ne
area racers tend to neglect is the brake master
cylinder. After all, it doesnÇt make the car
one bit quicker or faster, and if the thing
stops by the last turn-off road, why worry?
If you fall into that category, perhaps you
should. Here's why
There
are countless (different) master cylinders available
in today's marketplace, but for drag race door
car applications, or any application with four-wheel
brakes, be absolutely positive you use a dual
or "tandem" assembly. Obviously, a dual master
cylinder allows you to separate the brakes from
front to rear. When shopping for a dual master
cylinder, several features are critical, such
as the piston bore dimensions and the location
of the outlet ports. Believe it or not, many
master cylinders (including those for countless
late models with power brakes and ABS) have
the outlet ports on the "wrong" (engine) side.
This makes plumbing difficult (or impossible
in some situations). Further to this, some master
cylinders are not well suited to non-power boosted
vehicles such as those seen in drag racing.
So which master cylinder is right for
your application?
That depends, but for the most part, the
Mopar style
cylinders sold by Mark Williams Enterprises
are
perfect for the vast majority of "door
cars". Why?
Simple. At least two different bore sizes
are
readily available -- 1.00" and 1-1/8"
(a 1-1/32"
bore cylinder can sometimes be located
--
this is very close to a 1.00" assembly,
and it's
sometimes called that by the respective
manufacturer). We'll get into the need
for different
bore sizes in a minute. These master cylinders
are
manufactured with an aluminum body along
with a relatively
large capacity plastic reservoir with
dual outlet bores (which
correctly face the driver side fender
when mounted in the car).
If there is a shortcoming to this master
cylinder design, it's the
size of the outlet fittings. The front
fitting is a 9/16-20 Inverted
Flare while the rear is a 1/2-20 Inverted
Flare. Unfortunately,
it's difficult to find appropriate adapter
fittings for these flare
dimensions. Lamb Components does offer
a solution.
They manufacture special #3 A-N male adapters
specifically for these master cylinders
(these Lamb
fittings are relatively inexpensive and
a real frustration-saver). FYI, the master
cylinders sold by Mark Williams can have
these Lamb fittings installed as an option.
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When it comes to "door
car" drag race master cylinders, this
is one of the most common (and best) combinations.
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