Personally, if it were me, I'd replace it right away - if it stuck once, it will stick again sometime, and most likely in the worst place possible. Not worth the risk.
Personally, if it were me, I'd replace it right away - if it stuck once, it will stick again sometime, and most likely in the worst place possible. Not worth the risk.
Daryl, as usual you’ve twisted every point I’ve made into what meaning fits you. We’re done.
And by the way, I earned every scrap the hard way. Self-taught, self-motivated, worked at least 75,000 hours over 25 years... then lost everything by living in a country that thinks medicine is a privilege to live or die by. Definition of barbarism, but super-glad you’re okay with such a system. Look up “sociopathy.”
T-Tom, well done. Great parenting, and I hope you and the Missus realize the path you cut.Most don’t have that, which seems part of points I failed to clarify.
Last edited by E1pix; 12.12.20 at 10:05 PM.
Choice/no choice. That's not twisting the meaning.Originally Posted by E1pix
Greed is subjective...we can disagree on what constitutes greed.
As far as claiming "as usual, and we're done" That easily? Over a disagreement? Whatever suits you. Godspeed.
The only “disagreement” is my having humanity, and you preferring money.
No point arguing that.
I agree with that, but...
There was never a loss of braking function, just a very low pedal (brakes still worked fine) and the warning light. That was the mystery until we (the ApexSpeed community) figured it out.
I think it was the fact that I hadn't triggered the rear brake adjustment mechanism enough (by braking semi-hard in reverse) to take out the slop in the rear shoes. The DPV is designed to act exactly as it did and set off the warning light when there is a significant volume of fluid that passes through it w/o enough line pressure on either front or rear to keep it centered. So I don't expect a repeat of this scenario.
So I am still in the mode of assuming this was a fluke issue due to the lack of use of the self-adjusters in the rear, and won't likely repeat, as long as I trigger the rear self-adjuster mechanism more often.
A likely contributing factor is that over the previous winter I had the rear drums off to replace their seals for about the umpteenth time, this time with better seals (supposedly, improved polymer). At the same time I removed and cleaned the rear shoes, also for the umpteenth time, because they had diff lube on them from the leaky seals. And I probably didn't pay enough attention to shoe clearance adjustment as I should have after I used the van for the 1st racing trip.
As I said, if it happens again, it's no longer just a fluke, and I'll replace it.
Last edited by DaveW; 12.13.20 at 11:19 AM.
Dave Weitzenhof
That's good that you agree to disagree. But I don't view Daryl's viewpoint as only greed (wanting money), but as emphasizing freedom of choice and hard work.
IMO, there is a lot of truth in both of your viewpoints. But this thread was initially about my brake issue, not politics. So let's leave it there.
Last edited by DaveW; 12.13.20 at 11:18 AM.
Dave Weitzenhof
See my reply in post #45. I think it was functioning as designed and picked up the excess play in the rear shoes.
Dave Weitzenhof
Same here. I build, repair, remodel, fix whatever I can.
Jim Gustafson
Jim - I plan to memorise this, so next time I get 'that look' when I announce the forthcoming arrival of another tired and bewildered old race-car, I shall have a response!
Just tell her that she'll always know where you are outside playing...
“Racing makes heroin addiction look like a vague wish for something salty.” -Peter Egan
Mystery brake fluid leak
I had a propane powers step can to work out of in Florida back in the 80's. Kept adding brake fluid. Couldn't find leak for weeks. Finally gave it a very close visual inspection. The brake line to the front brakes on the passenger side ran through a crossmember that was filled with Florida's sugar sand. It had soaked up pints of brake fluid without dropping a drop. Just a heads up if you're tracking down a fluid leak. They can hide in some unexpected places. Glad Dave got his sorted. I've had the "soft" internal rubber lines many on vehicles over the decades.
Minnesota is notorious for applying copious amounts of salt to Winter roads. Had an F150 that blew out the front brake lines due to hidden rust. No worries. Still had rear brakes until I needed them slowing into town. Ended up aiming for a dumpster beside a Dollar store as the rear line blew out from hidden rust. Emergency brake was of little use.
Now, I visually inspect all my vehicles for hidden rusty bits each year.... Cab mounts. Leaf spring brackets. Etc. Kinda like a serious preflight walk around
"An analog man living in a digital world"
Corrected your 1st sentence...
I do the same on our vehicles - but the van has very little rust since it isn't used in salty conditions, which we have a LOT of here in NE Ohio with lake-effect snow.
Dave Weitzenhof
Pro Tip - Vintage racing means the race car is old. You don't have to have a vintage tow vehicle. Buy something from THIS century.
*grin*
As I said before, I have this compulsion to fix old stuff rather than replace it. Plus I'd have to either install a bunch of shelves, etc. in the new tow vehicle to carry all the stuff that I currently carry in the van, or get a much larger trailer to fit it all in there. In addition, after owning the van so long, I carry spares and tools for almost anything I could fix that might fail during a trip. That's saved our butts several times.
It's also fun to have pretty much the oldest everything - tow vehicle, trailer, racecar, driver, etc. running the FRP F2000 Series.
Last edited by DaveW; 12.22.20 at 10:42 AM.
Dave Weitzenhof
brakes
Interesting comments so far on the brakes. My brother who lives in Wisconsin had the steel brake lines on his Excursion rust through and was lucky enough to be able to stop and fix it before any real damage . This vehicle only had about 70k miles on it and wasn't even driven that much in the winter with the salt and all. Don't remember ever hearing about brake line rusting failures in the past so don't know if the material has changed or the salt and whatever materials used now on streets has changed as well. Living in the peoples republic of California we are fortunate enough, unless you live near the beach, to have the undersides stay the same way as they were manufactured years later. Was also amazed to see the diff cover actually rust through to where he had to replace the sheet metal cover as it was leaking!
Living in the rust belt...
We've been lucky - we've never had a brake line rust through, but we've sold or traded in several rusty vehicles because I was afraid something like that was probably due to happen, and I didn't want it to happen while Sherrie was driving.
Dave Weitzenhof
One time for myself, 1975. I built my own FV engines and since I did not have a dyno I would put them in my '64 VW Bug convertible and break them in / test them out on a local section of interstate. At the end of a good run I turned onto the off ramp doing about 80, applied the brakes, and heard a "POP" along with a geyser of brake fluid beside my seat. Single master in those days so no brakes. I judged that I would still be doing about 50 or so when I got to the stop sign and determined spinning it was the only answer. I was really happy I had installed a camber compensator on the old bug as it did the trick and I slid to a stop sideways.
For those that don't know, the brake line in the old bugs ran alongside the center tunnel inside the cabin. Convertibles would often get water in this area, and steel and water seems to last about 10 years in a bug
There should be three awards at the runoffs:
1. Oldest driver to compete
2. Oldest car to race
3. Oldest tow vehicle
How about an award for longest tow by a driver bringing his own car? Special award if it's an open trailer?
“Racing makes heroin addiction look like a vague wish for something salty.” -Peter Egan
Pay for the tow alltogeter if it is a production car flat towed behind an E-Type Jag.
Lola: When four springs just aren't enough.
There was a young man who showed up driving his B-Spec to the Runons at Laguna, begging for take off tires, sleeping in a tent at the track. I think he finished 5th IIRC.
“Racing makes heroin addiction look like a vague wish for something salty.” -Peter Egan
Had the van out on the road for the first time since we came home from Road Atlanta. The brake pedal felt noticeably more firm than than before the DPV incident. So there apparently WAS too much slop in the rear brake shoes which I got rid of by intentionally braking hard in reverse (triggers the self adjustment mechanism) at least 20 or 30 times. There was also no sign of the excessive rear brake lockups that I was feeling when I got home before re-centering the DPV.
So I think the root cause diagnosis of triggering the DPV by having too much fluid flow to the rear brakes was correct and I expect no more trouble with this.
Dave Weitzenhof
Update
Update after CMP and M-O: Brakes continue to work perfectly.
Dave Weitzenhof
Be careful
FFS Dave don't end up in the Fallen Friends section.Update after CMP and M-O: Brakes continue to work perfectly.
Chevrolet parts are not expensive.Backing up to reset rear drums? Really.
Just leave plenty of options (distance and time) when towing. Yes, we have all towed like ***holes at one time or another. Why?
No hurry, the line up at reg. is always slow. Your first stop anyway. Then the paddock marshal is a ***ler etc etc.
2 cents. Take it as you will.
KR.
That's the way the old Chevy 1-ton rear drum brakes work. The self-adjuster only adjusts when the van is firmly braked in reverse. It is covered in the '74 1-ton van manual. One can adjust manually, but that is not nearly as good at getting proper adjustment.
As far as driving safely, in 300K+ towing miles over 47 years with this vehicle I have never had a serious incident and I don't plan to have one now.
Last edited by DaveW; 05.10.21 at 3:29 PM.
Dave Weitzenhof
74 Chev
I always try to learn something new every day. Thanks for that one. Dave.
Stay safe and keep rollin. Mosport in the future maybe?
Cheers. Ken.
I'd love to go back to Mosport. That is one of my all-time favorite tracks !
Dave Weitzenhof
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