Upgrade to Wilwood Master Cylinder: Brakeline plumbing questions

watermelon · Oct 9, 2010

Hi All,

I am looking to upgrade the master cylinder on my 1966 Coronet 500. The car currently has drum brakes all around with a single-reservoir master cylinder.

I am going to upgrade the front brakes to Wilwood discs but I want to upgrade the master cylinder as well. Below is the master cylinder that I currently have and the one I am going to upgrade to:

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I am going to get the Wilwood master cylinder from Reily Motorsports as they sell a package that includes a firewall adapter plate from AR Engineering.

From the below pics you can see that I have a single hard line exiting the master cylinder to some type of brake line bulkhead that splits the lines into front passenger, front drive, and rear drums. The Wilwood has two hard lines exiting from it. What kind of hard line brake plumbing changes am I looking at doing for the upgrade? Do I have to get a new bulkhead thing? What size of hard brakeline do I need to run if any? I know I need to run a least two lines out of the Wilwood but where to they run to?

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I look forward to your responses.

Thanks,

watermelon

1badgtx · Oct 9, 2010

TRy these guys..
www.justsuspension.com
They have a red bore master kit..It got good raves in muscle mag..Yes you will need the firewall thingy..
Petty Blue 67 GTX

watermelon · Oct 9, 2010

1badgtx said:
TRy these guys..
www.justsuspension.com
They have a red bore master kit..It got good raves in muscle mag..Yes you will need the firewall thingy..
Petty Blue 67 GTX

Thanks. I looked into them already. Does your master cylinder look like the one I have posted at the top?

I guess my main question is that my original master cylinder has only one hard line exiting from it while the Wilwood has two; where do the two lines run? Do they run to a tee and then into the original bulkhead thing?

I recall my Dodge Dart had a dual reservoir master cylinder. I never paid attention to where the hard lines ran.

watermelon

1badgtx · Oct 10, 2010

Nope mine is different...I have two lines...One for front and the other for the rear...My car had power assist 4 wheel drums...I did a disc brake swap on the front with a booster..You are gonna need to run two hard lines...One for front and one for rear..
Petty Blue 67 GTX

watermelon · Oct 10, 2010

1badgtx said:
Nope mine is different...I have two lines...One for front and the other for the rear...My car had power assist 4 wheel drums...I did a disc brake swap on the front with a booster..You are gonna need to run two hard lines...One for front and one for rear..
Petty Blue 67 GTX

Ok. That makes sense. On your master cylinder, does the line closest to the firewall supply the rear brakes?

I guess i'm going to need a tee for the front and one for the rear. I will probably get the proportioning valve as well.

watermelon

1badgtx · Oct 10, 2010

Yeah the line closest to the firewall is for the rear...I didi,nt have to run a proportioning valve..You may not need it until you auctually drive the car to see if the fronts kick in first..
Petty Blue 67 GTX

watermelon · Oct 10, 2010

1badgtx said:
Yeah the line closest to the firewall is for the rear...I didi,nt have to run a proportioning valve..You may not need it until you auctually drive the car to see if the fronts kick in first..
Petty Blue 67 GTX

great. thanks. i can figure that puzzle out.

i purchased a 7/8" bore size Wilwood master cylinder and it says the outlets are 1/2-20 UNF for both the primary and secondary outlets.

what size lines are needed?

i am probably gonna pick up a flaring tool and tubing bender off amazon.

thanks again,

watermelon

Redhorse719 · Oct 10, 2010

watermelon said:
Thanks. I looked into them already. Does your master cylinder look like the one I have posted at the top?

I guess my main question is that my original master cylinder has only one hard line exiting from it while the Wilwood has two; where do the two lines run? Do they run to a tee and then into the original bulkhead thing?

I recall my Dodge Dart had a dual reservoir master cylinder. I never paid attention to where the hard lines ran.

watermelon

If you have drum brakes all around and are not changing the front to discs, then you need to remove the rear brake line from the distribution block and extend it to the rear port of the master cylinder then connect the front port to the distribution block and plug the extra hole where the rear line was. You are changing one system into two systems.

watermelon · Oct 11, 2010

Mr Belvedere said:
If you have drum brakes all around and are not changing the front to discs, then you need to remove the rear brake line from the distribution block and extend it to the rear port of the master cylinder then connect the front port to the distribution block and plug the extra hole where the rear line was. You are changing one system into two systems.

thanks.

i plan on upgrading the fronts brakes to disc using a Wilwood kit.

i am guessing the proportioning valve is run in-line with the rear brake hard line. where are these valves typically located on the car?

Let me know if the diagram I made up below looks about right in order to get the job done:

[/IMG]

What size brake line is typical on these cars?

I don't have any calipers to measure things with but i'll be picking some up tomorrow. I guess i'll stick with the same size as with what is already in there whenever I go to purchase line.

do you know if i'll need anything more than a flaring tool and tubing bender tool?

thanks again all,

watermelon

ilm65 · Mar 16, 2011

Puzzled & Need HELP.

I too, am considering upgrading to a Wilwood master for my 65 Satellite (3404 lbs.)--currently have the standard dual reservoir master. I have a Stainless Steel Brake Company front disc conversion kit (11" rotors) with proportioning valve to the rears. I have to use extreme pressure to stop quickly and have been told a smaller bore sized master cylinder would really help. Wilwood offers both a 1" bore and a 7/8" bore. I understand I'll encounter a softer pedal, but it's better than using two feet. What am I in for? HELP!!!

dantrap · Mar 27, 2011

Watermelon, your schmetic is correct. I put the adjustable proportional valve along the sub-frame connectors up out of the way. You can mount it out of site close to your floor or fab a support bracket out of sheet metal and tackit to the floor. Once you install everything, blead the system and test it. you will be able to set the prop. valve and forget about it. Some car may not even require its use. From my experience it depends on the tire mix/type and weight of the vehicle. Good luck, should be fairly easy install.

Upgrade to Wilwood Master Cylinder: Brakeline plumbing questions

watermelon

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watermelon

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1badgtx

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watermelon

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