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Monday, September 19, 2011

Automec Brake Line Kit (Part 2)

(Part 1 is here)
(Part 1 update is here)

Finally installed the last of the Automec brake and clutch lines. As with the chassis and axle lines, it's a bit hard to know exactly what to do, but thankfully my Land Rover was a relatively un-messed with example (meaning everything was thankfully more-or-less as it was when it left the factory), and it was more-or-less possible to see what might have been original line routing and what was just an ad-hoc repair job later.

As well, Peter at 3 Brothers Classic Rovers very kindly took some photos of the pedal box areas in some of his LHD Land Rovers, which enabled some cross referencing.

I don't know if the end result is accurate or not, but it does follow most of the available evidence I could find, and just tried to be logical and safe when in doubt. The brake pipe, as it exits the m/c, could have curved over and gone below the steering shaft (as it does on the clutch m/c), but it would have meant a very tight bend, plus I don't have a wheel that small on my bending tool! The only part that is definitely not standard is the aircraft rubber-cushioned clamp used to hold the clutch slave hose to the bukhead - it was just the right size, and a very high quality part, and does the job perfectly. Also routed the pipes along the curved edge of that part of the bulkhead, to give maximum access to the area behind the engine and things like the flywheel opening.

Not knowing how the pipe lengths would work out, the clutch line was done first, starting from the clutch master cylinder and working towards the rubber hose connection (as there's more flexibility with dimensions at that end), and then the brake line was done starting from the 5-way connection and ending at the brake master cylinder (as I estimated the most excess length would come in useful there).



The two lines are also clamped to the bulkhead at two places between the master cylinders and the clamps visible here. The direction of the brake line clamp, seen on the right, here, was reversed from the original as it was somewhat of an awkward fit as it overlapped the bend in the bulkhead; it also enabled a slightly more direct entry into the 5-way connector (just visible below).
How they were attached (or not!) before: