and don't loose the
ball under the bleeder] Rotor thickness starts out at ~0.40"; I've had
rotors down to 0.30" and still on cars. Now, I've swapped those out for
ones better than 0.35", but they can be run (though more prone to fade and
warping due to heat buildup in heavy braking). Disc Brakes Australia made a
run of roadster rotors that alot of the suppliers have on special at the
moment. Check 'em out.
Calipers can be rebuilt but sadly most are too badly pitted to be an "easy"
job. They can be resleeved (Whitepost and some others mentioned on this
list) or you have to bite the bullet and buy new from a list supplier.
If you're having your rotors machined, you'll need new grease seals and may
want to go with new bearings (you'll certainly need to repack them), 'cause
the shop has to take these out to turn the rotors. Yes, some shops can turn
rotors on the car, but this has not been my experience.
Roadster brakes (as Tom has said) are very good. They should stop on a dime
and give you change back.
Oh...whoever got the 15/16" seal kit....take it back. You want 13/16" on a
low windshield (single master) car and 3/4" on a high windshield (dual
master) car. The bore is stamped right on the rear cylinder.
Bill Wessel
Madison, WI
'68 1600, '69 2000,
and GP race roadsters
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