Pedal box and fluid reservoirs

To follow up on this a bit. These images are of the BMW reservoir courtesy of Jeff Stich.

In the position up tight to the anti intrusion post mount it clears the underside of the hood and offers plenty of height to offer a decent amount of ‘head’ to the master cylinders.

Personally I have never liked the location of the factory ones and on my new 87 the hoses held enough crap and detritus against the undercoating and sheet metal to rust the metal out of the floor of the cowl (a small hole).

To do something like this will require a different washer tank which I want to change anyway so mount some additional wiring (wiper relays, headlight relays). Who needs a multi gallon washer tank? As a means of moving the CG forward?

Just something I am investigating.

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Maybe if they would have laid it out so the wiper motor and mount were on the right side and the reservoirs were on the left side in the scuttle. More than likely the wiper mechanism was lifted from the parts bin and it would have cost way more to design and produce a wiper mechanism just for the X, as compared to a four extra feet of reservoir hose.
 
kmead said:
To follow up on this a bit. These images are of the BMW reservoir courtesy of Jeff Stich.

In the position up tight to the anti intrusion post mount it clears the underside of the hood and offers plenty of height to offer a decent amount of ‘head’ to the master cylinders.

Personally I have never liked the location of the factory ones and on my new 87 the hoses held enough crap and detritus against the undercoating and sheet metal to rust the metal out of the floor of the cowl (a small hole).

To do something like this will require a different washer tank which I want to change anyway so mount some additional wiring (wiper relays, headlight relays). Who needs a multi gallon washer tank? As a means of moving the CG forward?

Just something I am investigating.

View attachment 5410 View attachment 5411
Click to expand...

Don't forget to find a spot for the clutch reservoir on that side, too.....:eek:
 
Or do it the way VW does and share the brake fluid reservior. Just saying...

Indeed I am sure you are correct in regards to the wiper system and the space it required and have some level of serviceability.

Yeah, in terms of all the problems an X has the hoses are pretty close to the bottom of things to solve for
 
Dr.Jeff said:
seem to recall a good Xweb tutorial on rebuilding the pedal box....
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I can't help you with that, but I'm in the middle of rebuilding one right now. So far there's not much to it:

Once the pedal box is separated from the masters and on the bench, undo the pedal springs, remove the pedals stops and the two little trays underneath the masters.
Undo the retaining plate on the brake pedal side that holds the nylon bushing in.
Remove the nut on brake pedal end and pull the clutch pedal and its shaft out.
Push the nylon bushing out. I needed a shop press for this, but I think that was just because my pedal box was hideously gunked up and the brake pedal pivot surface was seriously rusted.
Remove the pedal push rods (they're fastened with cotter pins) and check their pivot holes for wear - I once found one that was worn oval and produced a very funny clutch pedal feel.

Next step is to clean, replace anything that looks unserviceable, paint, lube, and reassemble.....
 
kmead said:
To do something like this will require a different washer tank which I want to change anyway so mount some additional wiring (wiper relays, headlight relays). Who needs a multi gallon washer tank? As a means of moving the CG forward?

Just something I am investigating.
Click to expand...

Here is what I did for a washer bottle,
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It all fits under the stock battery cover and there is enough room in front of the washer tank for a panel for circuit breakers and relays for all the heavy loads in front off the firewall. I just need to get it wired and plumbed.
 
Karl, I'm sure it should be obvious, but I often miss the obvious. What reservoir is that...the stock Fiat dual chamber or a VW 3-lead? Although I don't recall a VW reservoir with 90 degree nipples on the bottom, so maybe I answered my own question.

EDIT: I'm such a dummy, Karl's post started out by saying it is a BMW unit from the Jeff Stitch package. Sorry. That's what I get for trying to read these posts on my phone instead of waiting until I get back on my computer...where I can actually see the screen.
 
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Brian P, I like that you can fit everything under the stock battery cover. Makes for a very clean installation. I'm curious what alternator you have to go with that battery?
 
Alternator is a stock Bosch unit. That little battery is pretty potent, never failed me even starting my 2.2 Subie.

Dr.Jeff said:
Brian P, I like that you can fit everything under the stock battery cover. Makes for a very clean installation. I'm curious what alternator you have to go with that battery?
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kmead said:
To follow up on this a bit. These images are of the BMW reservoir courtesy of Jeff Stich.

View attachment 5410 View attachment 5411
Click to expand...

To clarify, the image is courtesy of Jeff, or that is you holding it & reserviour is from Jeff? :D

What model BMW is it from? Looks like a good fit, size wise.

EDIT; looking at the pic again, that car needs the strut plate doublers, judging by the cracked paint around the mount :D
 
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lookforjoe said:
To clarify, the image is courtesy of Jeff, or that is you holding it & reserviour is from Jeff? :D

What model BMW is it from? Looks like a good fit, size wise.

EDIT; looking at the pic again, that car needs the strut plate doublers, judging by the cracked paint around the mount :D
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Hah, wondered who would notice that. I think it is because the rubber mounts are perished and allow the strut top to hit the raised emboss. But either way I do have some strut doubler plates and now need to get some upper strut mounts. It has been that way since I bought it. The previous owner was not very nice to this car and I haven’t been a good steward until recently in going about correcting some of its deficiencies.

These come from the BMW E34 chassis cars which had a remote reservoir and a very convoluted braking system. In looking at one I can’t imagine any of them making it beyond 20 years in real world use assuming you have to pay someone to fix it.

The OE reservoir part is no longer avaialable so running around Pick A Parts in California like Jeff does is about the only way to collect them.

Just pay the man the money, he earns it...
 
kmead said:
Hah, wondered who would notice that. I think it is because the rubber mounts are perished and allow the strut top to hit the raised emboss. But either way I do have some strut doubler plates and now need to get some upper strut mounts. It has been that way since I bought it. The previous owner was not very nice to this car and I haven’t been a good steward until recently in going about correcting some of its deficiencies.

These come from the BMW E34 chassis cars which had a remote reservoir and a very convoluted braking system. In looking at one I can’t imagine any of them making it beyond 20 years in real world use assuming you have to pay someone to fix it.

The OE reservoir part is no longer avaialable so running around Pick A Parts in California like Jeff does is about the only way to collect them.

Just pay the man the money, he earns it...
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Makes sense.

How does one contact him regarding the reservoir?

EDIT : sent him a message
 
In redoing my Clutch and brake, I did learn a few things.
#1 Make new bolts from all thread to replace the original bolts which hold MC in position. With nuts on both end, it makes installation and future removal much easier.
#2. Get a real good set of tubing wrenches. I bought mine from NAPA, cost about 40.00 but I didn't strip one fitting. Also purchase a small and medium sized pliers. They look like a vise grips, but have V jaws to lock the fittings in for the really tight ones.

Stoney
 
In redoing my Clutch and brake, I did learn a few things.
#1 Make new bolts from all thread to replace the original bolts which hold MC in position. With nuts on both end, it makes installation and future removal much easier.
#2. Get a real good set of tubing wrenches. I bought mine from NAPA, cost about 25.00 but I didn't strip one fitting. Also purchase a small and medium sized pliers. They look like a vise grips, but have V jaws to lock the fittings in on the really tight ones
 
Stoney#1 said:
Make new bolts from all thread to replace the original bolts which hold MC in position. With nuts on both end, it makes installation and future removal much easier.
Click to expand...
Stoney, please elaborate a little. Sounds like a good idea but I'm not 100% clear what you did. Thanks
 
I think he means he removed the two long bolts that hold the MCs to the pedal box and replaced them with threaded rod and nuts so the rod can be moved in either direction.
 
carl said:
I think he means he removed the two long bolts that hold the MCs to the pedal box and replaced them with threaded rod and nuts so the rod can be moved in either direction.
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Correct, that way you can remove either master cylinder in the future without dropping the pedal box. I reused the stock bolts I just cut off the head and cut threads on the cut off end then put a nut on it.
 
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