EK Holden - Dual Master Cylinder Q.

Mai Ki-Ki · Post by **Mai Ki-Ki** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 1:36 pm

My Ek runs dead stock drums (front and rear) and non-assisted single master cylinder setup. For safety I want to upgrade to a dual master cylinder (front and rear). Anyone done this without upgrading to disc etc?
I want to "Keep It Simple"...

Tah!

Maiki

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 1:42 pm

I have seen HQ style dual masters used with an alloy adapter on a friend's EH (same principle) The only drama being that the bonnett spring on that side had to be removed. Personally I would be looking at some of the Jap utes which ran 4 wheel drums with dual masters as they are smaller and more adaptable, though HQ Holden and XA Falcon bith had 4 wheel drums on some models. Call Peter at Hoppers Stoppers as he will probably be able to name one off the top of his head that will be perfect for the job.

devilrod · Post by **devilrod** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 1:45 pm

Maiki, just put discs on it.

Someone posted a link on the FB EK forum somewhere to a disc braked front end setup for a grey.......

Maybe talk to a GOOD brake place....(gotta find one first)

Mai Ki-Ki · Post by **Mai Ki-Ki** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 1:54 pm

Dave wrote:I have seen HQ style dual masters used with an alloy adapter on a friend's EH (same principle) The only drama being that the bonnett spring on that side had to be removed. Personally I would be looking at some of the Jap utes which ran 4 wheel drums with dual masters as they are smaller and more adaptable, though HQ Holden and XA Falcon bith had 4 wheel drums on some models. Call Peter at Hoppers Stoppers as he will probably be able to name one off the top of his head that will be perfect for the job.

TAH...i'LL MAKE A NOTE OF THAT....!

Cheers

Maiki

GRIFF · Post by **GRIFF** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 3:44 pm

I had a LJ Torana six once with four-wheel unboosted drums - guessing the dual circuit master cylinder from one of those might be suitable.

I'm building an EJ custom at the moment and am sticking with the unboosted drums - discs are for chicks! lol

FRANK BASILE · Post by **FRANK BASILE** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 8:27 pm

Also do some homework,Hoppers Stoppers may have something to recommend as suggested, but just swapping m/c,s is not straight forward,they also have varying bore sizes that can affect existing braking,then you get caught up swapping wheel cyls to correct a problem........Frank.

FRANK BASILE · Post by **FRANK BASILE** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 8:35 pm

Actually your original m/c has a bore of 25.4mm, this is the same as XA Falcon, HQ Holden, LJ ,LX Torana .Use drum /drum m/c of course hope this makes it easier,If you go to "www.pbr .com.au helps with the research...........Frank.

Oldcol · Post by **Oldcol** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 8:39 pm

Holden has used dual circuit since HK,just make sure you get one for a drum brake car,bore size is the same (1"),and you can get the cyl's with the pipework on either side,(look at HK-HQ-Torana) ,there are also different pushrod depths in the piston.As Dave said,make up an adapter to take the horizontal bolt pattern and mount it to the vertical bolt pattern on the firewall,dead easy , cheers,Col.

devilrod · Post by **devilrod** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 10:29 pm

GRIFF wrote:- discs are for chicks! lol

Obviously never driven in traffic on a daily basis huh? My EK's brakes were very average and well maintained. EH drums are a big improvement, but when my wife and kids are going to be using the car as much as me I know what I prefer. I am still really surprised at the performance difference in early holden drum setups, do a comparison, its scary!!!

Oldcol · Post by **Oldcol** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 11:10 pm

You're right Devilrod,EJ-HD brakes are a vast improvement over the earlier system,and it's a bolt up deal too.Worth thinking about,for sure.

GRIFF · Post by **GRIFF** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 12:44 pm

Discs are obviously better, and yep I converted my LJ to boosted discs for my lady to drive. But yeah, I drove an FJ with EH drums for many years in traffic (Sydney CBD!) and interstate...later converted it to HR discs - mainly at the behest of my worried parents! And while discs did feel better... I reckon the improvement is not worth going through the whole HR front end conversion thing again.
So I'm sticking with drums for my EJ - it fits theme of the build- crash box, mild grey motor etc. I wanna build a mild custom as it might have been done mid 60s...and drive it accordingly

devilrod · Post by **devilrod** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 1:08 pm

GRIFF wrote:Discs are obviously better, and yep I converted my LJ to boosted discs for my lady to drive. But yeah, I drove an FJ with EH drums for many years in traffic (Sydney CBD!) and interstate...later converted it to HR discs - mainly at the behest of my worried parents! And while discs did feel better... I reckon the improvement is not worth going through the whole HR front end conversion thing again.
So I'm sticking with drums for my EJ - it fits theme of the build- crash box, mild grey motor etc. I wanna build a mild custom as it might have been done mid 60s...and drive it accordingly

You were smart enough to use the ones that actually work! My EH wagon drums were about as good as you'd get out of unboosted drums...
And yeah drive accordingly, only problem is the bastards used to cut in front of me and take my safety margin

Mai Ki-Ki · Post by **Mai Ki-Ki** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 9:00 am

GRIFF wrote:Discs are obviously better, and yep I converted my LJ to boosted discs for my lady to drive. But yeah, I drove an FJ with EH drums for many years in traffic (Sydney CBD!) and interstate...later converted it to HR discs - mainly at the behest of my worried parents! And while discs did feel better... I reckon the improvement is not worth going through the whole HR front end conversion thing again.
So I'm sticking with drums for my EJ - it fits theme of the build- crash box, mild grey motor etc. I wanna build a mild custom as it might have been done mid 60s...and drive it accordingly

Sounds like the same atittude I have....good work!
Might look into the EJ Drums with a Dual master off something else....

Cheers and Thanks Guys.

Maiki

37chev · Post by **37chev** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 10:15 am

Aust Auto Accesories in Mel(they advertise in ASR,Just Parts etc,with all the Cal Custom stuff) sell a dual brake booster thing,it is small in diamteter about the same as a Gemini,you can make an XB master cyl fit with very minor modification.
They are available in chrome or painted for about $270-280 I think.
They do a mounting kit to suit as well.