Now, on with the SIII brake conversion

[thixon]

The SIII pedal box I bought won't be in my hands until the end of september. Trouble is, I want to finish painting before then. Can anyone help me with photos, and measurements on the necessary wing cut out that I'll need to make to get servo and cylinder to fit? Since I probably live too far from anyone who can help to buy them a beer in person, I'll have to resort to fedex'ing said helpful soul a beer of their choosing.

Oh yeah, as usual I'll post pics of what I do.

Thanks,

[adkrover]

I'll be reunited with my truck on Saturday evening and can send some photos and dimensions over the weekend if you can't get someone else.

[adkrover]

Here are a few photos. It's a very tight fit on the wing but if it were cut much more, the bonnet wouldn't cover the hole. There are 2 additional items you'll need also.

The first is a Series III clutch master cylinder because the Series II used a shared reservoir. I think I paid about $35 for my new one.

The second is a mud shield from a Series III or you can modify your existing with some sheet metal. Because the cylinder extends further forward to allow room for the booster, the shield also has to move forward at the top.

The previous owner did the installation of the brake unit so I don't know for sure but I suppose you could do a little "tweeking" to the mount at the firewall to angle the cylinder toward the center line of the vehicle to get a bit more clearance on the wing cutout. I think even just a single flat washer inserted in the proper place would do it.

On mine, you would pretty much need to locate a point 16 1/4" away from the firewall and 8" in from the seam at the outside top of the wing. Once you have that point, follow the angle of the bonnet to make your cut. Even if it is more than you need, the extra space will allow you enough room to check and top off the clutch reservoir on the new clutch master.

The cylinder needs 4" of depth from the top of the wing to allow for the cylinder and brake line.

Let me know if you need any other measurements or photos. There's no guarantee that mine will be the same as yours. There's definitely room for tweeking and twisting.

[adkrover]

Here are a few more

[thixon]

Many thanks to Greenmeanie and Adkrover for the help. I appreciate the photos, and drawings from both of you.

I made the cut over the weekend, and primed the wing for painting. Now I just need to hope it all fits!

Thanks again, and I'll post some pics soon.

[leafsprung]

you dont actually NEED the SIII clutch master. You can continue using your old one. You can even move the remote reservior to somewhere easily accessable like on the engine side of the brake tower (instead of having it tucked up under the wing). Simply cap the now unused outlet on the reservior for the brakes. Roll those edges on the cut, makes the fender much stiffer.

[thixon]

Thanks Ike. I rolled the edges, and it came out okay. It was a bugger at the curve of the cut. I used a hammer and dolly around that area. It doesn't look like a machined flange, but it did the truck.

Since I've made the commitment, I'll probably go the distance (sIII master, and servo). The truck is still a work in progress, so I have time to decide. I do like the remote reservoir idea though, and am planning that for the clutch.

Thanks,

[thixon]

Well,

Here it is. Thanks to all who helped with advice and photos.

[SafeAirOne]

Nice job with the flange! Looks good! I don't see any cracking, which can occur when you bend aluminum in a fairly tight radius like this.

After looking at the sample photos from adkrover, I was going to suggest that you flush-rivet a piece of 90-degree aluminum angle to the bottom side to stiffen it up. Fortunately, leafsprung beat me to it and with a much more elegant suggestion at that!