The shims are placed at the end of the rod coming out of the booster, effectively lengthening the rod.
________________________________ From: Joe Elliott <[email protected]> To: Brian Shorey <[email protected]> Cc: Alfa Romeo Digest <[email protected]> Sent: Wed, June 16, 2010 9:09:28 PM Subject: Re: Strange Milano brakes, revisited >> > > No shims, pedal sinks to the floor. Two shims, pedal is >> >> high but dragging. One shim, everything seems fine. >> > >> >WHAAAA??? Okay, now that's just freakin' weird. And it doesn't make >>sense. >> >>My sentiments exactly. One of my non-Alfas requires some shims, >>without which the brakes will seize up after a few minutes of >>driving. Brian's Milano's behavior seems backwards, and I always >>thought the Alfa master cylinders were entirely conventional in >>design. > > >Actually, the behavior we're experiencing seems normal, yours seems >backwards! > >Adding shims essentially lengthens the rod between the brake pedal and the >MC, which reduces free play. If you have no free play, it's as if you never >fully release the pedal, and you'll experience drag. Too much free play and >you will need to pump the brakes to get pressure. That's pretty much what >we're experiencing. > >As an aside, I happened to take a look at a Spider booster yesterday. The >rod coming out of the booster was threaded, with a round headed nut on the >end. That's how you adjust the free play on a Spider. Looks like the >Milano/GTV6 was cost reduced, I'm sure they saved a penny or two by dropping >the nut and not threading the rod.. Are you placing shims between the booster and the MC or the chassis and the booster? -Joe -- to be removed from alfa, see http://www.digest.net/bin/digest-subs.cgi or email "unsubscribe alfa" to [email protected]
