Pedal box restoration complete
So I finally wrapped up the air conditioning part of this project, at least as much as I can do at this point. I need to get more of the car together to finish it. I was starting to work on the wiring harness, but needed to take a break from it for a while, so I decided to finish up the pedal box. Here is what mine looked like as it came out of the car. The brake master did not work.
I was really inspired, as I know we all were, with Bernice’s write up on her ’74 pedal box restoration. :worship:
http://xwebforums.com/forum/index.php?threads/25800 Her skills, knowledge, and attention to detail are amazing. I could not hope to replicate what she did, but I did want to do it as well as I could. I did reach out to her regarding the bronze bushing she made. It turns out that for the best performance, they are custom made for the individual box and pedals, based on their precise dimensions. She generously offered to machine one for me as a contribution to my project. I sent her my box frame, the pedals, and assorted parts after I had them all powder coated and/replated. She machined the bushing and then reassembled the box with the pedals for me to add the master cylinders.
Here is a close up of the modified clutch pedal.
The K20 kit from MWB includes a recommendation to move the attachment point of the push rod for the clutch pedal, closer to the pivot point of the pedal by about 1/2 inch. This is to compensate for the shorter travel of the Honda slave cylinder to disengage the clutch. I removed the original shaft, redrilled the hole closer, then had it welded in place.
My car had the original Fiat clutch and brake master cylinders. Based on some of the issues it seems like some of the aftermarket cylinders have, I took Bernice’s advice and sent mine in to Karp’s Power Brake for stainless steel resleeving and rebuilding. She recommended that I purchase a couple of NOS Strada brake master cylinders on eBay and send them along to use for the internal parts. Karp’s only needed to use one of them as it was good inside, so I have one more to use for when I need to do my ’79 cylinder. The major delay on this phase was the slow turnaround time at Karp’s. I had to call them several times to get them done. They are very busy and mine kept getting put aside. In all, it was 3-4 months before I got them back. I’m sure they did a good job, but don’t be in hurry to get them back if you go this route.
The other issue was the inlet fitting for the clutch cylinder. Bernice’s thread mentions this and she fabricated a custom one and tapped the cylinder for it. The original design uses a plastic fitting with an o-ring that is held in place with a toothed lock washer. The original got pretty beat up in the process of getting it out. I got the cylinder back from Karp’s with no inlet fitting as they did not have one that would fit. Fortunately, I located one on Chris Obert’s website, got a new o-ring to match the original size and found a toothed washer at my local hardware store that was a perfect fit over the spout and would grab the inside wall of the cylinder. I bought a cheap 5/8” tall socket and drilled a hole through the side it so it would fit over the spout, then used that to press the toothed washer down. It appears to be a nice tight fit, but I will find out for sure once it is installed and brake fluid added.
The plastic brake master supply inlets are readily available from most of our vendors. The rubber grommets that hold them came from the Strada cylinder.
The astute members with sharp eyes may notice that when I got the brake master back from Karp's, they had mistakenly installed the cylinder end outlet from the Strada cylinder instead of the closed end plug that the X uses. They had sent all of the used rusty parts in a bag, which I tossed because I did not notice the issue with the cylinder until I was installing it a couple of weeks later. I assume the plug was in the bag I tossed. :sigh: Fortunately, my mechanic friend, Tino, was able to scrounge one for me, so I was able to remove the Strada one, anneal the copper washer to re-use it, and place the correct end plug.
Bernice was also nice enough to send me two new SAE grade 8 long bolts to attach the master cylinders to the box, as well as the Gates supply tubing. I shortened the threads, and used a few extra washers on one of them as the shank is a bit too long for the stock set-up. Here is the whole pedal box assembled and ready to install.
I can’t thank Bernice enough for her guidance and generosity on this project. :heart::heart::heart:
I also finished up restoring the radiator fans so I can get these parts back on the car.
Next will probably be installing the front suspension and steering rack. Then back to the wiring harness.