Budget LS swap 6spd RWD Z26 project.

[Rettax3]

I'm definitely missing something though -how did the brake master cylinder get damaged from that?

My "line lock" setup is nonconventional... ...in a panic stop when hammering the brakes the rear master cylinder is hydraulically locked, so the pushrod was the weak link.

Okay, got it. Kind of. I am quite familiar with line-locks at least...
As per my M.O., my 'off-topic' response (I call it 'being engaged' in conversation... ), about ~20-something years ago, I was working at a classic/muscle-car restoration (parts) shop. I had been hired initially for slinging parts and helping to revamp the inventory and cataloguing system, and to keep me around to eventually head their 'service' department, which had yet to actually be implemented -cool since I could help structure it the way I wanted to, but that never came to fruition due to the owner's hesitance over local zoning concerns and additional tax burden... Anyway, one of the other salesmen working there at the time had started Kopy Katz -a Mopar-oriented resto-parts company that had finally petered-out, leaving him in need of a steady paycheck. Cool guy, if somewhat 'off' -as most interesting people are, I guess... Well, his Daily Driver was a primer-grey Vega wagon -cool car until you looked inside to see the hobbled and patched-over interior. Under the hood was an entirely different scene, though... He had shoe-horned a semi-built 400 SBC with a TH400 behind it into the Vega, big rear tires and a full Posi rear-end.
The ONE TIME I took a ride with him in that Vega, he backed out into the road, held the brakes, then notched it into '1st', and let the rear tires spin.. Then he notched it into '2nd' (B&M ratchet-shifter), and as we passed 40MPH on the speedo with the car just sitting there, shaking more and more violently, he let off the brake... The Vega just sat there for a second and all shaking ceased as smoke continued to roll out behind us, then whoomph! Into the seat I got shoved, feeling like we were rear-ended by a Mack truck. After driving around to a couple of near-by stores for supplies, hot-rodding around every corner and stop-light like it was just his natural driving habit (it probably was), I asked him about the line-lock on his brakes, as I hadn't noticed the controls. Oh, so silly, he didn't have one... The rear brakes were just shot, and had no hope of holding that 400.


Okay, so back on topic. So you had the rear brakes isolated to 'off' at the point of the accident? Even if you hadn't locked them out, the line-pressure would still end up the same once the rear hydraulics hit their full travel, wouldn't it? Perhaps a little further down in pedal-travel, but I can't see where that would make the situation better for the pushrod. I'm seeing how you have it set up and why, I just don't think it was decisive on the pushrod failure -seems to me like it was under-built, nothing you did wrong with it downstream or during use. Just my perspective. Again, glad you came out okay, and were able to save the car from serious wreckage.

[woody90gtz]

Haha I've seen people vice grip the rear rubber line to do the same thing
I've never felt a brake pedal hydraulically lock when squeezing pads...in any car. A properly sized system will always have pedal travel left before locking hydraulically.
A typical brake pedal also has a pushrod directly inline with the master bore. This dual master setup with bias bar needs some play built into the rod to allow misalignment, the spec is 1/8 gap to allow one master to plunge further than the other. That slop is probably what caused the bend. Wilwood has a video here that shows it better than I can explain.
https://youtu.be/ZYK4VEOae6w?si=4kTb4deMUnAxwgbY

[woody90gtz]

Took the old man racing again in another Chevy vs Mopar grudge match.
https://youtu.be/GMs8_LgJ7lw?si=5_9U8NyRUA-qtqJd


I guess I haven't posted much about my dad on the boards, but his chemo has gone unbelievably well and he's still feeling good! A true success story, battling a type of cancer that is typically very aggressive. When he got his first...really remarkable...re-scan, he decided to buy a car that might have a chance in beating the Beretta! haha He grabbed a blown up 6.1 Hemi 6spd Challenger SRT8 for cheap that had already been disassembled. So we had to piece it back together from boxes of parts.
https://youtu.be/5qdV44pqG6c?si=VerGnMBf8f6aUoCm


Then we set it up with an OBD2 line lock, some 17" wheels and slicks, and added some electric exhaust cut outs.
https://youtu.be/st-9Fa5UGgc?si=ob08u2mMJWiExlvf


At the track, neither of us ran the 12s we were shooting for, but I did manage to get him in both our heads up races, even though we were running within a tenth of each other pretty much all day. I broke my torque arm mount on the rear axle and bent the torque arm heims while trying to dial in my launch, but I just scrambled to get it fixed/upgraded and we're ready for a rematch ASAP at Island Drags in NJ before they close for the year. Somehow racing season always gets away from me.

[Rettax3]

Thanks for the update -good news is always welcome, even if not timely! Cool you guys get to run together too -that kind of quality time is priceless. Keep spankin' the new $#!t with that 'Retta, Woody!

[woody90gtz]

Torque arm is fixed and I fabricated a drag anti-roll bar, but the forecast looked pretty sketchy for today so we skipped out. It rained here starting about 2, so probably a good choice. That leaves 2 more Sundays if weather permits...


Bent 1/2" bolt, two 3/4 heims & 3/4 adjuster and broke the 7/8od x 1/2ID sleeve.

Fixed with a 3/8" lasered plate with 3/4 bolts rotated 90* and additional bracing



Adjustable ARB ready to go: using existing mounts on body and axle, but using the end link location for the roll bar, and sway bar bushing location for the end links

[snowblindburd]

Hope you can get out again this year!

[woody90gtz]

Vroom vroom went racing yesteday. Info coming soon.

[woody90gtz]

Video with the rear upgrade done:
https://youtu.be/zofQmk3FDGU