S/SS Brake safety

[David Lee]

Originally Posted by Tom Goldman

After seeing the result of Lou Centelazzo's unfortunate crash this past weekend , Id' like to remind my S/SS friends about something I find on all too many cars I see in my shop.
Many cars ,regardless of the type of master cyl. do not have a push rod retainer or a positive brake pedal stop to prevent the pushrod from disengaging the master cyl. .
Since many cars have had the brake light switch removed there is nothing to keep the pedal from disengaging the pushrod but a small rubber retainer .
A small bracket with a stop bolt in place of the brake switch will prevent this ,just be sure to keep a small amount of clearance between the stop and pedal.
Another method that works if you have the Mopar master cyl , which most cars have is the Jerry Bickel push rod retainer kit .
This retainer is simple and will work on almost any application ,and it's only about $70 .

i must be daft, can you explain where this goes. I am converting to a mopar mc as we speak and last thing I need is an unsafe brake system

[Buick6]

I went to a local wrecking yard one day this summer and found 3 Chevy S10's with manual brake master cylinders with the retainer cups and push rods. I also grabbed a couple manual steering boxes since manual brake S10's usually have manual steering boxes. Cheap too!

[Mark Yacavone]

I seem to remember drilling out the piston in a power master for a longer rod, years ago.
Maybe it was just a dream, but it sounds like something I would do.

[Tom Goldman]

Originally Posted by David Lee

i must be daft, can you explain where this goes. I am converting to a mopar mc as we speak and last thing I need is an unsafe brake system

The Bickel retainer basically replaces the rubber boot .
The pushrod has a shoulder that can not go thru the hole on the retainer

[HandOverFist]

Originally Posted by David Lee

i must be daft, can you explain where this goes. I am converting to a mopar mc as we speak and last thing I need is an unsafe brake system

You can see it behind this M/C...

[David Lee]

Originally Posted by HandOverFist

You can see it behind this M/C...

I am using the mopar 4 to 2 adapter, can i still use this?

[J&S Racing]

Well this was good timing. Car just came back from the chassis shop and first order of business is brakes.

I will be using the mopar master with the 4 to 2 adapter like David and I'm wondering the same thing. Can the bickle piece be used with the adaptor or will a stop need to be made?

[Strawboss]

We did this on a Camaro back in the late 80's. We bent a u shaped bracket about 1" wide thin metal with a hole in the center and placed it behind the MS and the push rod thru the hole. You had to slot the firewall to clear the bracket and drill holes to bolt on the MS bolts but this way there is no way for the rod to fall out. It is still that way today. This is cheap an easy to do.

[B Aceves]

So for the guys or gals that buy the Lamb brake conversion don't pass up the master cylinder option.
All the master cylinders come with the life saving bracket as well from Lamb.

[Kevin Panzino]

Yep, very big deal. I remember when this came up several years ago, someone wrecked from this and posted about it on here. I immediately went downstairs and 'enlisted' my young son who was far more flexible than me to go under there and check it out. No problem, the bolt and nut arrangement was already in place limiting the back travel of the pedal ('ol Joe Scott knew what he was doing )