The Epic Austrian owned R16 from Germany doing French things in a Parallel Universe near England Saga

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

And I found this gem way back on the rocker cover:

So you got that outside tap and hosepipe installed for nothing!

[Junkman]

But there is this:

 

 

LWIII

[Junkman]

So you got that outside tap and hosepipe installed for nothing!

 

No, it cost me 100 Quid!

[Dj_efk]

What's the actual meaning of that sticker? Don't use an engine flush? Did they even have those in the 60's?

[Junkman]

Today it was back to the brakes.

Despite our efforts, they were still shit.

 

So I bought this new master cylinder:

 

 

It is the correct master cylinder for the currently installed front brakes, i.e. the series 2 one.

We took out the old one:

 

 

Put in the new one and rigged up EZ bleed:

 

 

This wasn't sturdy enough, so we made it stronger:

 

 

The result: Nothing happened.

 

No matter which bleed nipple was undone, there was absolutely nothing coming out.

We then undid the fittings at the cylinder itself and it turned out it pumped nothing at all.

So it was time to take it out again.

 

Properly comparing it with the old one revealed, that there is a significant difference:

 

 

Whereas the old one has an almost hollow bored piston, the new one only has a shallow indentation.

This means that the actuating rod from the pedal is about 30mm too long and when the cylinder is

mounted, it's actually already actuated.

 

So we put the old one back in and bled the system initially with the EZ bleed, then continued the old fashiuoned way.

A remarkable amount of brake fluid foam came out of each bleed nipple.

But in the end, the system is now working properly with no spongy feel, no empty pedal travel and although it still

overbrakes at the rear, it's much less pronounced.

 

So again, whenever you install new parts, nothing works, you reinstall the old parts and everything works better

that it ever did.

 

French.

[Junkman]

But...

 

 

LWIII

[Asimo]

New part clearly not rusty enough to work.

[BorniteIdentity]

Another two pages of lyrical poetry. And to think we nearly lost this nonsense in the great fire of AS.

 

Please carry on, JM. 10/10.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

But...

 

LWIII

 

 

OMG MCMLXVII

[Felly Magic]

I wonder if this car could be the haunted Renner? It did come from the German version of Lincolnshire after all

[Junkman]

Nah, man. It's just French.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Put in the new one and rigged up EZ bleed:

 

 

 

This wasn't sturdy enough, so we made it stronger:

 

 

 

The result: Nothing happened.

 

These photos make everything look very clean. They fail to convey the thin layer of brake fluid covering every single thing. 

[Junkman]

Every single thing except the things that needed to be covered with a layer of brake fluid, thin or not.

 

Thing is, even the R16 guys I contacted for advice are playing dead and would you believe it now,

even on this very forum nobody has anything to contribute.

 

R16 and parallel Universe. Two things I better start getting used to.

[somewhatfoolish]

Because renner, because Seize is an exhortation, not just a number.

[pshome]

In de Gaulle's empire, all roads were straight, have three lanes and lead to Paris. No need to fit reasonable brakes, try a Simca and you will praise Renault.

[Junkman]

Why is one launched through the windscreen when one slightly touches that rubber mushroom with one's little toe in a DS then?

[PhilA]

The entire braking force of the entire country was supplied in a large jar to Citroen as part of a carefully planned military maneuver.

[pshome]

Why is one launched through the windscreen when one slightly touches that rubber mushroom with one's little toe in a DS then?

 

La DS is a giant design fault, the brakes are no exception.

[pshome]

The entire braking force of the entire country was supplied in a large jar to Citroen as part of a carefully planned military maneuver.

.. and when they were done using it for the DS, there was nothing left for the 2CV and its cousins.

[Cleon-Fonte]

La DS is a giant design fault, the brakes are no exception.

 

But if the rest of the automotive world had followed the DS's example Junkman wouldn't have been faffing about with spongy sinking brake pedals, none-matching master cylinders and their associated profusion of bleed nipples, foamy brake fluid, inadequately sturdy EZ bleeds or the usual miserable pedal pumping that goes with working on conventional brakes.

 

Citroen can be criticised for many things, but the brakes aren't one of them (occasional-CXs-flying-off-Autobahn-junctions-at-high-speed caveat applies).

[Junkman]

It could be worse. It could be Italian.

 

Oh, wait...

[3VOM]

Properly comparing it with the old one revealed, that there is a significant difference:

 

 

Whereas the old one has an almost hollow bored piston, the new one only has a shallow indentation.

This means that the actuating rod from the pedal is about 30mm too long and when the cylinder is

mounted, it's actually already actuated.

Wait a moment, you mean you didn't machine out the new one?

[dollywobbler]

.. and when they were done using it for the DS, there was nothing left for the 2CV and its cousins.

 

I beg to differ...

[pshome]

It could be worse. It could be Italian.

 

Oh, wait...

Don't tell me, me have a 504 convertible "made in Italy" by Sergio himself... the "very best" of both worlds!

[pshome]

Wait a moment, you mean you didn't machine out the new one?

 

 

Way too complicated, cut the pushing rod with a hacksaw, done.

[Junkman]

Nope. No dice. I had a lengthy discussion with Magnus this weekend and this is what he said:

 

The 'new' type requires a much longer travel, which, even if you'd adapt it by either machining out the piston, or shortening the pushrod,

will never be achievable with the existing pedal. It will hit the floor before maximum braking force is achieved.

 

This was followed with a very familiar to shiters 'guess how I know'.

 

He continued:

 

In order to get this to work, one would need a 2nd gen pedal box, which has a completely redesigned brake and clutch pedal with a totally

different lever ratio, guess how I know etc etc.

 

So I said okay, send me a 2nd gen pedal box then.

 

He continued:

 

The pedal box forms the lower housing of the steering column, so you would need the 2nd gen column, the 2nd gen shift linkage, 2nd gen

steering/ignition lock and then you will need to change the clutch actuator to 2nd gen too, since the clutch pedal ratio was also altered.

 

He does the same thing with his '68 that I do now. Use 2nd gen front brakes with the 1st gen master cylinder, which actually works pretty well.

 

He said:

 

However, since the pads are a lot bigger than 1st gen and the discs not only thicker, but also a larger diameter, the brake bias front/rear

needs to be adjusted since it does need more brake force up front to make this work. Otherwise your rear brakes will lock up before the

front ones do.

 

I replied:

 

Guess how I found out...

 

So all that's left now is adjusting the proportioning valve and adjust the handbrake mech, the latter is unrelated to the issue at hand though.

 

According to Magnus I shall be rewarded with brakes that are a lot better than the gen 1 system, but not quite as good as gen 2.

 

 

I say.

 

French.

[Junkman]

Yesterday there was smoke coming out of the light switch every time I switched on the lights.

 

 

Emptying half a tin of contact cleaner into the switch didn't alleviate the problem, it led to the cleaner boiling.

I also noticed, that the taillights remained in Lucas mode, despite the headlights shone brightly.

So it was time to investigate a fault in French electrics, which I anticipated to be a demanding task for a non French brain.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the fault was rather trivial and 100% Austrian in nature:

 

 

My metal jerrycan, strapped to the inner strengthening panel, had shifted backwards, due to the enormous acceleration forces

all those 54 PS provide due to my Unbritish driving style, and shortened the exposed contacts of the right hand taillight to Earth.

 

Removing said jerrycan and thus leaving the exposed contacts exposed led to the light switch returning to non smoking mode.

 

[alcyonecorporation]

Still worth the misery for that magnificent jerry can (with flip up lid). 

Having never seen one before, I now have three of the sodding things in my garage. 

[pshome]

FYI, this is the only factory approved trunk usage pattern:

 

[Junkman]

Still worth the misery for that magnificent jerry can (with flip up lid). 

 

Having never seen one before, I now have three of the sodding things in my garage.

That very jerrycan already graced the boots of Junkfather's R16s.