Isolate front brakes?

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NWMO
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Isolate front brakes?

Post by NWMO »

Hey all,

Is there a good way to block the rear brakes off and just use the front? It doesn’t look obvious, but I would like to ignore the failed lines to the rear and use only front brakes so I can drive the car for title inspection/transfer.

Chris
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SirFoxx
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Re: Isolate front brakes?

Post by SirFoxx »

Don't cha love missouri? Ugh...

My first question is, where are you taking it, and how thoroughly are they going to look it over?

Second question is, where is the leak?

Third question, are you going to fix the leak, and if so, are you going to run new lines, or salvage whats left?

A few ideas come to mind of what you could do.

1. Crawl under the car and pinch / kink the line shut with a screwdriver and hammer. While this would be quick and dirty, it may not make a good enough seal to prevent brake fluid from getting past.

2. At the master cylinder, unscrew the rear brake line, blow all the residual fluid out of the line with compressed air, clean the line (and wherever the leak is) with an ample amount of brake cleaner, then pack the line at the master full with either epoxy or jb weld and screw it back in. Obviously this wont be easy as jb weld isnt exactly fluid, but, it should hold up long enough to pass inspection as long as you arent jamming on the brakes.

3. Find a shop that you can slip an extra $20 to make them pass your car without looking at it. I know of one, but its down by me, which would be a bit of a drive for a car with no rear brakes.
1988 DLX 4wd Tercel Wagon w/ weber (RIP)
1985 4wd Tercel SR5 (RIP)
1986 Base 2dr Hatch (RIP / PARTS)
1986 DLX 4wd Tercel Wagon with ???
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MrWrench
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Re: Isolate front brakes?

Post by MrWrench »

You could always get a brake line fitting and bring it to the hardware store and find a pipe plug that's the same thread and do that for the time being. Obviously that'll depend on the thoroughness of the inspection. (I have never experienced them so sorry if that's a stupid solution)

That being said, where is it leaking from like SirFoxx mentioned? Brake lines are a pain, especially without experience doing them. But it's definitely possible to do with a little bit of tool rentals.

If you need, PM me and I can send you a spare brake line flaring tool, some spare brass line (way easier to use compared to stainless) and maybe some fittings depending on their thread.
1984 SR5. Lifted offroader with a snorkel. Aka "Thunderbucket"
1985 SR5. Daily driver. Aka "Spud"
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NWMO
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Re: Isolate front brakes?

Post by NWMO »

Hey guys,

Thanks for the replies. I’m not looking to pass safety inspection currently, just title inspection for transfer. When I got the Rusty Frog I drove it over to the shop using the hand brake.

When it comes time for the safety inspection, this shop is great to work with. The Rusty Frog is no thing of beauty, but they keep me on the road.

There is at least one brake line hole under the rear seat area and the driver side spun the line in two when I was trying to break the nut loose.

I’m not in a rush on the rear as I am considering how one might go about fabbing front disc brakes on the rear. And then combine with the slotted rotor set up and different calipers up front.

Chris
Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"

In remembrance of my friend ARCHINSTL:

T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
teranfirbt
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My tercel:: '86 SR5 4WD, 5AFE, lifted rear, 195/70/14 tires
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Re: Isolate front brakes?

Post by teranfirbt »

You can get M10 plugs for the rear circuit on the master cylinder.
As for brake swaps, I would start with rotors from a Mini Cooper since they use a 4x100 bolt pattern, then get a set of 64mm OD x 54mm ID wheel centering rings. This is how I built up a big brake kit for my MR2. For front calipers I used BMW Z3 front calipers. In the rear I bet the Mini rear calipers would balance out about right. Depending on your access to fancy equipment the most difficult part of the build will be adapting all of the calipers to the front knuckles and the rear axle housing. I put up a bunch of pictures of my MR2 kit here: http://www.mr2.com/forums/threads/11205 ... Big-Brakes
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Petros
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Re: Isolate front brakes?

Post by Petros »

Teranfirbt,

do the BMW front calipers bolt onto the toyota caliper mount? or did you have to make an adapter or alter the caliper mount? would the off set work, for both the caliper and the mini cooper rotor, with the Tercel front steering knuckle?

I always thought that using the larger MR2 brakes in front, and the Mr2 rear disk brake set up (with an adapter mount) would provide a balanced system with improved braking. no doubt larger brakes could be cobbled together for the Tercel, but I suspect that would take a lot more messing around to get it to work all together properly.
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teranfirbt
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My tercel:: '86 SR5 4WD, 5AFE, lifted rear, 195/70/14 tires
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Re: Isolate front brakes?

Post by teranfirbt »

They don't, I ended up doing a couple rounds of musical calipers for my front setup before I found something that worked. I had to make adapter plates front and rear on my MR2 for the setup that I built. On the Tercel to get anything bigger than the MR2 brakes or Corolla brakes that I did will require an adapter to the caliper. It ends up being tricky with rotors that are too small too, if I had gone for the smaller 276mm Mini rotors instead of the 294mm Cooper S rotors I used I wouldn't have been able to fit an adapter in with the knuckle.
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