1976 Trans Am Resto-Mod

[ryeguy2006a]

I was able to get in the garage on Friday afternoon for a few hours. I have been having a lot of trouble getting my brakes bled after I did the C5 front brake conversion. My dad and I had about 10 hours logged into trying to get the brakes bled over the past few weeks. It had boggled my mind that it was taking this long and we weren't getting anywhere because we tried everything. I thought that it was the proportioning valve since that was the only piece of the system that wasn't new or refurbished. The worst part of the whole deal, was that before I put the C5 brakes on, all of the brakes were working fine? So we were all lost as to what the problem could be.

I finally said that enough was enough and we pulled the Master Cylinder off and started from there. I was very surprised to find that there was quite a bit of rust on the back of the master cylinder around the pump? Upon further inspection we found that the front plunger was sticking? I bought a new/refurbished piece from a local parts store about 4 years ago and thought that it would be good. I guess it makes me think differently about some of the auto parts stores. Since I needed a new one, I called Tobin at Kore3 and he told me that I wouldn't be happy with the petal feel on the stock MC with the 1 1/8th inch bore. He said that a good cheaper alternative to buying an aftermarket piece would be to buy a stock 68-76 C3 Corvette Manual brake MC. These come with a 1" Bore which is the same as the bore on the factory C5 brakes. It should give me the same petal feel as the factory C5 and much better stopping power than the original brakes.

Now, although I was upset that I spent all that time thinking that I had a good MC, I was happily surprised to find out that the parts store actually gave me a full exchange price on the MC I bought 4 years ago and the C3 MC was cheaper than the one I originally bought so I ended up getting back $8 in change! I didn't think that was too bad. The C3 MC was completely bolt in, with the exception of having to make a spacer to make up for the difference with the brake petal plunger. It took me around 20 mins to make the spacer and it fit great. I will get some pictures next weekend when I go to work on the car. I was able to get the new MC installed in about 20 mins and bled in about another 20 mins. It is amazing to me that it was as simple as getting a new MC, and it actually looks fairly stock. I am completely happy with my upgrade now.

That is all for now.



Ryan