Power brakes or Manual?

[JustinB]

BBC with very little vacuum and running a manual Wilwood front/rear setup with a 7/8 bore master. Hit the pedal hard and if you are not paying attention and you will bury yourself into the steering wheel. We have a number of kits that we can offer you. Feel free to call, PM, or email for pricing and info.

[ProdigyCustoms]

How well the manual brakes work depends a lot on how the system was designed. If you use a system that was designed as a power assist system, there is a delicate line in getting the volume / pressure right. A system like Wilwood will work great as a manual system because it is designed to be a manual system, but you can run power assist if you choose.

We sell more then half our Wilwood Total Car G Machine Brake packages as manual systems as many of our cars and customers cars are big HP, big cam, or blown turbo / blower cars, that make little vacuum.

It gets a little tricky with getting proper pedal feel and volume with disc / drums. The small bore / high pressure master does not work great with disc / drum set ups. A larger bore works much better for volume but makes for a fairly firm pedal. So it really becomes a one or the other situation.

I could talk for hours on the subject. But I type with 2 fingers, LOL!

[Taman]

How do you change the pedal ratio on a 2nd gen TA?

[The WidowMaker]

its all about where the hole is located on the pedal. if you move your foot 6" and the pushrod moves 1" you have a 6:1. its just the ratio from the pivot point of the pedal to the mounting point of the pushrod and from the pivot point of the pedal to the foot pad on the pedal.

[Vegas69]

Originally Posted by The WidowMaker

its all about where the hole is located on the pedal. if you move your foot 6" and the pushrod moves 1" you have a 6:1. its just the ratio from the pivot point of the pedal to the mounting point of the pushrod and from the pivot point of the pedal to the foot pad on the pedal.

It's the length of the pedal arm and distance from the pivot point to the pushrod. If the distance from the pivot point to the pushrod hole gets to short, you sacrifice piston stroke.

I'm switching to a 1" bore master in my manual system. 7/8 is great in a street car but it's got it's drawback on the track.
I diagree Greg. There are advantages of power systems. It covers up brake pad knockback with a much larger piston. It's also better in a daily driver. How many factory cars have manual brakes?

[GregWeld]

There is a "newb" for brakes posting on here - in the brake section - that will show you "pedal ratio" and what it means etc. You'll have to search for the post -- if you don't want to do that - then just google "brake pedal ratio" and you should find all kinds of info.

Todd -- Power brakes are for pussies...

Covering up something is not the same as FIXING it.

[Vegas69]

I like manual brakes on the race track but they have their drawbacks. More pedal travel, more pedal pressure, more susceptable to knock back. If I was going to build a real touring car, it would have power or hydraboost. End of story. Maybe I'm just really bitter but I've never been thrilled anywhere but the Road Course.

[Taman]

I understand what pedal ratio is. How is it adjustable? Does one need to drill another hole or is it already there? I agree about the power brakes. Automatics are the same unless your car never came with one.

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by The WidowMaker

its all about where the hole is located on the pedal. if you move your foot 6" and the pushrod moves 1" you have a 6:1. its just the ratio from the pivot point of the pedal to the mounting point of the pushrod and from the pivot point of the pedal to the foot pad on the pedal.

Not sure where you got that info -- but it's pure crappola....

If you can move your brake pedal 6" -- you'd have your foot on the FLOORBOARD....

[GregWeld]

Todd --

I know a good mechanic if you need one...