[Cosmo]

What a nightmare start to the year! I'm in the middle of moving house and decided to get the Alfa out of the garage and stash it at a friends house. Just a 1/2 mile down the road and the brakes have disappeared. Handbrake very little use in the icy conditions. Limp back home and pull the bonnet catch to have the cable snap on me. Fortunately I had installed a backup nylon line but then I couldn't find the wheel nut key for the rear wheels as it has been packed up prior to the move. In the end I had to load down the rear end with a load of old suspension bits and drive the 8 miles on just the handbrake. Which was no fun at all.

Looks like the brake problem is the master cylinder as pretty much everything else is new. I know there have been some problems with the reconditioned MCs, has anyone tried the retrofit Girling MC that Alfaholics sell?

 

[VeloceMitch]

Damn not a great start that.

But on a happier note the girling conversion is fine, I used one on my 1750GTV and it worked very well. just be careful you get the right brake line fittings, in theory the ones you take off should go back on, but sometimes it seems to go wrong.

Your on a single circuit set up aren't you?

 

[Doug164]

I just posted a reply to DD70 re his clutch master cylinder that probably would have been more appropriate here. Any way the master cyclinder that Classic Alfa supplied has improved the brakes to the best level in all the 34 years I have had the car. The pedal is now so high and hard that I find myself over braking a bit. It certainly helps to bleed the brakes with a helper too. I use a rubber bleed pipe immersed in a jar of fluid and retighten the nipple. after each down stroke of the pedal This is designed to ensure that no air is drawn back up the threads of the nipple but as I say you need to be two handed.