I give up with brake bleeding

[vstol]

My Hyrdatech unit arrived today and looks great. Hope to have time this weekend and get it done.

[Hydratech®]

Hi Kevin - I'm glad to hear that you are pleased with what you have pulled out of the "magic black box" - heck, that's just our base model

Keep us posted - fire off any comments you may have good or bad, as all feedback is important (whether I like it or not), as it helps with the continuous evolution of our systems. If it takes you more than 15 minutes to bolt it to the firewall, then it's time for you to retire your wrenches (!)

[vstol]

When should I bleed the brakes, I did not see that in the instructions. I thought you said before I hook up the system's hoses.

[Hydratech®]

Hi Kevin - bleed the brakes just like you would with any other car - ENGINE OFF. This means that you can bleed the brakes before you even hook up the power steering line set. If you are going to bleed the brakes before hooking up the PS line set, place a towel under the brake unit as it will weep PS fluid out of the ports (as it has been fully dyno tested and is currently full of PS fluid). Note that the one major difference in a hydroboost system is that the brakes will be about a solid inch lower while the system is powered down versus when it is powered up (engine running). I personally prefer to have the PS system lines connected up and the preliminary fill / steer right and left procedure done before brake bleeding - you can even fire the engine up and check for proper power steering operations, but please DO NOT attempt brake bleeding with the system powered up (engine running).

http://hydratechbraking.com/braketech1.html

Here is the statement located in our instructions:

*IMPORTANT! NEVER APPLY THE BRAKES WHILE THE MASTER CYLINDER IS REMOVED, OR YOU MAY DESTROY THE BRAKE ASSIST UNIT BY POSSIBLY OVEREXTENDING THE POWER BRAKE UNIT’S OUTPUT PISTON OUT OF THE PRECISION BORE THAT IT OPERATES IN!

Having the MC installed is the safety stop / travel limiter to prevent this from happening. Imagine a piston popping to far out of its cylinder bore in an engine block (!)

*Perform brake bleeding procedures with the engine off for best results.

You may also dramatically misunderstand what you are feeling with the system bled and the brakes powered up (engine running) at first. I suggest you place the vehicle on a hoist or jack stands, place the vehicle into gear to get the rear tires spinning, then apply the brakes just enough to overcome engine torque of any kind, as this will give you the best idea as to how (little) you actually have to apply the brakes to stop the vehicle. Some people just blaze down on the brake pedal not understanding what they are feeling while the vehicle is sitting still, building 1600 PSI of line pressure thinking that something is weird / wrong (that is until they actually hit the streets!).

Scroll down to the bottom of this old webpage again for reference with the C3 Vette customer's feedback - he completely misunderstood what he was feeling in his brake response at first:

http://hydratechbraking.com/testimonials_old/

[vstol]

Originally Posted by Hydratech

Hi Kevin - bleed the brakes just like you would with any other car - ENGINE OFF. This means that you can bleed the brakes before you even hook up the power steering line set. If you are going to bleed the brakes before hooking up the PS line set, place a towel under the brake unit as it will weep PS fluid out of the ports (as it has been fully dyno tested and is currently full of PS fluid). Note that the one major difference in a hydroboost system is that the brakes will be about a solid inch lower while the system is powered down versus when it is powered up (engine running). I personally prefer to have the PS system lines connected up and the preliminary fill / steer right and left procedure done before brake bleeding - you can even fire the engine up and check for proper power steering operations, but please DO NOT attempt brake bleeding with the system powered up (engine running).

http://hydratechbraking.com/braketech1.html

Here is the statement located in our instructions:

*IMPORTANT! NEVER APPLY THE BRAKES WHILE THE MASTER CYLINDER IS REMOVED, OR YOU MAY DESTROY THE BRAKE ASSIST UNIT BY POSSIBLY OVEREXTENDING THE POWER BRAKE UNIT’S OUTPUT PISTON OUT OF THE PRECISION BORE THAT IT OPERATES IN!

Having the MC installed is the safety stop / travel limiter to prevent this from happening. Imagine a piston popping to far out of its cylinder bore in an engine block (!)

*Perform brake bleeding procedures with the engine off for best results.

You may also dramatically misunderstand what you are feeling with the system bled and the brakes powered up (engine running) at first. I suggest you place the vehicle on a hoist or jack stands, place the vehicle into gear to get the rear tires spinning, then apply the brakes just enough to overcome engine torque of any kind, as this will give you the best idea as to how (little) you actually have to apply the brakes to stop the vehicle. Some people just blaze down on the brake pedal not understanding what they are feeling while the vehicle is sitting still, building 1600 PSI of line pressure thinking that something is weird / wrong (that is until they actually hit the streets!).

Scroll down to the bottom of this old webpage again for reference with the C3 Vette customer's feedback - he completely misunderstood what he was feeling in his brake response at first:

http://hydratechbraking.com/testimonials_old/

Great I will hook it all up first then bleed. Can not wait!!

[vstol]

Looks like I will need to make another fuel line since the new setup is in the pathway of the current set up. .

[Hydratech®]

Back when I used to own Unlimited Racing in Detroit eons ago, we always had to discuss how one change always required other changes. Just installing a set of headers seemed simple to a customer, but always required further re-engineering to make it actually happen of everything around the headers. Sometimes a mini starter had to be installed, sometimes a double hump cross member, shorter spark plugs with different boot angles... Same with "just" installing a classic Holley carb - different fuel lines, different linkages, different air cleaner, jetting the carb, moving things around to accommodate the fuel bowls, and on and on and on...

Here is an image of a C2 Vette with an LS7 installed by https://www.streetshopinc.com/, showing how they chose to move the fuel line around the front of the hydraulic brake assist unit and master cylinder:



Hopefully you won't have to get too involved in re-engineering your fuel line!