hi all do i need to put nuts on the brake pedal balance bar assembly to be sva legal even though it doesnt look like it will budge

anyone know

Balance bar must be locked mate for SVA
if its not youll give him a reason to drop his pants and play with himself plus give you a naughty mark

not good

cheers mate any idea how i set the thing before the car is actually on road or not being able to get it to a rolling road

can i lock it with split pins at each end or does it have to be nuts as i dont know the thread size.

i also have different size master cylinders one at .625 and one at .7 which one should power the front is it the .7 as i would assume but may be wrong

more power to the front deff

you really need to drive up and down the road loads and slam the brakes on loads of times

otherwise come sva they may not be working good enough yet and its the machine that passes you not the bloke on that one

can you take a pic of balance bar

A tip that worked a treat for me was to drill through the side of the locking nuts with a hole size that will be a push fit for a roll pin. Then cut a roll pin in half so that you can push one half into each side of the lock nut but ensure that it does not go through the centre of the nut.

So once it's fully assembled it looks as though the pin goes right through the threaded bar and it makes for easy adjustment at the SVA centre if necessary. Of course you should secure the pin properly once your brakes are set up correctly.

Rich

.625 to the front and .7 or .75 to the rear. The smaller diameter master cylinder gives you higher line pressure, which is what you want at the front.

Eddy

that is what i have donw with the cylinder so that is ok. i cant get photo till next weekend but it is very similar if not the same as this one

i thought the larger cylinder allows you to put more pressure on the front but by the sounds of it i would be wrong.

if i remember correctly

pressure = force/area

therefore smaller area = higher pressure ( thus more braking)

someone will correct me if I'm wrong

quote:

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Originally posted by myeates
i thought the larger cylinder allows you to put more pressure on the front but by the sounds of it i would be wrong.

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just thought of something else how far should i screw in the master cylinder threads in to the knuckles

The split-pin-cut-in-half bodge is the classic though SVA testers know to look out for it, and if they find it, they're not going to be too pleased. My experience is if you present an honest car they'll bend over backwards to help, if they think you're trying to pull a fast one, they'll start getting worried and be a bit more careful about the fine points....

Rivetting a box over the whole caboodle can work, though sometimes the SVA man has asked for it to be removed to see if the bias bar can be adjusted. On my test they didn't however....

The latest version of KitCar magazine (why the hell do I buy them- four articles and half last years kit car guide... at least twenty minutes reading.....) seemed to suggest that if the bias bar has an adjuster then locking that with a split pin will surfice. I personally don't believe that- why would you fit an adjuster knob if you're only ever going to adjust it once (before drilling and pinning it).... When SVA came out first the testers were more of a "I expect those pieces of trim will fall off on the way home" attitude, now they're a bit more careful...

Even if you split-pin it, you might still get done on sharp edges.

I'd use a couple of nylocks to nips it up just in case they ask you to remove the cover (which to be honest, I need to do anyway!!!) and then cover it in a box. Mine was just two plywood side pieces with a curved ali sheet with holes cut in for the pedals... Side pieces glued in place with a little GRP re-inforcement (overkill admitidly) then covered in vinyl... Then riveted to the floor sheeting to secure (and velcro'd at the back to the firewall)... Took about a couple of hours to make and Mr SVA was all smiles...

2p's worth.

Last MNR I took to beverly did not need the bias bar locking off screwed the bais all the way one way Passed. srewed it all the other way it passed.

Sva man happy.

regards

agriv8

Apparently Gillingham allows the bias bar to be left adjustable - I will test this rule on 8th January

2 points-

1- don't risk a 'fake' roll pin. My SVA tester had a pair of pliers on the roll pins on my bias bar to make sure they were not fake. He gave them a good tug. It is not worth the risk.

2- If the brakes pass the brake test with the bias bar set at both extremes, then in theory there should be no requirement to lock the bias bar. Normally the problem is being able to get too much rear bias.

I think i may have the master cylinders the wrong way round are my brakes still going to work ok?

thanks guys just got to get the thing out and find out what threads it is then will nip up with nylocs for safe measure.

RazMan can you let us know how you get on

quote:

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Originally posted by soggy 3
I think i may have the master cylinders the wrong way round are my brakes still going to work ok?

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they should work but from what people have said you will have more power at rear. would it be worth the 30min or hour it will take to change them around

I have willwood master cylinders fitted the one going to the front has 3/4 on it the rear one 5/8 are they the right way round?
never mind worked it out ,bugger another job to rectify

[Edited on 15/12/06 by soggy 3]

there is always things to rectify but by doing this you learn. ive got to change mine around too

And by buying a part finished kit i have had to learn(rectify)pretty much everything!!

As I understand it, the smaller the master the less fluid it moves in the system for a given pedal movement.

So if you want more braking force then you would use a bigger master. Ive used .625 masters on front, back and clutch.

The smaller the bore of the master cylinder the force it will apply to the fluid but the more travel it will require to move the same amount of fluid.

Remember that force applied to the fluid and the amount of fluid moved are not the same thing.

If you apply 40 pounds to a piston that has an area of 2 square inchs, the system will be subjected to 20psi fluid pressure.

If you apply 40 pounds of pressure to a piston that has an area of 1 square inch the system will be subjected to 40 psi fluid pressure.

Generally, a car with a forward brake bias should have the smaller cylinder acting on the front brakes.

I have a wilwood screw type bias valve fixed on the rear of my car next to the diff.

He never mentioned it and he never adjusted it when he tested the brakes.

When I tested the brakes and emissions at the MOT centre before my SVA, the tester reckoned I could probably wind the bias all the way off and there would still be more braking on the front. He said it was probably because the pads were still bedding in.