The Project '69 Resto Thread - Uh-Ohh... 10-18-14

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Looks great as usual Bill!

I can tell you this.....when I converted to power discs on mine my brake pedal is now even with the gas pedal.....manual brakes had the pedal much higher.

[bill440rt]

Thanks Chris, that's reassuring.     I've been driving my '68 all this season which has manual brakes, guess that threw me off.

I played around with it a little more. Brake light switch has to be in the lowest mounting point, but I adjusted it as far back as it will go. Brake pedal is now about an inch higher than the gas pedal. That's about what it is in my '70, which also has PB.

Got the Hydroboost plumbed yesterday, the rest of the brakes should be here today! 

[bill440rt]

Moving right along...
Brakes.... finally... came! 

Stayed up 'til 1:30am working in the garage, got the rears on. They went on nicely with no big hassles.
Since swapping brakes, of course none of the rear brake lines or M/C lines will line up anymore from the old SSBC crap. So, made some mock-ups using heavy coat-hanger wire. They'll be sent off tomorrow to Fine Lines who will convert them to stainless steel.

Our very own ChrisG. stopped by this afternoon to check out the progress. Thanks for keeping me company, Chris! 

Starting working on the fronts tonite. I should have the fronts done by the weekend, then on to the parking brake cables.
Although it's coming along, it looks like it'll be another short wait while the lines are getting done.
I'm growing impatient!! 

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Looking good buddy!

[resq302]

Looks great Bill.   Those parts better come fast.  It looks like you are getting creative with your spare time and painted the still jack the color combo of your 70.   

[bill440rt]

Looks great Bill.   Those parts better come fast.  It looks like you are getting creative with your spare time and painted the still jack the color combo of your 70.   

Good eye, Brian! 
Those jack stands were done a l-o-n-g time ago when I first finished the '70. Took it to a show & displayed it with the wheels off, once. Never did that again, what a PitA!!! 

Well, brakes are on, waiting for a safety wire kit to finish it off. Got the parking brake cables run, just need a small hill to tweak final adjustment.    Kit came with generic lokar-type cables, basically cut to fit. A little creativity, and it was done.
I will say this, based now on visuals alone, the quality of the Wilwood stuff far surpasses the SSBC. Fitment is much better, and brake component mounts are SOLID.
Waiting now for a few small parts to come in, especially the lines so I can finish it up. Hopefully it will be driveable again before I have to put it away for winter!   

[Belgium R/T -68]

I'm awaiting your result of the brakeperformance Bill, if they are good I will follow you this winter.
Mine are not working as I want brakes to work.

Per

[bill440rt]

I'm awaiting your result of the brakeperformance Bill, if they are good I will follow you this winter.
Mine are not working as I want brakes to work.

Per

Per, I'm patiently awaiting the result, too!  

Here are a few more shots. Rears are finished, fronts are fitted up & done. Just waiting for the safety wire kit to finish it off. Everything with the exception of the lines, really.
I also got the parking brake cables finished. The parking brake cables come as a universal kit, they are cut to fit. I ditched the adapter it came with & was able to mate them directly to the front main stock parking brake cable. With the exception of one bracket that I mounted to the inner frame rail, they route just like stock. They attach to the rear calipers with a clevis.
Just waiting for more parts, now...  

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Thats a nice setup.    What size are the rotors? I'm planning on doing a wilwood setup like yours on mine sometime soon.

[bill440rt]

Thats a nice setup.    What size are the rotors? I'm planning on doing a wilwood setup like yours on mine sometime soon.

Front rotors are just under 13". They are 12.88" to be exact. Wilwood states you need to run a minimum 17" wheel up front. They were kit# 140-10815D.
Rears rotors are 12.19". It was kit# 140-7144D for a 2.50" rear axle offset. You MUST specify rear axle offsets when ordering, as they are made depending on which offset you have.

[Hemidog]

Hey Bill, could you show a picture of the rear brake line connecting to the brake hose? how is it fastened to the axle?

[bill440rt]

Hey H-dog, will these pictures help?
The axle vent is threaded into the axle tube thru the brass rear brake junction block. The rubber flex line is mounted to the rear floor pan with a bracket, & then leads to the junction block. 

I got the lines back from Fine Lines a few days ago, and they are now installed. The lines damn near fit like a glove! I sent them crude lines mocked up from bent coat hanger, they made them up in stainless. They only needed minor tweaking in spots by hand, that was it. Fine Lines has always been an AWESOME company to do business with.

Started bleeding the power steering system first, then moved on to the brakes. Chasing a few very minor leaks here & there, a few lines just needed some more tightening especially at the aluminum fittings at the master cylinder. With stainless lines, you really need to crank them in tight to get a good seal. Bled the system, pedal still feels spongy & goes right to the floor. Has to be air still in the system somewhere. I'll try again tomorrow, hope to get the car driveable again over the weekend. This is seemingly taking forever. 

[Hemidog]

Those works great! thanks.
Looking good!

[autodynamics]

any updates?

[bill440rt]

any updates?

Hey, Pete! 

Thanks for reaching out. This whole thing right now has really tested the books on patience. Here's where I'm at:
Brakes are installed & plumbed, parking brake cables are installed and adjusted, Hydroboost is installed & working. PS system is bled, no leaks. Cooling system is also bled after installing another water pump (previous pump was leaking at the front main shaft seal).

I've basically been battling little leaks with the brake system. Just when I think it's bled & leak free, I'll let it sit overnight. I go out to the garage the next day, and there's a soft pedal again with a leak somewhere else. SS lines really need to be gone over several times to make sure they're leak-free, but I have them all good now.

So.... then I had all the line leaks fixed. Then, a bleeder screw on a front caliper started leaking.    Have to change a damn bleeder screw, it's leaking internally (they are 2-piece). More delays waiting for parts... ordered new ones from Summit just to get them here quickly. From Wilwood it takes 6 days to get.

Then... brake fluid started forming at the bottom of the rear calipers.    Turns out, they are leaking fluid out of the piston bores. Wilwood at first thought they might be simply be oozing assembly lube. But, they're not gonna ooze assembly lube for 3 days straight.

So... Off the rear calipers came, and back to Wilwood they go. Wilwood is going to test them, and either replace the seals or the calipers themselves as necessary. More lost time. 

I've completely written off this season to be able to do anything with this car. Show season is just about over here.
Keep in mind, this whole mess started in the middle of MAY. It is now OCTOBER and this still isn't finished yet. A simple brake swap has turned into complete lost time. Never in my life has a car tested my patience over something so simple.

Throughout all of this, there have been some companies that are absolutely wonderful to deal with. Moser had custom axles on my doorstep in a week. RMS had the Hydroboost delivered in 2 days, and has been stellar with over the phone tech support. Bill at Fine Lines had custom lines to me in less than a week, and their lines are on all my cars with no problems at all. Superb company. Even Wilwood has been great, they have excellent customer support & tech. Summit Racing has always been great, although for the first time in history they managed to screw up a small order and sent me a wrong item instead of the safety wire pliers I needed (lost almost a week on that one...).

I'm hoping to have the calipers back by the end of next week, depends how fast Wilwood & UPS are. They'll be going back on the car within seconds after UPS leaves. I'll then proceed to bleed the brakes again, for a 6th time. 

Stay tuned!

[Belgium R/T -68]

Feel your pain Bill, got my season ruined by brakes and transmission. Only thing I can say
is that it will be a summer next year aswell.

Per

[resq302]

Bill, your ordeal sounds very similar to what I did with my custom Hum J-7 Jeep.  I got very good at doing things multiple times and got so aggravated, shortly after I finished it and got it trouble free, I sold it.  Hopefully you will keep you ride and not sell it out of the bad memories.

[bill440rt]

Thanks, guys.     At least I'm not alone on this forum.

Brian, I can relate to you selling a Hum J-7. But a '69 CHARGER?     After all this time, why would I do that?? I might be going off the deep end a little with all this, but I'm not ready to check myself into the funny farm just yet.     

[autodynamics]

im sure allot of people dont know what it takes to get a car of that caliber. allot of grief headaches broken promises delay....and so on......its a war till you finish. then you still have to sort it out.....
before you know it your car will be done and you will be bored..... then your going to want to do more to it....
its a sickness......

[bill440rt]

im sure allot of people dont know what it takes to get a car of that caliber. allot of grief headaches broken promises delay....and so on......its a war till you finish. then you still have to sort it out.....
before you know it your car will be done and you will be bored..... then your going to want to do more to it....
its a sickness......

I'M DOWN WITH THE SICKNESS!!!!   

[bill440rt]

Can't describe the great feeling it was yesterday!!!  
Rear calipers came back from Wilwood this past Tuesday, got them on the car within seconds. Bled the brakes a few more times, tightened a few more lines at the rear calipers again, everything looked great. Then, it rained for two days.  

The weather cleared up & I was finally able to do some brake tests yesterday, & after inspecting it again after the preliminary tests everything still looked good. So, for the first time after waiting 6 damn months the car finally saw the road again!!  

The Wilwood system combined with the Hydroboost performs amazing. Really a positive feeling brake system. Just drove around the backroads here a bit, stopped a few times to check things again, & went back out some more.

I stopped at a nearby empty parking lot to snap a few pics.
Despite the temptation, I didn't want to drive it too much because it has to go back for another wheel alignment. You can see the steering wheel is just slightly off center. No biggie.
The car ran great, handled great, stopped great, & felt great. A couple things need to be tweaked for some fine tuning is all.

Enjoy the pics. I gotta figure out how to upload videos now. YouTube, maybe??

[bill440rt]

A few more...

[tan top]

    awesome job    good pictures thanks for sharing 

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Woohoo Bill congrats bud

[BrianShaughnessy]

Great job Bill!       Congratulations on yet another spectacular project.