What is the preferred way to hook up AC brakes,with equalizer and rod like the rocky mountain or with cables right off the brake pedal thanks Ross from Canada
I have mine operated from the brake pedal using rods, a equalizer and a push rod from the brake pedal. I am very satisfied with them and they are small drum.
I have cable, seem to work fine. A friend has his installed with cable. Easy to hook up and you still have your parking brakes.
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/257047/318135.html?1351131937
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/179374/204715.html?1315216050
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/179374/246936.html?1321237805
Hey Les, I'm about to figure out how I'm going to work the mechanism for mine. I have the brakes on and am planning on going the same route you did with an equalizer and a push rod from the pedal (my floor boards are too close to the transmission to hook something up higher on the brake pedal).
Would you mind taking some pictures of your linkage setup and posting them?
I ran mine with a pulley and a cable. They work well. Seth you are correct about the floorboard clearance. That was my biggest challenge. If you can make the pushrod work perhaps you can get more leverage.
Seth
I will see what I can do today. Mine will be slightly different as my car is RHD!! The concept will be the same!!! My brake pedal attachment is NOT welded to the pedal, but has worked OK for 10 years now.
The biggest thing I'm trying to decide on is whether I want to use the handbrake crossbar to mount the pivoting assembly, or if I want to make my own and bolt it to the last vertical bolts on the hogshead.
If I do end up using the handbrake crossbar as my mounting point, I'm not sure I want the AC brakes activated by the handbrake the way these are in this thread:
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/179374/204715.html?1315216050
I have mine set up with rods and a separate equalizer so the hand brake is separate and continues to function independently. I used the equalizer the vendors sell to use large drum parking brakes as a primary brake and welded an extension to the brake pedal It took a bit of tinkering but I think the results are worth the extra work. I would post pictures but the car is in Florida and I am not.
Could somebody take a picture of the rear bolt on the shoe of your ac brake setup and give specific instructions how to adjust the darn things? I have read the instructions and used the feeler gauge and tried both with the rear bolt tight and 'floating' or loose and the brakes just don't plain work. I know they're good and its something I'm doing wrong, just need help and 'plain-english' instructions on how to adjust them. Mine also won't follow the shape of the drum, as they 'bend' out toward the front. I've tried to adjust with a stilson, but don't want to break the cast. Something isn't right.
Thanks for any help.
Hey Matt, can you take a picture of your setup? I don't have mine hooked up to a linkage yet, but I have had the car running with one wheel jacked up off the ground, and when I pull forward on the lever it stops the wheel no problem.
I just took some pictures of my brakes for a buddy and I just need to get them from my phone to my computer. I'll post them in a minute.
Here are some pictures I took. The second one might be what you are looking for?
I was really impressed with how it was for me to pull on the lever and stop the wheel. I'm excited to try these babies when I get my speedster all the way back together and running.
Where can I buy this brake set up??
Andre
Belgium
Larry Sidmore makes them, but you have to fabricate your own linkage.
I had trouble making the adjustment on my AC brakes too but I just kept tinkering with them until I got it right. I also found that using the brakes improved their stopping power as the shoes seated better on the drum after a while. The problem was that they were not making contact all around so the mating surface was limited.
I had trouble making the adjustment on my AC brakes too but I just kept tinkering with them until I got it right. I also found that using the brakes improved their stopping power as the shoes seated better on the drum after a while. The problem was that they were not making contact all around so the mating surface was limited.
You must ensure the drums are bare metal and they must be round. Mine took a good bit of grinding to do that. run them for a while and then readjust. I added a set of springs to hold them open and that was helpful also.