My Valiant has original 4 wheel drums 9" all 4 wheels. I noticed the master cylinder behind the pushrod boot has some wetness, the stoplight switch is stuck. I checked the rear on one side because the E-brake doesn't hold and I noticed the self-adjuster cable was broken and fell out. The brakes actually stop really good. It's got a good pedal. Parts are still available to rebuild the drums system. Is this system adequate for occassional driving? Do they make a direct bolt on line kit for swapping to a dual master cylinder? I don't want to have to bend any lines. How often do the single port master cylinders totally all out fail and everything goes out going 70mph? I know that I've seen many bigger and more powerful restored cars at car shows with guys still running a single port master cylinder. I just want to know what I should do to restore my brake system. Thanks.
65 Valiant 4dr brake concerns, original or upgrade?
- Thread starter wh23g3g
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Oklacarcollecto
Life is an experiment
cudajim
cudajim
I'd be more concerned about the 9" brakes which are really bad at stopping the car. At the very least I'd look for a donor car with 10" drums or even better go with disc up front and 10" drums in the rear. If you stick with a single master be sure your emergency brake actually works properly because you may need it some day.
Dart_Doctor
Asa style
Ok i can show ya what happens when u get brake fade lol There Ok but think bout this pic lol .... I would upgrade it . If you have the cash to do so . Its a 4 door your not going to hurt what its woth . givin even if i had mine updated at the time she still would have hit me just not as hard lol Btw Im going bbp disk with my barracuda
BillGrissom
Well-Known Member
If you change from 9" drums, I wouldn't consider 10" drums but rather go to front disks. There are several front disk conversions that work w/ your 9" spindles. Scarebird is the least expensive.
I am not convinced that the dual MC helps a lot. My 69 Dart had that but the pedal went to the floor with no warning. Most times the imbalance switch that is supposed to detect a failure is stuck, especially if you use regular brake fluid. Still, I changed to a dual on my 64 & 65 A's. I used a later cloud car aluminum MC. My 64 is manual, so I just drilled 2 holes in the firewall & pedal bracket rather than buy the ~$50 adapter.
I know of no bolt-on tubing kit. It isn't hard to bend brake tubing. Just get a $5 bender. However, unless you can find the exact length pre-made, you will need a quality dbl flare tool. Look for several posts on how to replumb your existing T (need a 3/16" plug, 3/16" coupler, and 1/4"M to 3/16"F adapter, all "inverted flare").
I am not convinced that the dual MC helps a lot. My 69 Dart had that but the pedal went to the floor with no warning. Most times the imbalance switch that is supposed to detect a failure is stuck, especially if you use regular brake fluid. Still, I changed to a dual on my 64 & 65 A's. I used a later cloud car aluminum MC. My 64 is manual, so I just drilled 2 holes in the firewall & pedal bracket rather than buy the ~$50 adapter.
I know of no bolt-on tubing kit. It isn't hard to bend brake tubing. Just get a $5 bender. However, unless you can find the exact length pre-made, you will need a quality dbl flare tool. Look for several posts on how to replumb your existing T (need a 3/16" plug, 3/16" coupler, and 1/4"M to 3/16"F adapter, all "inverted flare").
65Valiant310
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Replace that single master ASAP. Someone was nice enough to give me a set of front 10 inchers, and it made a huge difference, yet if your car stops really well currently, then just update the master cylinder to a safer unit. 67+ dual master cylinder (iron) or get a newer aluminum 4 bolt unit. There is a how-to for early cars, do a search and it should help you do the conversion easily to a dual master.
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