I recently bought a hot rod built in the 50's that has been sitting dormant since about 1960. It is going to be a bit before I get it home and start working on it. There is a lot to do on it, but since I know that I'll be having to redo all of the brakes, I'd like to install a dual reservoir master cylinder. I believe the front brakes are 30's Mopar and the rears are 30's LaSalle. While I know that I'll need to verify the bore size of the existing wheel cylinders (or what I will be replacing them with), I'm hoping to at least start getting the ball rolling to identify what I should be looking for, considering, and the best venders to go to. Thanks for your help
Not knowing what the car is, a good dual reservoir system to check out is the Wilwood 260-7563. Has two remote reservoirs that firewall mount for easy access and inspection. Can be set up for drum/drum or disc/drum easily. A lot of early cars had 1/4" brake lines that will need to be replaced with 3/16".
That wildwood unit is nice and work great on my truck the way I am setting it up but the 1 inch bore may not move enough fluid to push the pistons in those wheel cylinders. Wilwood Disc Brakes - Master Cylinders Description That is kind of a mixed bag, you can either have higher pressure or you can have a master cylinder that pushes enough fluid to easily apply the brakes but may take a tad more pedal effort.
Wilwood tech has helped me a few times. Or you can measure wheel cyl size, compare that to the wheel cyl size to master cyl bore sizes of other cars. Sounds confusing. Places like Rock Auto list bore sizes and application for a MS. Such as drum/drum, disc/drum or disc/disc. So dual drum with a dual MS cyl narrows your selection. Say in the mid 60s to early 70s. Compare the wheel cyl size of say a late 60s nova to the wheel cyl size you have on your car. Keep comparing to ya find a close match. It’s a little time consuming but works. or do the math. Don’t ask me or just rebuild/replace the single pot MS. I’ve put a lot of miles on em with no issues.
I used a generic GM "Corvette" style one on my '29 roadster with a 1940 Ford pedal assembly and one of those 3 bolt to 2 bolt master cylinder adapters, '40s Ford front brakes and '66 Bronco 9" brakes. I got a decent pedal in the garage but haven't driven it yet. I may upgrade the front brakes to F100s or those fancy new Lincoln style ones but I won't make that decision until after I've driven it.
The Jalopy Journal
