Brakes.....I don't need no stinkin' brakes

[Rick the Quick]

I have read on here something about Festivas being so light in back that they don't need back brakes. Some guys that race say they stop better without rear brakes. Here's my recent experience. I recently had a wheel cylinder blow out on a Sunday night. I made it home okay and decided to fix it there on the spot. Being midnight its not like I could run down to Napa for a wheel cylinder. I decided I would disconnect the rear brakes at the proportioning valve. Here's how I did it. I cut the lines coming out of the proportioning valve that went to the rear brakes. These are the two lines coming out facing the drivers side of the car. I cut them to within about 3/4" from the fitting. This way if I ever wanted to connect the rear brakes I may have enough line to where I can re-bend the line and then re-flare the line and connect the line back to the proportioning valve. Next was to clean the fitting with line in lacquer thinner, then I put the line end in my vise and clamped down on the line as hard as I could. I didn't believe leakage would be a problem but to take no chances I took the crimped line and ran it at an angle on the grinder to offer a small step for me to solder shut any potential leaks. This will make sense if you attempt this. Next step was to again clean in solvent, air dry and solder. Not wanting to mess with the soldering iron for this small job, a quick trip to the kitchen with my fittings, solder and flux, I used my gas stove to heat the crimped end then a little flux then a little solder and I'm finished. The fittings go back in the proportioning valve nice and snug and hopefully with no leaks. Time to bleed the system now. I start at the passenger side caliper and a couple of strokes of the pedal produces a good strong spray of brake fluid. I go to the drivers side and there's a big disappointment. I'm getting just a trickle of fluid. I check the reservoir and it has enough fluid so I'm not sucking air in. I try the drivers side again and get only a weak trickle. That does it, time to take another part off the future B6T car. By the time I get the B6T in it, it will be missing half the parts. So off comes the master cylinder off the '93 to go on the '91 driver. I get it on, bleed at at the master cylinder, just have my assistant pump the pedal while I crack the lines. Then once more at the calipers and this time a good strong spray at both sides. Put the wheels back on drop it off the jack, wash my hands and go for a test ride. Backing down the driveway I like it already. Going down the main roads and catching a few lights right as they turned yellow tells me that I'm driving a Festiva with front brakes only and it's stopping better than it ever had. I know there's a good possibility that this '91 had a weak master cylinder from day one which was 4 years ago. As for comparing it to the now wrecked '88 and the '93 that's a hard comparison to make as I went several years without driving a Festiva. I will say with only the front brakes I feel like the car stops excellent and there obviously is no rear wheel lock up as I experienced in the past on several occasions. That's all.

[WmWatt]

1. Without the long rear lines compression should build faster making the brakes feel more responsive.
2. Better hope the front brakes hold because there is no falling back on the rears which is what the proportioning block is for.

[Rick the Quick]

WmWatt, thanks for your input. The festiva splits the dual braking circuits diagonally. The front part of the master cylinder controls the L/F caliper and R/R wheel while the rear circuit controls the R/F caliper and the L/R wheel. If one circuit fails I will still have one caliper to save the day not to mention I have a nice functioning hand brake to clamp down on the rear drums if needed. The proportioning valve is to control the front/rear bias of the brakes. The front calipers obviously require more pressure than the rear wheel cylinders. Guys that run on road courses or even roundy round tracks usually change their race cars over to an adjustable proportioning valve. If I wasn't so darn lazy I would eliminate the proportioning valve. I would run the front line from the master cylinder to the left caliper and the rear line from the master cylinder to the right caliper. I don't see any reason this would not work. I have ridden motorcycles for 50 years and when riding big heavy street bikes I seldom use the rear brakes to stop. Just like my Festiva the rear end gets lighter when stopping. and just like the Festiva the rear brakes on my old Beemer will lock up and skid if I'm not careful. It's easier for me to not use them on the bike as they aren't necessary for the average stop. Come rain or snow I will need to re-evaluate the Festiva to see if the front brake only system will be up to the task. I can always connect the rear brakes or being the cautious driver I am, adjust my driving style accordingly. When I blew the wheel cylinder out on the Festiva I had a long drive home with lots of stops and darn near no brakes. It's all about being aware of you surroundings, watching the stop lights to limit your chances of having to stop for a yellow and lots of downshifting while rolling up to redlights and the few times I had to stop I had my cable hand brake to help me out. The best safety equipment on any vehicle is the person driving it. I look around today and it seems like driving the car is secondary to texting, playing with the sound system, talking on the phone, etc and plenty of people probably think they are nearly immortal driving their high tech SUV with 29 air bags and ABS brakes yet why are there still so many darn fatalities?

[Rick the Quick]

Charlie (Advancedynamix) tells us his race car runs 142mph in the main straight away at INDE Motorsports and he does it on stock Festiva brakes. Fronts only. He says the rears are not needed. After driving my car for the last few days I can honestly say it's never felt better during braking.

[WmWatt]

Yes, I've driven to the garage a couple of times with only the hand brake. It's okay at slow speeds but most effective, as they say, for parking. I ride and work on bicycles more than my Festiva. As you point out the fronts are more effective. Still, I would not want to risk being without the rear brakes.Good luck with that.

[chiquito1228]

Am pretty sure Charlie has some really good front pads. How about an adjustable proportioning valve. Let you fine tune the rear brakes

[F3BZ]

could also cut the line where it's convenient, slip on a female fitting, flare and screw in a flare plug, then you could replace the plug with a coupling if you ever wanted to hook the rear brakes up again?

[WmWatt]

Back again. I would not tamper with the brakes on a car driven on public roads because in an accident it might be an automatic at fault. Suppose that depends on jurisdiction but a lawyer or insurance rep would likely bring it up. No appreciation for creative innovation.

[theastronaut]

Charlie uses Festiva knuckles but different rotors (Aspire or maybe Miata, but definitely bigger that festiva rotors plus they're vented) and has Wilwood calipers and race pads. He's not racing on stock brakes. He doesn't use rear brakes because they make the car want to loop out if braking deeper into a corner, like when pulling the e-brake up to make the car slide.

That said, stock brakes and good pads (not ceramic) are all you need on the street or autocross.

It's also a bad idea to remove safety items on a street car, you'll be liable for damages caused if the insurance company finds out if there is ever a wreck.