Brake Fluid

Austin Bruce · Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 2:43 pm Post subject: Brake Fluid

Recently got an older coyote chassis with invader brakes. I went through and freshened the system up. what brake fluid will work other than dot 5 in it? will dot 3 work? I do know that it can eat natural rubber seals. Im not sure whats in it. I'm pretty sure it had dot 3 or 4 in it before, it was clear and had a dry rubing feeling.

John Matthews · Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 5:54 am Post subject:

Most MCP systems are set-up for DOT 4 but they can be built for 3/5, don't use3/5 in a 4 system or you will be sorry.

That said, I don't have any way of telling what you had in your system. The stuff MCP sells is purple if that helps. Many times people put the wrong stuff in, your best bet is to rebuild the master and caliper if you have any questions. Brake parts are way cheaper than human parts Shocked

Cheers,
_________________
John Matthews
Heartbeat Power, LLC.

Max Wood · Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 7:08 am Post subject:

John - Note that he said it had Invader brakes. You're right about the MCP brake fluid, but I'm not sure about Invader brakes??

John Matthews · Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 7:56 am Post subject:

I didn't know Jeff made his own brakes, they were MCP or Enginetics back when I ran them. Regardless they should be rebuilt or replaced if there's any question.

John
_________________
John Matthews
Heartbeat Power, LLC.

Austin Bruce · Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 2:13 pm Post subject:

is there anyone who i can send the whole system out to because i haven't had much time recently to work on my kart? I trust myself to to the master cyl but the calipers, not so much

Mike Burris · Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 9:29 pm Post subject:

Invader made their own brakes from the beginning and they used automotive type fluid. They were similar to the early Euro brakes that used Formula Ford pads and had retractor springs. Lake Speed also sold a similar brake that adapted to other brands of karts. (we ran one of Lake's brakes on our Margay back then.)
Post a pic, it would help.

John Matthews · Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 5:57 am Post subject:

Austin Bruce · Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 1:11 pm Post subject:

Here are some pictures of the brakes.
[img]https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=9babecfb83&view=att&th=12f284363f668196&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=f_gm5iu3av0&zw[/img]
[img]https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=9babecfb83&view=att&th=12f284363f668196&attid=0.2&disp=inline&realattid=f_gm5iuelb1&zw[/img]
[img]https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=9babecfb83&view=att&th=12f284363f668196&attid=0.4&disp=inline&realattid=f_gm5iuyzy3&zw[/img]

As you can see they didn't post, just copy the url and you may need to set the page zoom to 25 % just remeber to set it back afterwords.

John Matthews · Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 8:43 am Post subject:

The links just take me to gmail, probably works on your computer since you're logged into your account.

Most folks use something like http://photobucket.com/ for sharing pictures.

At some point you have to ask what your times worth though. If you're not trying to restore the kart for vintage it might be better to change to MCP if they'll fit.

Thanks,
_________________
John Matthews
Heartbeat Power, LLC.

Austin Bruce · Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 3:22 pm Post subject:

here are the photos. I was looking at the MCP master cyl and calipers and my question is are the billet components any better as far as working than the regulars, I know billet is good stuff but is usually more exspensive, it is probably what i will go with if no one can help me. sorry about the size.

John Matthews · Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 5:53 am Post subject:

Hi Austin,

The master cylinder is definitely an MCP, just has an Invader top plate on it. The caliper is Invader I guess but I'll bet either MCP or Enginetics parts will work with it. If the inside is good I'd go ahead and rebuild it. They're not hard at all, just need to be clean and replace all the rubber bits inside. You'll also probably want to replace the brake lines, make sure you get the special conical compression sleeves though the regular ones from the hardware store can slip out under pressure.

You can contact Jerry Van Dusen

http://www.vandeusenracing.com/

He bought all the Invader stuff from Jeff Nelson and can probably tell you exactly what you'll need. It won't take that long to do the rebuild and it's probably worth the effort. If you do decide to change them out the regular MCP components work just fine. They're available from most any kart shop or send me a PM if you have trouble getting what you need.

Cheers,
_________________
John Matthews
Heartbeat Power, LLC.

George Young · Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2011 7:39 pm Post subject: Invader Brakes

I've known Jeff for years, always use dot 3 in his stuff. I know because we started out with a High Rev (Jeff built them for them) and we used dot 3. Later on I tried the dot 3 in a Top Kart we bought and really paid the price!
George Y.