BRAKING IT
LITTLE BY LITTLE, WEEK BY WEEK, THE BROWN BOMBER GETS CLOSER TO FIRING A SHOT, OR TWO, IN ANGER
GOT A COUPLE more jobs done on the Brown Bomber this month, starting wit h one t hat has had an unexpected bonus result. The ex haust system I cobbled up was a paleo-simple arrangement that amounted to a length of t wo-and-a-quarter-inch pipe with a f lange welded on. With a matching f lange welded to t he collector of my brand-new Pacemaker headers, t he end result ex ited under t he passengerside B-pilla r. Perfect. Except it was LOUD. Too loud, I reckon, for any race-track or motorkhana with any sort of noise limit in place.
The simple fix was to add a muffler to the system. So that’ s what I did, first talking to the bloke at my local exhaust shop and learning that the old hotdog style of thing would make the exhaust note raspier, but probably not much (any?) quieter. So t hat would have been a waste of time. Thing is, t he compact dimensions of the hot-dog would have left me more room to fit the thing, but a waste of time is still a waste of time, even if it seems convenient. You listening, SUV drivers?
So we went searching through the muffler cata log ue for a compact unit t hat would a llow good f low, would physica lly f it and, importantly would shut t he 202 up a bit. I’d a lways wanted to keep the ex haust system tucked high up under t he car, so trust me when I say the new muff ler is a t ight f it in a couple of places (chassis ra ils and such). But it f its and t he car now has a crisp, k inda fruit y note (good fr uit y, not t he other t y pe). And the bonus is t hat I reckon t he motor runs better wit h a bit of back-pressure. Neither my brother nor Torrens were surprised at t hat revelation, but t hat’s mechanics for
“BRAIDED LINES CAN’T BULGE LIKE RUBBER ONES CAN (ESPECIALLY OLD CRUSTY ONES)”
you. Anyhow, win-win, I’m calling it.
The other job was to replace the flexible rubber brake lines with braided stainless-steel jobs. Even if t he original rubber lines had been in good nick (which t hey weren’t) replacing t hem wit h stainless braided numbers is good practice for a competition car. The braided lines can’t bulge like rubber ones can (especia lly old, cr ust y ones like I had) so you get a more immediate response and better pedal feel when you stomp on the picks in anger.
I yanked the old ones and took them down to my loca l bra ke shop (This project is being very good for my local economy, no ?) and ordered replacements in lovely stainless. While I was at it, I picked up a set of Bend ix Ultimate brake pads for the front c ali pers. Not cheap, but worth the extra for their durability and good stopping power over generic replacement pads.
Now all I have to do to finish the job is bleed the brakes backup (‘ cos you lose all the fluid in the lines – and then some – when you replace them) and I should be in business. I’ve developed a sneaky way of doing this over the years because, as many people will tell you, getting a brake line full of air to bleed up can be a real pain in the whatsit. So my approach is to replenish the brake fluid in the master cylinder and then crack the nipple of the cali per farthest from the master cylinder. And then go and make a cup of tea. Within a few minutes, you should see fluid starting to drip off the bleed nipple. Then, you tack le t he nipple next farthest from the master cylinder and so on until all the lines are full.
Then you can actually bleed the last of the air out of the system. I use a little length of plastic tube with a check( one-way) valve in the end of it. You place the tube over t he nipple, crack it open and then pump the bra ke pedal. The f luid will push the remaining air out the nipple and the check valve prevents t he air from being drawn back in when you release t he bra ke pedal. Keep checking t he level in the master cylinder as you go, and Bob’s your mum’s brot her. And it’s a one-bloke job, unlike t he traditiona l way of bra ke bleeding which require at least t wo bodies.
So now I’m even closer to hav ing a proper, honest-to-Murgatroyd race-car. But I’m st ill not sett ing a deadline, because nothing brings a project undone faster t han doing it against t he clock. And besides, I’m hav ing so much fun doing it, I’ll k ind of be sorr y when it’s a ll buttoned up and done. Then again, have you ever seen a race-car t hat’s ever truly f inished? Nah, me eit her.