[TFoch]

Nice work!  I like how you are making available parts to you work!
Tom

[Essex_29]

Thank you TFoch, I had this brake booster and pedal assembly from an '87 TransAm. It's been
warming a shelf for 12 years, so, even if it was angled weird, I decided to use it.

Plans changed many times when I was planning and pondering. It took me a few days to get to the
point when I decided this has to work.
I turned the brake thing backwards (looked like a boomerang made out of 10mm thick material in my
last post).This gave me a 32 degree angle to work off. Also the brake booster sits at a 13 degree angle
upwards. I was planning on mounting it horizontally, but the G-body master cylinder I ordered
earlier has an angled lid so if I would have mounted it horizontally, it wouln't have held much fluid.



I wasn't feeling confident at all, when I started working on the brackets for the angle thingy, that
turns the movement from the brake pedal 90 degrees, and is angled 13 degrees in one
direction and 32 in the other... Overwhelming might be a suitable word.
I made a cardboard template, and started cutting and drilling. It semed to do the trick, so after that the
rest of the work wasn't too hard.
Today I got the whole thing almost ready to weld to the firewall. I made bolt on/weld on brackets, so the
assembly  can be removed with four bolts. I'll  probably make a bracket with  one or two bolts at the
dash. The brake booster and master will also get a mount, so they'll hang off the center of the dash.



The whole thing is a monstrosity, but I think it will work. The movement at the brake booster is
the same as when originally mounted in the TransAm.

[Rattiac]

Like reverse engineering a van mc/booster.  😎

[Essex_29]

What kind of van, Rattiac? I have owned just one van, a '77 Beauville G30, and it
had a conventional straight forward brakebooster/master cylinder.
I know there are under dash 90 degree brake master assemblies from among others Kugel,
but I'm cheap and those things get expensive when they're in Europe. If I order a part that
costs $300 from USA, I have to pay the freight, and then 24% tax on both the part and the freight,
so it's easily $500 or more when it's here.
As an example $31 Granada  brake discs from RockAuto cost me 90 euros all paid, and that's a bit
 more than $95 US.

Actually, the main reason for making it myself, is I want to be able to make my own parts. Or is it, really?
 Being cheap all my life has gotten me into this mindset, I guess. And I like to lean back and look at the
 thing after the fact and tell my self: "I did it!"
*insert silly smiley*

[sammons]

That's quite the mechanical wizardry you got there. Looks like it'll work fine.

I've seen that setup on vans also. My buddy bought a '74 Ford fancy low mile Econoline passenger van, it had that setup for sure. I've seen it on others, just can't remember makes or years.

I'm like you, use whats availible vs buying new. Nice when you get fabbed up and it works. Although... i don't like that part of the build. I get a headache thinking it through. I use to have several freinds good at engineering/fab on mechanical things. I was always happy to trade body/paint work. 😁 Same with engine building, i can do it but would trade for body work any day!

[Rattiac]

What kind of van, Rattiac?

It was a 70's dodge van.  I was at the junkyard a week ago and noticed it trying to find a manly horn from anything old. Slim pickings. I could pull it for ya. 

[Essex_29]

Thank you Rattiac, for the offer, but I have what I need now, my contraption seems to be working fine.

[Essex_29]

Last night I made a hanger at the master to booster bolts, and could anchor the whole thing
with vise grips. It looks massive, and needed a cut out in the dash plate. That's a big booster.
But I had it so why not use it...




I'm going to put a sturdy brace, probably a square tube of some sort, between the A-pillars to
help support the dash itself, and also the steering clumn drop and brake pedal assembly.
The dash design will be a bit like in a forties or fifties car with defroster vents on top, and a
big center section for the gauges. Hopefully this will hide most of the technical parts above
the pedals.

Thank you sammons, I like to be able to use what I have, and what's readily available.
 And, I guess, contrary to you, I enjoy problem solving, and you get a lot of that building an
odd rod like this with odd parts.

[Essex_29]

Since the steering shaft and pedals needs to be made together to really get the most of
the available space, and I have some parts in for machining, I took a break and welded
the gas filler neck mount tight against the body. I want it pretty much odor tight, so that
 any spilled gas doesn't smell inside the car.



The break pedal is from a car with an automatic transmission, so I just cut it down a bit
earlier. Today I cut the pedals out of a junked Saab 9000 and welded just the brake
pedal "blade" the part that the pedal rubber pad attaches to, to the TransAm pedal I
 have been working on.



Then, as I happened to have a brake pedal from a seventies Dodge, I cut it, so that
the clutch pedal from the  Saab fit, welded the parts toghether, and the overall length of the pedal is now the
same as the GM brake pedal.
The throw of the clutch pedal will be about 5-¹/₂" with the 35mm total
movement of the bmw clutch master.

[sixball]

You are a wizard!

[sammons]

Nice work! One step closer, so many of those🙂

[TFoch]

I like how you make the parts you have work for you, brilliant!

[Essex_29]

Thank you sixball, sammons and TFoch for the supportive comments!

I worked a bit on the Dodge brake mount and made a flange for mounting the master. When the
actual brake pedal and its mechanism is mounted, I'll make the cluch pedal fit in the car
and maybe make it a part of the brake pedal mount.



I cut down an eighties Buick steering colum with tilt as small and short as I could.
Funny that you still see a bit of the ignition lock where I ground most of it  away.



I had a friend turn and mill the missing part for my steering shaft.  The new part here welds
into the column, and the other end fits my Mercedes U-joint.



This is now welded, so the steering just needs a bit of finageling to make it fit and work, and
then some brackets and mounts.

[Essex_29]

I posted a pic of my Essex in the gallery today. It's obviously not a GM product, so if it's
inappropriate, anyone in charge here, take it down.

I welded the new part I had had made a few days ago to the steering shaft of the cut
down tilt column, and hung a ?56 Chevy steering wheel from the roof in about the right
position. I take all the ergonomic measurements off my '84 Caprice, since it's
pretty comfortable.



Then started working on a new piece of square tubing that will go between the A-pillars.
Level taped to the tube to get it right.



After the tube was in (it's decently sturdy at 1-⁵/₈" square with ¹/₈" walls), I started
mocking up a column drop from ¹/₈" plate.



The column drop turned out to be about right, so I might be able to actually use it.

Some time in the future the tubing and the other unsightly stuff will be hidden by a later era style dash.

[sammons]

Your getting it there 👍 Comfort is a must on the steering wheel.

Essex, i have to ask... what are your plans to patch the skin where you removed that big ugly Tumor they call a turn indicater lever?  I've cut and filled pleanty of columns where i removed shift lever/ing switches on, but never on the big "lets see how many switches we can stuff into the turn lever"  thing😁