Stop That Shark: Brake Upgrades for '68-'82s

Position the cable through the nylon guide as shown, with the springlocking it into position. Push the parking-brake lever forward and slipthe cable ball into the lever position. To set the parking brakecorrectly, loosen the main cable under the car until the brake lever iscompletely released, with minimal tension on the cables. Then use ascrewdriver to turn the parking-brake expander until the brake pads grabthe rotor and the rotor doesn't turn. After that, back the expander offuntil very light drag is felt. Pull the main parking-brake lever andboth sides should hold tightly.

This is what the rear-brake calipers look like when they're ready toinstall. Notice there are two bleeders on these calipers. Remember toinstall the pad with the warning indicators on the inside.

To install the rear stainless hard lines, loosely assemble the banjofitting, banjo bolt, and the two copper washers as shown. It's mucheasier to get everything into position and you can tweak the hard lineuntil you get a good fit.

There is one set of braided lines for the rear that must be installedbefore the hard lines can be installed in the rear. The braided linescan be tightened into the rear distribution blocks, then secured to thetrailing arms with the provided horseshoe clips. Once they're in place,the hard lines can be secured into position.

Here are the hard lines installed. Again, there is a copper washer thatshould be installed on the head side of the banjo bolt and another thatgoes between the banjo block and caliper.

A new master cylinder is the last major piece of our brake system to beinstalled. We found one at Auto Zone that looked just like the one thatcame on the C3. It has a lifetime guarantee, and is only $14.99 afterthe core trade-in.

Our new master cylinder came with all the materials for bench-bleeding.We installed the two hose fittings and attached the supplied hose. Usinga piece of duct tape and the provided hose clamps, we secured each bleedhose in its reservoir.

We used Earl's Hypertemp 421 racing brake fluid for our system.

Bench-bleeding is a simple process. We filled the two reservoirs, thenused a Phillips screwdriver to push the piston in and out until no moreair bleeds were visible during the pumping process.

After the bench-bleeding, remove the hoses, cap the fittings with therubber caps, attach the master-cylinder cap, then bolt it to the brakebooster. Torque the nuts to 30 lb-ft.

The final step is to bleed the entire system. Use the technique you deemsafest, but make certain the brake lines are properly bled. Safety isthe key here--if they are not right, they can be dead wrong.