Brakes advice

[john matthews]

Hi all

'68 van just sailed through MOT no problem but I'm still not happy with the braking.

It's ok for me, I know how hard I need to heave on the stop pedal.

Thing is, I'd like to rent the van out next year and I'm worried that a driver of a modern vehicle will forget how hard they need to shove, even if I've drummed it into them before they go off in it. Especially in an unexpected emergency stop.

Soooo

Where do I start ?

Change all standard parts for new and see what that's like ?
I was thinking of starting with new front flexi hoses, fresh brake fluid.
then trying new cylinders (although the history shows new cylinders being bought quite recently)

or

Remote Servo ? eg Lockheed kit designed for MG / Lotus / Landrover etc ?

Has anyone had similar thoughts or gradually tried to improve their braking system ?

Dual circuit ? uprated master cylinder ? servo off later van ? Discs ??

What worked ? What cost a fortune and made little real difference ?

 

[Trikky2]

Passing an MOT would normally indicate the brakes are working correctly which means the improvement you are looking for is probably to do with pedal pressure/effort rather than actual braking.

In this case the improvement can be most easily achieved by fitting a brake servo.

Personally I would use the servo/bracket and linkage from a later bay including front rear split hydraulics but a remote servo on a single circuit will also work very well and will be much easier to fit to a single circuit system.

 

[john matthews]

Thanks, I think you are probably right

apart from being inferior to discs in terms of fade, the system is probably ok as far as it goes.

I think I'll still change the front hoses and the brake fluid for my own peace of mind

but then I think 4 hours and £80 on a remote servo for single circuit should make the pedal feel more modern to people not used to unservo'ed vehicles.

I guess you don't really *need* a servo, just press harder ! but how something feels does affect confidence and thereby enjoyment of driving I think.

suspect I'll have to cut off the imperial connection from whatever servo kit I get and fit a Metric ferrule to the master cylinder end of the line, but apart from that it should be pretty straight forward.

The vacuum fitting to the inlet manifold , is there a need to drill/tap into the manifold ? Anyone done this ?