[Jazzbass]

In my Carrera the fuel filter flares are 17mm IIRC. No clue what they are in an early car. I'd just go to Sears and get a whole set for $23:

Metric flare nut wrenches

[Parenn911]

Dave I have some wrenches that will work when you bring the 911 over this Sunday. No need to buy the wrenches.

[}{arlequin]

sooo, I've managed to replace my pedal cluster and master cyl... not as easy of a job as it seems since you end up running into plenty of hickups

-took out my seat for an easier access, then spent 30 min putting it back in

-pedal cluster comes out easy, but then I had to rebolt it b/c it's connected to the master. You can't undo master brake lines when your master is loose, sooo- plan accordingly.

-when loosening the master metal lines, there are two kinds of lines (why?, to make it harder to work on) one has one nut, easy to undo... another line has two, bigger and smaller, you have undo the smaller before you undo the bigger (it's like a backing nut), it makes sense when you look at it, but nowhere is it written that this is exactly the way it should be done. So when you can't turn the little nut, you go for the bigger which gives nicely. And turns. And turns. And then you notice the brake line is beginning to spiral and reseble a corkscrew. Crap! Guess you HAVE TO undo the little nut first. Saved it just before it cracked but it did decrease the lines internal diameter a bit, will it act like a proportioning valve or will it be ok as long as it still flows fluid? who knows, but I'd like to replace that one sometime next...

-when reattaching the master, the reservoir feed lines resemble trumpets that go into the rubber grommets. Sure, make the wide end go in first. Right. After trial and error, it is easier to have grommets in the master and then wiggle the trumpets/feed lines in. It helps to grip them with some needle-nose and make sure you're pulling DOWN on the feed line. Made things a bit easier. Still, over 30 min of my life I'll never get back, especially since in theory this should take 30 seconds!

-make sure you do the feed lines first. B/c of the rubber grommets there is some wiggle play for the master, which you will need when trying to connect the hardlines to the new master. They don't always want to engage the threads and you DO NOT want to strip those threads. Thread the lines and engage them half way.

-now you can tighten the two main master mounting bolts, which are attached to the forward part of the pedal cluster

-now is the time to go back inside the car, in my case, climb over the side impact bars, not as easy since the car is up on the stands (this was way too much yoga for one day for me) and tighten the two floor board bolts from the cluster. Then you reattach the fork end of the clutch cable, back to the clutch arm. NOTE: when you get a cluster from Parts Heaven for a '73, it MAY NOT be from a '73. When the clutch pedal is in place the spot where the cable hooks up is off by 2 inches from the previous cluster AND the hole is in a different place, so when you try to attach the cable, the holes do not line up. (Another 40 min trying to get it in before you realize they don't line up.) I couldn't back the cable thread out of the fork b/c it was bent already (?) so to gain 1mm of needed clearance, I had to bend it even further (didn't have a dremel handy)

-tighten it all, reconnect the floorboard and throttle, thank God that linkage didn't alter, tighten the master hard lines and bleed the whole thing.

Bleeding: I was using the motive and doing all 4 calipers. I was also pumping the brake pedal few times while bleeding each corner so as to get all the air out of the master. Color change in fluid (blue to clear) makes it a breeze, but I'm not certain whether I've gotten all the air from the master out. Brakes work fine, but seem just a little bit mushy. Maybe I've had bad-binding pedals for too long and think the pedal should be firmer, but something's amiss. Any other way to bleed or check that I did bleed the master completely/correctly?

While bleeding, make sure you're checking the connections at the master (in my case under the car, so don't reattach the belly pan, yet)

BIG THANKS to Pari, since this all took place at his garage. Planned on doing it at 10am, but since a Sat. night out w/ Pari and Charlie and Co. changed my morning plans , I got there at noon. So, total time for the job, w/ Sam Adams breaks: 1pm-Midnight. LOL. Still had time to get home and see all the extra innings of the Red Sox game, including the win!

Sorry for the long post, but there are some details that I'd have liked to know before I wasted time doing things out of sequence or the trial-n-error thing. I have sore fingers and all but overall I'm happy. Now I just have to beat on the brakes a bit before the run so I know they will hold up. Looking at a possible bleed on Thursday and it also may be time to reattach my heat... at least on one side.

[Parenn911]

Nice write up Dave .
Don't be too hard on yourself, it always takes longer doing something for the first time. At least you didn't break anything. Besides, I think I still qualify as the slowest . Come by anytime this week except for Wednesday and we can readjust your pedals.
Hmmm.....master cylinder kaput.......sounds familiar......must be the MC flu going around .

[Vicegrip]

If you have rebuilt any of the calipers the brakes can feel a little mushy for a while. you can pull the pads out and pump the pedal a LITTLE. This will move the pistons in some. Now push the piston back enough to snugly slip the pad back in. do this again for each pad and the pedal might tighten up. the reason is that a new caliper seal will pull the piston back further than one that is set in. when the pad wares down some the piston moves in some and the problem goes away. so you can do the piston trick or drive it some.

If it were my car I would plan to replace any brake line that is over stressed. The early lines can really rust and even more so if the cladding is damaged as in by over-bending or twisting.

[}{arlequin]

No caliper rebuild (yet), just the top end, so to speak. I'll bleed everything again under higher pressure, do some more tapping, and try raising the rear end only to move around any air bubbles. Being a bit hard on the brakes may or may not change things too.

Good point about stressing the cladding on the metal line. Haven't even thought of that but it makes perfect sense. Once I get my bearings about the sizes and lengths, I'll be replacing that one.

[Steelspine]

I'm a little jealous since I've only gotten the MC bolted up and have yet to remove the pedal cluster or replace the broken brake line.

Do you guys work? Have kids and wives? I need to know the secret! Where does the time come from?

[cmartin]

Sleep?

Instead of showering in the morning before work you can spend a good 20 minutes on the car. Come home at lunch, another 15 minutes. Skip the gym, another 1.5 hrs. Talk to the wife? Nah, 10 more minutes.

[}{arlequin]

steel,
this was strictly a weekend project. It took all Saturday, but I'm sure it was easier w/o a wife, kids, or even a dog. Girlfriend lives 5 states away....

make sure you take the driver's seat out. Makes things much easier. It's already cramped enough in there as it is.

[Steelspine]

That's what I'm doing wrong...sleeping!

My wife was a half state away this past weekend but I spend most of my time getting the 951 ready for it's new owner.

I just purchased the pedal bushing set, thanks for the tip on the seat, it's hard enough to do stuff since I'm 6'4" and 250, add in steel rods from the base of my spine to the middle of my shoulderblades and you have a guy incapable of getting into small spaces.