Brakes locked up on my Tigers first shake down

67tiger

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So my Tiger finally saw pavement for the first time in 4 years, after a major restoration and overhaul or replacement of nearly every mechanical part, nut, bolt and washer. With the first trip just around the block the brakes locked up, I mean locked up and the pedal would not travel at all. I would like some feedback, while I have some ideas Brake Servo control piston, I also know that I probably still have a little air in the lines but very little. The Servo was rebuilt I did the work fairly straight forward and the second one I've done but it has been sitting on the shelf after rebuild for about 2 years. I would love feedback, everyone that has answered my other questions as I trouble shoot small issues has been invalueable to me. Everything seems perfect on the car except this major but fixable issue. I have the British Field Meet here in Portland on Labor day weekend and don't want this issue keeping my car out of the show. Desperate! Don
 
Brake lock up

I had this problem after rebuilding my servo (myself many many years ago). The leather? seal that seals the vacuum piston would only move in the direction which applied the brakes and did not return to the rest position when I took my foot off the brakes. I had to open it up again and IIRC used something to soften the leather, then it would work.

That was a late MK1a with the big servo.

If you have a jumper hose you can bypass the booster to see if it is the problem.

Good luck.

Rick
 
Install a Lockheed booster. Problem solved.

I spent two years trying to get the the Girling booster to work properly. Do yourself a favor and just order the Lockheed from SS tonight and be done with it.
 
Do the brakes realease after a while or a few taps on th pdeal? Another problem can be the front hoses degrading internally, the rubber goes bad and when the vacuum is applied they seal off and lock the brakes by preventing fluid movement...
 
Yes, a few hard taps and sometimes it will release, but the minute you apply the brakes they lock again. All hoses have been replaced everything old is new! When the engine is shut down brakes feel normal, does that help?
 
Install a Lockheed booster. Problem solved.

I spent two years trying to get the the Girling booster to work properly. Do yourself a favor and just order the Lockheed from SS tonight and be done with it.

Duke, aside from having to fabricate a mount for it does can I use all my existing brake lines coming to and leaving the booster, and is the booster smaller and easy to work with in that tight area? Thanks! Don
 
Them darn servos

Without boring you all with the techno-yak yak, I've re-built more than 326 (by last count) Girlings in several forms & series. There have been 3 un-solvable failures that defied all mechanical knowledge & logic. A dark cloud hung over those and refused to leave. One became parts and the other two work fine in other vehicles. Why they didn't work in the original customers' cars remains a mystery. Anyway, run a by-pass line to test the rest of the system. Pedal effort will be a bit tiresome but you will determine the cause of the malady. Duke has the cost effective solution with the alternate booster selections. If you want it to remain a stock Girling, send it to me for a quick tear down and opinion. And YES; I do have fresh leathers to replace those 45 year old fossils. PM for shipping info etc.
 
shake down

there were many kits made that had seals that were not the right size. this was many years ago but there are probably many of them still out there.
 
Without boring you all with the techno-yak yak, I've re-built more than 326 (by last count) Girlings in several forms & series. There have been 3 un-solvable failures that defied all mechanical knowledge & logic. A dark cloud hung over those and refused to leave. One became parts and the other two work fine in other vehicles. Why they didn't work in the original customers' cars remains a mystery. Anyway, run a by-pass line to test the rest of the system. Pedal effort will be a bit tiresome but you will determine the cause of the malady. Duke has the cost effective solution with the alternate booster selections. If you want it to remain a stock Girling, send it to me for a quick tear down and opinion. And YES; I do have fresh leathers to replace those 45 year old fossils. PM for shipping info etc.

That's an interesting offer, I know it's something simple, I would like to know what the charge would be I'm a do it yourselfer but I have not the experience of 362 servo rebuilds. While I thought I did an excellent job rebuilding the servo I have a good feeling that the leather is shot and is not freely moving in the piston even though it seemed to when I plunged it by hand before seeling it up. I put a leather conditioner on the leather and lubed the interior of the cylinder as suggested. Let me know what it would cost approximately of course and where I'm sending it. Again I'd like to have it back on the car by Labor DAy but could go to the british field meet with manual brakes. Thanks for this info. Don
 
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