I've had many enquiries about supplying a bias pedal box for Mk3/4 Escorts. Although I have made a 1 off unit many years ago (that's fitted to the NutsRus RS1600i) I dont actually make a production unit.

As you may be aware, the main problem on these cars is the springy brake pedal that offers no confidence in it's feel or ability to stop you! I remember many years ago when I built my first Mk4 rally car, heaving on the brake pedal (no bonnet fitted), I was alarmed to see the brake Servo & master cylinder nodding up and down! Most of the action is lost in that crossover bar and the servo bracketry, also resultant bulkhead flexing. (I heard that LHD cars are much better?)

The answer is to remove the servo and crossover bar and fit a bias pedal box on the drivers side bulkhead, directly in front of the pedal. This is exactly what I did (and so did Ford for GpA homologation!). Due to space limitations, it's best to have the cylinders vertically mounted although on the prototype I made they were horizontal and just fitted in with the narrow x/flow engine! A cable operated dash mounted control adjusts the front rear bias.

So, if there's enough interest I will design a new bias pedal box and get them into production! This will be a high quality unit, using AP racing cylinders and a proper spherical bearing for the balance bar. The metalwork would be finished in black powder coat. It won't be cheap though, there's a lot of work and parts in one of these and I dont expect there to be a massive demand so would only be a low production unit, I expect it to be around the £350 mark. (not including reservoirs and pipework or bias control, they will be optional extras.)

Let me know if you would be interested so as I can guage if it would be worthwhile. If anyone is interested, I already manufacture a very successful unit for the Subaru Impreza, pictures available if you e-mail me!

Cheers,

Martin

 

I may be interested mate but what would be required bodywork wise in order to install one of these? Cheers

 

There would bo NO bodywork modifications necessary at all, it will just bolt in place of the normal bracket that carries the cross-over tube on the front of the predal box in the engine bay. It might be necessary to remove the brake pedal and drill a 8mm hole in it to attached the pushrod clevis, thats all. The two reservoirs would be mounted under the bonnet near the wiper motor I would think.

Hope this helps,

Martin

 

I would definately be interested then mate

 

what sort of cost would be involved for just the pedel unit. ie no master cylinders so we can choose are own.

what about going for a floor mount option arnt they ment to be better
cheers

 

Thanks for the interest, well the AP master cylinders cost me about £65 each so I would be able to knock off £130 from whatever I decide to market it for.

As far as floor mounted is concerned, that's a completely different setup, I dont think most people would want to alter their cars that much, you'd be talking about clutch, brake and throttle together and I think they are generally used with a hydraulic clutch. I rather steer clear of something that involved, I prefer to make something that simply bolts in place of the standard setup.

Martin

 

cool
cant ask for a fair answer than that.
If the end job without cylinders was around the £250 id snap your arm off for one

 

i would also be interested in this product..

 

would it be very hard to fit/set up??

 

It wouldn't be very hard to fit, Just normal spanner work and diy tools!

Maybe the piping would be a bit difficult for anyone who hasn't done it before but it's actually quite easy to fit Goodrige -3 hoses and fittings once you get the hang of it.

I would probably offer a fitting service but being based in the North West might prove difficult for many.

Setting up is very simple, just adjust the balance control until the rears don't lock up first under hard braking, then fine tune to your own taste!

Keep it coming! I'm getting the feeling that this might be quite popular!

Martin

 

£350 seems a reasonable price to me , i did a pedal box on my track car , 3 fookin days and im still tinkering with it ,

ended up using a genuine RS2000MAXI box and hacked it about .

 

probs be a good idea to put pics up on here etc of the different stages of how u fit the kit...
av rebuilt me s1 , but when it comes to brakes i wouldnt want to fit the kit wrong...

 

Yes, I will do when I get that far, the design is only a paper one at present! I've made loads of different ones for various cars so shouldn't be too taxing to get it into production!

Martin

 

nice 1 Martin..

 

 

I'd probably be interested Martin....but probably not for a while

 

Thats too many probablies for my likin Laverick

 

Just wondering how the pedal feels with these because obviously you dont get the boost of a servo, and MK3/4 brakes are near on rock hard with a servo let alone without

 

Hi Martin hows things mate ?

I was quizzing Tony about these not so long ago, only problem I might have is that its for my RWD (proper wheel drive Tony ) MK3 and dont know about how much space I will have. Do you have any dimensions of it yet ?

Cheers, David.

 

 

Sorry folks, I don't know what brought this thread back up after over a year, but I'm sorry to have to report that so far I have not persued the development and construction of this product, mainly due to time and work commitments.

I do have a working design that is well proven and 100% reliable and satisfactory.

I dont think there would ever be enough demand for me to go to the expense and lengths of having the metalwork produced by laser cutting etc. I would however, be prepared to make these by hand only on a one off basis on the strength of payment up front.

Please e-mail me if you are seriously interested:

martin@mefmotorsport.com


Regarding the pedal feel, you do have to push harder than with a servo but there is actually more "feel" without a servo. It depends how hard you like the pedal to be. It can be made more powerful and progressive with the choice of master cylinder sizes but then it also becomes more "springy". Personally I prefer a solid pedal with minimal travel, that you get some confidence with when pressing hard!

David,

I dont thing it would fit the bulkhead with a RWD conversion, you will probably have no space in that area due to exhaust manifold or throttle bodies? The total length from bulkhead to the end of the cylinders is probably in the order of 175mm.

Cheers,

Martin

 

Martin I will have to check when I get round to mocking up the engine etc in the car, hopefully it 'might' still fit as it would save me having to make something else up.

Bulkhead is still mk3 escort at the mounting points for the pedalbox -

 

I'd still be interested buddy but not right now. What sort of price will I be looking at as a one off order? n I will start budgeting for it

 

 

as mentioned before martin...am very interested

bassboy

 

i'd be interested too

 

Martin, if we get like between 5-10 of us do you recon you could do a minie group buy?

 

I'd be interested in this too

 

stop keeping up with the Jones's Davey boy

 

Hopefully you'll be the one that has to keep up with me after mzy engine goes on the dyno after having seen Marcs results

 

On my Dad's old xr3, he made another bracket which secured the master cylinder, stopped it flexing so much - easy mod and made quite a big diff.

If someone could manufacuter one, so all u needed to do was drill a couple of holes and bolt it onto the servo assembly, think it would be a good seller.

 

I hate to say it but i bought one of them stainless tube section servo brackets that Jano sells, that was before i was a member on here though so i trust no-one will hold it against me

Seems good though, better than that piece of shite they have standard.

Ricks idea seems good.

 

very true hope the dyno day goes as well for you as it did for him hmmm, now wheres my gt30

 

ad also def be interested in 1 of these kits , if made available...

 

I made a universal one fit, bought from Either Demon Tweeks or Rallye Design cant remember which, anyway, after a few sessions measuring and a few areas changed it all fitted nice up on the bulk head. Master cylinders are horizontal and the resevoirs sit on a bracket near the wiper motor.

Got a pick somewhere, will have a dig about the Computer see if i still have it?

 

ive just bought a new servo 120

boll and hicks spring to mind

 

What wanker drove you to buy a new servo

Clucking Bell

 

you will still get major bulkhead flex
mines seam welded and mine still flexed
also the way they done it on the fiesta in pf mag solves part of the issue but still retains that crap cross linkage

 

Very good idea! spoke about it on here before to not much avail.

After seeing for myself how much a servo can move and flex the bulkhead ive been wondering how to improve upon it and not knowing much about brake servo's etc ive not had much luck in working what could be done! Ive got a pic of a relocated servo on an S2 but i'll need to wait till my other PC is up and running.

If these do make it into production i'd be very interested also in the future as I feel this is the only thing letting a big brake setup on a mk3/4 escort down! I would also immagine these being pretty popular