90-degree Tilton Adapter for Wilwood Balance Bar Adjuster

[LateApex]

Just a couple of notes to share on installation of this 90-degree adapter.

As a back-drop, I have the Wilwood pedal box, and master cylinders are arranged, right to left, as rear brake, front brake and clutch.

I originally tried to use the Wilwood adjustment knob directly on the left (DS) end of the balance bar, and I tried to "lift" the cable a smidgen with trusty zip-ties so that it would be clear of the clutch pedal / master cylinder piston travel. This was foolish. During break-in, I noticed some braking anomalies, and indeed the cable was interfering with the front master cylinder stroke. Doh!

So, I purchased the 90-degree Tilton adapter. Installation is not trivial.

There is really very little clearance between left-most brake master cylinder and clutch "cleats", or between right-most brake master cylinder and DS footbox tranny aluminum and frame. Insufficient clearance to insert this 90-degree swivel. The 90-degree swivel is small, but not small enough to fit in those gaps

So the first thing I did was shorten the coupler between cable and adapter. Maybe 3/16". Trusty hack saw and flat file ... Then I started to look at the balance bar itself.

I disassembled the brake balance bar assembly to see how much wiggle room there is. This is lots of fun to do AFTER completing a car ... ;-) The balance bar "ball pivot" is lock-nutted in the center of the balance bar, and pretty well locked in place. I mention this because initial thought was that I could move that pivot point, such that with nominal balance I would have enough clearance between the left end of the balance bar and the clutch workings to be able to insert. Yes I could wrestle the pivot point left, but then it introduces tranny tunnel footbox interference problems.

So I cut off ~ 3/8" - 7/16" of the balance bar on the DS. Cleaned up the threads and re-installed the balance bar. I fitted the 90-degree adapter and I have at least 1/4" of adjustment bias I can apply to the front brakes, i.e.: > 1/4" gap between adapter and clutch workings. That doesn't sound like much, but the balance bar is 3/8" x 24 TPI. So I can apply 6 turns of adjustment, and if I read the spec right, each turn is about a 4% brake bias. So I can apply a ~ 25% front brake bias with the range of motion this kluge provides.

There is always a surprise, of course. The Wilwood adjustment cable is just proud of 3/16" diameter. The Tilton barrel for the cable is 1/8" diameter. So, I bored the cable barrel 1/2 way to a larger diameter, to accommodate the cable.

Ta-da!

Bet you can hardly wait to hear my hack on the kit twin pipe exhausts to apply baffling and packing material so that I can hear myself think. Not as terrible as it might sound (pun intended ...)

[Rian_Colorado]

Wanna do another one now that you have experience? lol

Not sure I need it that bad!!

Good hack though.....
Rian

[zee]

Question from someone who's just starting his build.

What would you do when building to make this step easier?

[LateApex]

Before installing the pedal box for any modifications to the balance bar, or at least before any sheet metal ... although it is not TOO bad when the footbox is done, provided you have a removable top for the DS.

[LateApex]

Wanna do another one now that you have experience? lol

Not sure I need it that bad!!

Good hack though.....
Rian

Be glad to :-)

[Blitzboy54]

Question from someone who's just starting his build.

What would you do when building to make this step easier?

Zee this is a coupe issue. The roadsters don't have the same problem. It's a fairly easy thing on our cars

[rhk118]

Thanks for the write-up Bob. I have a gentleman local to me who retired to here from across the country and has a type 65 essentially assembled. He had a very novel way of mounting that 90 degree adapter. He took off the coupling that screws onto the balance bar itself from the Tilton unit, and bored a hole into the end of the balance bar. Put the cable or pin coming out of the end of the Tilton 90 degree adapter into that hole and secured it with a set screw that he tapped into the bar. This is on the clutch side of the bar. He did not shorten his bar, and this seems to fit. Hopefully this photo does it justice but his pedal box is all together and what a tough place to get into to say the least! I'm hoping this adaptation along with shortening the bar will give more room....timely for this post! Love the factory five community. Bob thanks for the write-up and credit to Bill for the photo below.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=176392&d=1670288650

Here is where he mounted his bias adjuster:
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=172707&d=1663616090

Seems to function great, although didn't want to test how much range he had with this setup

[LateApex]

Thanks for the write-up Bob. I have a gentleman local to me who retired to here from across the country and has a type 65 essentially assembled. He had a very novel way of mounting that 90 degree adapter. He took off the coupling that screws onto the balance bar itself from the Tilton unit, and bored a hole into the end of the balance bar. Put the cable or pin coming out of the end of the Tilton 90 degree adapter into that hole and secured it with a set screw that he tapped into the bar. This is on the clutch side of the bar. He did not shorten his bar, and this seems to fit. Hopefully this photo does it justice but his pedal box is all together and what a tough place to get into to say the least! I'm hoping this adaptation along with shortening the bar will give more room....timely for this post! Love the factory five community. Bob thanks for the write-up and credit to Bill for the photo below.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=176392&d=1670288650

Here is where he mounted his bias adjuster:
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=172707&d=1663616090

Seems to function great, although didn't want to test how much range he had with this setup

This is a great approach IMO. [Almost] anything that involves less parts, which is simpler, is going to be more reliable in the long run. In this case, it also adds ~ 1/2" to clearance w/o cutting the rod.

Now tapping a hole into the end of the threaded rod / balance bar, and also a hole for the set screw, is perhaps beyond the capabilities of the hand tools I have, but then I haven't wrapped my head around the design of a jig [yet], though the juices are starting to flow ;-)

The coupe continues to bring out interesting innovation.

If one shortened the balance bar by 3/8" of an inch on the clutch side (without moving the pivot), I think you would have all the range you would ever need (for example for the track, where you may stretch the range of desired adjustment). The balance bar has to come out of the pedal assembly anyway. Why not :-)

I see he mounted the fuse box "vertically". Mine is mounted on the diagonal, with the adjuster knob in the same spot. It's dang crowded behind the dash in that area - this may help with some of the routing, provided there is not interference with one's left knee.

Thanx Hank! Happy holidays!

[rhk118]

Just finished my install using it and it works. Haven't tried it in the real world but here's a link:
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?43135-Hank-s-Type-65-Build-Thread&p=533822&viewfull=1#post533822