Switch to manual brakes makes car run better?

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@70SwingerGuy Another detail I just thought of is that your brake pedal height will likely be higher than it was with power brakes after conversion. It took me a few times driving my car to get used to the higher pedal. I had a thread in the brake forum where I was assured that was normal, including pictures and measurements of an original manual disc car.
 
@1973dust that will be a good thing actually, my pedal right now is very low, almost flush with my gas pedal, I actually started a thread with pics asking if that was normal for these guys, which I dont believe it is. Im thinking someone when doing a brake swap/work used a pushrod that isnt the proper length. When I do this, I will probably buy an adjustable pushrod from Mancinis and get my pedal back to where it should be
Id like to keep a factory appearance with the MC, so I will have to look for a different one in a 15/16 bore and four bolt, if anyone has any suggestions, Id love to hear them :)
 
70SwingerGuy said:
I have a 70 Swinger and have been thinking the same thing, have you come across a thread outlining the conversion/parts involved? I have power drums/front disc. I guess with all the talk about master cylinders, bore size, lack of master cylinders, etc, Im just wondering what MC we should use.
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What you should do is stop worrying about what size master to use and get that car out of your garage and into my garage, where I think it would look much better! Nice car!
 
4mulas said:
What you should do is stop worrying about what size master to use and get that car out of your garage and into my garage, where I think it would look much better! Nice car!
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Hahaha, Im sure that could be arranged given an appropriate bank transfer from you to me!
And thanks! :lol:
 
70SwingerGuy said:
@1973dust that will be a good thing actually, my pedal right now is very low, almost flush with my gas pedal, I actually started a thread with pics asking if that was normal for these guys, which I dont believe it is. Im thinking someone when doing a brake swap/work used a pushrod that isnt the proper length. When I do this, I will probably buy an adjustable pushrod from Mancinis and get my pedal back to where it should be
Id like to keep a factory appearance with the MC, so I will have to look for a different one in a 15/16 bore and four bolt, if anyone has any suggestions, Id love to hear them :)
Click to expand...

The 15/16” MC is the way to go. DoctorDiff sells the adjustable push rod as well, no reason to wait an extra week and pay additional shipping from Mancini.

The only thing I’ve found with the plastic MC and caps is that the caps/seals tend to leak if you open and close them too much (like for the initial bleeding process). You can buy replacement caps and gaskets for them, I did that with mine and haven't had any issues since. Dorman #42044 for caps, #42081 for gaskets
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Also, on the cap that raised section of plastic on the cap is a vent, and it works best if that's at the highest point- ie, don't put that facing the front of the car, because when you stand on the brakes the fluid shift will put fluid out the vent.
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So don’t put that caps like this, put them so the red arrows in this picture point at the firewall

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Thanks 72bluNblu for the great tips on the caps. Something else I thought of is, be gentle on your brake light switch during surgery. I managed to bend the mounting bracket on mine as they're not particularly stout. You obviously will have to adjust it higher after conversion. Mine was hitting the pedal arm off center at first and causing the brake lights to not always shut off.
 
Just an update for anyone stumbling on this post later. The car running better is definitely not in my head. I don't generally run it too hard but decided to do a little testing Monday afternoon. It actually will break loose the right rear punching it from a 10-15 mph roll and it will burn the right rear until you let off from a dead stop. I'm not at all into burning tires cause I'm cheap but I figured seeing that it would do it now pretty well proves that it's running much better. That apparently bad rebuilt booster had been on the car since 2012 and the engine has always pulled 17-18 inches of vacuum at 650 so I never dreamed I had a problem. I just figured the 2.76 gears and lack of headers were holding it back. Makes me wonder what other tuning issues I have killing 20 or 30 ft/pounds of torque.
 
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