It's time to start putting some of information on what we have done to the car so far. This will not be chronological 3-4 of us were working on the car, and doing different jobs at different times. I've tried to group the updates in to specifics, this post is about the braking system!
The Braking System
When I arrived at Lees garage for the first time, I found him rolling around on the floor having started without us!
The first priority was to get the brakes stripped down. They weren't particularly effective, and pulled badly when the brake pedal was pushed. Looking at this photo of one of the rear brakes, you can see exactly where the problems were coming from. The front discs and pads were better condition, but still needed changing.
All the discs, pads and brake shoes were removed so they could be replaced. Paul (
@pgunter) got his hands dirty too - the first time he has played with brakes for a few years!
Once everything was stripped down ready to be replaced with shiny new discs, Lee wanted to make sure it all looked nice underneath. Out with the wire brush and the calipers & rattle clips were given a quick spray over.
After the years of crud and corrosion was removed.
Lee's ad hoc spray booth.
One of the problems of wearing gloves while working is sometimes you are left with a tide mark at the end of the evening...
Finally we are ready to start rebuilding the brakes. Lee got stuck straight in to it, or possibly he was having forty winks
Even Lee needs to RTFM occasionally
New handbrake shoes fitted (I had a spare set which didn't get used on Rosie, so donated them to the cause).
A completed front brake disc and pad - oooh it's sooo shiny
Bleeding brakes! I hate bleeding brakes... so Lee did it! Used one of the pressure fed systems take connects to a road wheel, then just a case of letting the bleed nipple expel the bubbles! There was quite a bit of air in the system, and one of the rear bleed nipples was clogged.
Now Panther has brand new brakes all round, and after a test drive the difference was impressive!