Tilt Wheel / Swing Pedal Brake
Custom Application

IN THE BEGINNING...

Even before the teardown of our project truck began, we knew we wanted a tilt column and swing pedal brake system. There were many changes in the concept of this project during the phase of rebuilding our project truck. One concept was to go top drawer and buy everything in the way of kits and just stick it in, but the cost of an aftermarket tilt column and swing pedal brake kit were just to high for our budget. The estimated cost would have been well over $1,000. This simply did not make sense for a non-show type truck.

So, we planned out an project that most any home garage mechanic could do with the proper shop tools. The cost for our project came in at a very low $115. This made the project cost very reasonable and allowed us to spend a little more on some other areas on the truck.

WHAT A DEAL!

We headed out to the wrecking yard and picked up some real deals for our project. After picking over some 100 cars we found an tilt column out of 1979 Pontiac. The cars was in beautiful condition inside and under the hood. It looked like grandma's car, but was hit hard in the rear. We pulled the tilt column and steering linkage, then head over to the truck section and chopped out a brake swing pedal out of a 1969 Ford F-100. The total days catch came to $30.00, what a deal. In the photo you can see the parts we picked up at the wrecking yard with the exception of the new master cylinder. I picked up the master cylinder at the local brake supply shop here in Sacramento. The master cylinder is manufactured by Bendix, part number 11403, which has a 1" piston with no residual check valve. We are using this master cylinder in conjunction with a remote booster located under the cab on the frame rail. You could use any type of booster/master cylinder combination, but that's another story. See our earlier Disc Brake article for more information on the rest of brake system.

FAB'N AWAY

We start this project with a piece of 6"X 8"X 1/4" plate steel as the base for the pedal support. The piece will add strength to the firewall and support the master cylinder as well. You could move the plate around to best meet the needs of your project. We wanted our plate centered on the column and positioned in a way that would not place the master cylinder on any of the firewall bosses on the engine side of the firewall. [more]