HC brake line route

[Icedmunkie]

It's been a number of years since I looked at the brake lines on the Firenza but it's about that time and for the life of me I cannot remember where or how they go. Has anybody got a diagram or some pictures especially the front end. Fitted with Lockheed and disks at front. The rear is quite self explanatory.

[1972nail]

OHV brake line routing is different from OHC. OHV lines go across the bulkhead just below the heater panel and drop down to go to the rear of the car on the passenger side and the front passenger side brake.

OHC cars drop down on the driver's side and go to the rear on the driver's side. The front one goes across along the back the subframe cross member to the passenger side brake.

The difference is to keep the lines away from the hot exhaust manifold, so as you're fitting an MX5 engine with the exhaust on the same side as the OHC cars then I suggest you use the OHC routing.

[droopsnoot]

I can take some photos if no-one has any to hand, though mine is OHC. As I recall it, the front lower outlet from the master cylinder goes down to the offside flexi on the subframe, then the flexi from there to the bracket on the upright, then a short fixed pipe from there to the caliper. The front upper outlet goes down to the subframe, runs underneath across the back and up to the bracket, and then from there as per the other side. The rear outlet runs along the chassis rail above the fuel pipe, above the mount for the rear lower arm, then above the upper mount, then turns across the floor pan and across, then turns toward the fixed bracket for the flexi.

I had some head scratching when it came to the upper mount because there isn't room to get both pipes between the mounting bolt and the floor, so I ran one either side. I just wish I'd noticed before fitting the pipes as it would have been easier to get a nice curve on them.

ETA - good point David, I hadn't realised OHV pipes went down the other side.

[Icedmunkie]

I can take some photos if no-one has any to hand, though mine is OHC. As I recall it, the front lower outlet from the master cylinder goes down to the offside flexi on the subframe, then the flexi from there to the bracket on the upright, then a short fixed pipe from there to the caliper. The front upper outlet goes down to the subframe, runs underneath across the back and up to the bracket, and then from there as per the other side. The rear outlet runs along the chassis rail above the fuel pipe, above the mount for the rear lower arm, then above the upper mount, then turns across the floor pan and across, then turns toward the fixed bracket for the flexi.

I had some head scratching when it came to the upper mount because there isn't room to get both pipes between the mounting bolt and the floor, so I ran one either side. I just wish I'd noticed before fitting the pipes as it would have been easier to get a nice curve on them.

ETA - good point David, I hadn't realised OHV pipes went down the other side.

If you could throw some photos up that would be grand. I'm changing the cylinders etc anyways but I cannot remember the caliper area and forgot they ran across the bulkhead, OHC style it will be!

Chris

[droopsnoot]

This is the view from behind the nearside front wheel. You can see that the hard pipe comes in from the right hand side, and forward into the bracket. The flexi pipe then runs forward from that, around to the left where it mounts on the front of the bracket on the left. There's then a short copper pipe from there to the caliper.

Moving a little further in, this shows the route across the back edge of the front subframe, just below the rear outriggers.

And this is the view of the master cylinder. You can just about see that the single pipe closest to the camera (the rear circuit) goes down under the master cylinder, around the servo and down the chassis rail towards the back. The other two pipes go downwards, one goes across the subframe to the nearside, and the other down to the bracket for the offside flexi. I can't really show that, there's a bit too much stuff in the way. You can just about see that I've clipped the two front pipes together to try to keep them neat.

ETA - and yes, I have been touching up some of the paint from where I caught things during assembly. That's partly the reason I was under there today.

[Icedmunkie]

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Thanks for the information. It will come in very handy.
Chris

[droopsnoot]

No problem. I've got another photo while I had a wheel off, I'll get around to posting it in a few days.

[droopsnoot]

This is the front offside, showing how the two front lines come down from the master cylinder, one goes over to the nearside and the other forward into the bracket for the flexible hose. I'm never quite sure exactly what the route is in this area, but this seems to work. I got a couple of plastic clips to hold the two pipes at a steady distance. You can also see all the places I caught the paint when installing the front suspension.