Piglet

The one out of the Mazda should be OK, the only problem you may have is displacement, too much to soon which could make them to sensitive, if that were the case a air/oil flow restrictor would cure that problem. you can get one at www.northerntool.com in the log splitter section, the pressure remains the same because the oil is considered a solid if all the air is out of the system so it's just a case of how much how soon. Another thing to consider is the length of the lever/pedal, this will affect the amount of pressure applied, in the car there's a lot of leverage, if this is reduced it will affect the amount of pressure that can be applied, all in all I say go for it, if nothing else ask the trike builders what they use, they did a lot of engineering and could save you a lot of time.

Ted

I have had good results with Wilwood master cylinders and have used them on a couple of sidecar rigs that had automotive brakes added. Have also used them on street rods and dune buggies.The smallest bore diameter will probably be best and give the best pedal feel. You can also ad a proportioning valve to help contorl brake bias if you plan to link the system togther front and rear.
Check out speedwaymotors.com

I find Toyota clutch masters work well. They are cheap, easy to mount and have a built in resivior.
Jay Giese
Dauntless Motors Corporation

Thanks, everybody. Good info and a great help!!

Jay, any particular Toyota?

I ask for the one for a pick up. This one is used on many of their cars and NAPA stocks them. They are under $40
Jay

Vernon,
Jay by far has the better solution for your project. Much easier hookup as far as lines go etc due to no metric to AN or american fitting conversion hassles. Go for it ...sorry I was in the build from scratch mode and needed a coffee and found too many bills in the mailbox and just had a general brain cramp.

Originally written by claude #3563 on 3/21/2007 4:55 AM

Vernon,
Jay by far has the better solution for your project. Much easier hookup as far as lines go etc due to no metric to AN or american fitting conversion hassles. Go for it ...sorry I was in the build from scratch mode and needed a coffee and found too many bills in the mailbox and just had a general brain cramp.

Yeah, and you also turned me onto a website with lots of gizmos to think about for future projects! Thanx, Claude!

Originally written by RedMenace on 3/21/2007 9:04 AM

Originally written by claude #3563 on 3/21/2007 4:55 AM

Vernon,
Jay by far has the better solution for your project. Much easier hookup as far as lines go etc due to no metric to AN or american fitting conversion hassles. Go for it ...sorry I was in the build from scratch mode and needed a coffee and found too many bills in the mailbox and just had a general brain cramp.

Yeah, and you also turned me onto a website with lots of gizmos to think about for future projects! Thanx, Claude!

LOL..Sorry Vernon. Hey be sure to order online their free catalogs. Good folks and been around racing for a long time.
Try stockcarproducts.com too.....tell rich that claude th esidecar guy from pa sent ya 🙂

Hi Vernon,
I know I'm a little late with this but thought I should give you a little more to think about. The recommended M/C, although inexpensive and available, is designed to operate a single cylinder that moves quite freely and farther than a brake caliper and under considerably less pressure. From the pictures you posted it looks like the master cylinder will be mounted low down by the right foot peg. A drum brake master has a residual line pressure valve built into it which is not needed for disc brakes unless the master will be lower than the calipers for very long. We had this problem in building street rods when the fad of clean fire walls became popular and the master cylinders were mounted in the frame like they were in the 20's and later. Power brakes were affected the same. The cure is a #2 residual check valve in the brake line just after the master. Speedway Motors may have them now. I used to get them from Pete%Jakes. I think some bigger outfit bought them out but they should be advertised in the hot rod mags. I hope this helps more than not.

David

Originally written by Loo4two on 3/22/2007 7:52 PM
(snip) The recommended M/C, although inexpensive and available, is designed to operate a single cylinder that moves quite freely and farther than a brake caliper and under considerably less pressure. From the pictures you posted it looks like the master cylinder will be mounted low down by the right foot peg. A drum brake master has a residual line pressure valve built into it which is not needed for disc brakes unless the master will be lower than the calipers for very long. We had this problem in building street rods when the fad of clean fire walls became popular and the master cylinders were mounted in the frame like they were in the 20's and later. (snip)

Thanks for the heads up, David. I hope to mount the mc up under the battery box. I *think* that will put it above the calipers, but I won't know until I fit everything together.
Do you think the piston travel and design for lower pressure will be an issue?

Vernon,
If you are not familar with residual pressure valves you can google the term and get some good info on them and what they do. Basically they retain some pressure in the brake lines.Also at the stockcarproducts site I think they have info on their use in a tutorial form. If you call thr 800 number there and talk to one of the guys they are very helpful. Same with Speedway motors. Summit is not bad as far as info goes but it depends greatly on who you happen to get on the phone.
Location of master cylinder can be anywhere but it can affect ease of bleeding the brakes. Size of master cylinder bore is a concern. Probably in your case smaller (within reason)is better if there is a choice. Too large a bore will give a very hard pedal and unless you can have a ton of leveage the brakes will just not work.

Vernon,
The location of the master cylinder, hight wise, isn't so much for bleeding the brakes but fluid bleed back. If you get too much fluid returning to the master cylinder the first pump on the brake pedal will travel too far and make you think there is no brakes and it will take 2 pumps to stop. I never had a vehicle fail to stop on the first pump but it scares the dodo out of most people until one gets used to it. Some never get used to it. The piston size is important in that one is the smallest of adequate size to operate the pistons plumbed to it. The rule of thumb (like the one third weight rule ) for manual brake pedals is 7 to 1. You can mess with the fluid return problem by using a smaller line size out of the master cylinder. Some people have been known to smash the line a little at a time to find the right size. ( all disclaimers apply here ) The drum brakes need the residual pressure to keep the shoe return springs from squeezing the shoes too far and messing up the adjustment. Like Claude advised, you can Google a lot more information way faster than I can operate this blankety blank key board.

David