Topic: 68 Master Cylinder/Lid Finish

[dkknab]

That's good to know and I figured that except my car only had 80k ish miles so I wouldn't expect the master cylinder to need to be replaced even given that old technology. Are you saying that time is the evil of these parts demanding that they need to be replaced regardless? But what would have been the casting number of the one originally installed in the car and are there any pictures please?

PS granted I'm having my 2016 f150 master cylinder replaced now due to a recall.

[ruppstang]

I checked our unrestored 68 HCS tonight and it has the same master cylinder you have. No surprise that it has been changed it has 156K on it.

If yours is in good working order, I would not worry about it in a concours driven class. I would suggest you find a correct cap.   

[dkknab]

Thank you.  I have one coming from ebay. It's the same type one as my earlier post but not what Jeff had pictured previously. Should I try to get the one Jeff pictured or the one that goes on the bendix MC I currently have but without the vent on top?

Curious that if both of our master cylinders were changed we ended up with the same replacement.  Was Bendix the only provider of master cylinders for ford and mustangs at the time? Seems like there are quite a few manufacturers now. 

I guess I was hoping to determine exactly what was first installed on my car and others of the same year and time frame.

[ruppstang]

I believe that the original assembly line Master cylinders have the screw in the bottom like in Jeffs #24 post. I have one but it has the hex screw that makes me think it is a 67 or early 68. I need to clean it up to find the date code.

[RoyceP]

That's good to know and I figured that except my car only had 80k ish miles so I wouldn't expect the master cylinder to need to be replaced even given that old technology. Are you saying that time is the evil of these parts demanding that they need to be replaced regardless? But what would have been the casting number of the one originally installed in the car and are there any pictures please?

PS granted I'm having my 2016 f150 master cylinder replaced now due to a recall.

Mileage has nothing to do with it. Brake fluid Dot 3 eats rubber over time.

[Bob Gaines]

Mileage has nothing to do with it. Brake fluid Dot 3 eats rubber over time.

+1 . All rubber is not made equal ether. Some batches of rubber do not cure properly significantly shortening its working life. A example is NOS power boosters sitting on the shelf for 30-50 years commonly fail out of the box or shortly after because the rubber diaphragm inside fails. Others are fine. I will buy a recent rebuilt one (from competent rebuilder) before buying a NOS one all things being equal.  I have had rubber brake boot parts turn into goo over time others are perfectly fine. This is regardless of MFG from what I have seen.

[dkknab]

Back to the master cylinder.  At Birmingham I got dinged for a silver cap and not black.  Before I paint the cap I have or get a second cap to paint black,  I just wanted to confirm that silver cap for my car is correct as I thought we decided in earlier posts on this thread.

The MCA grading sheet gives black or zinc dichromate as the options,  not silver.

[J_Speegle]

Back to the master cylinder.  At Birmingham I got dinged for a silver cap and not black.  Before I paint the cap I have or get a second cap to paint black,  I just wanted to confirm that silver cap for my car is correct as I thought we decided in earlier posts on this thread.

The MCA grading sheet gives black or zinc dichromate as the options,  not silver.

Not sure were the group came to that conclusion (caps not being black with the rest of the master cylinder) but IMHO and from experience they should be painted as a unit black with cap to reduce the chance of the master cylinders rusting while in Fords control. On power brake cars the master cylinder and booster were painted as a unit - together

[Bob Gaines]

Not sure were the group came to that conclusion (caps not being black with the rest of the master cylinder) but IMHO and from experience they should be painted as a unit black with cap to reduce the chance of the master cylinders rusting while in Fords control. On power brake cars the master cylinder and booster were painted as a unit - together

Jeff, he said that he got dinged for the cap "not" being black. To add, underneath the black paint it should be silver for 68. When the bail wire is un clamped and clamped like during pre delivery to check fluid level inevitably the black paint gets scratched. Underneath the black paint silver should show through.

[Bob Gaines]

Back to the master cylinder.  At Birmingham I got dinged for a silver cap and not black.  Before I paint the cap I have or get a second cap to paint black,  I just wanted to confirm that silver cap for my car is correct as I thought we decided in earlier posts on this thread.

The MCA grading sheet gives black or zinc dichromate as the options,  not silver.

They are all (front disc brake) painted black . 65-67 the caps were zinc dichromate before being painted black . 68 up the caps were zinc silver before being painted black.

[ruppstang]

The 67-68 rules say on manual brakes Semi gloss black or zinc-dichromate. I would assume that would be the entire master cylinder and cap. The rules were changes some time ago to also except natural manual cylinder and caps. That would be better verbiage than calling out just the 67 zinc-dichromate, as how it seems to end up in the rules. I have seen a number of natural master cylinders on manual unrestored cars including my car. 

[dkknab]

So I'll have to paint the top and hold down wire black.  I think I can spray paint it black in place while masking off the area to avoid overspray.

I did find a picture from 2020 after I purchased the car of the master cylinder cap and wire.  Sure does look black.  Might this be an original cap? The cap is also pictured in my post #6.

[Bob Gaines]

The 67-68 rules say on manual brakes Semi gloss black or zinc-dichromate. I would assume that would be the entire master cylinder and cap. The rules were changes some time ago to also except natural manual cylinder and caps. That would be better verbiage than calling out just the 67 zinc-dichromate, as how it seems to end up in the rules. I have seen a number of natural master cylinders on manual unrestored cars including my car.

I get tunnel vision sometimes thinking everyone is thinking about disc brake cars and so I amended my post to reflect the lids I have a high confidence level about. The manual drum brake cars I am not so sure about other then the 67 lid color is gold to start and 68 silver .