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Installation (continued)
With the rear-end now installed and plumbed, it was time to move to the motor compartment. Plumbing the Lincoln proportioning valve to the Gran Torino caused us a number of headaches that we eventually remedied.

Our situation was further complicated by the fact that we cut the master cylinder-to-proportiong valve lines used by the donor '76 Lincoln. The callout image showing the Lincoln proportioning valve above and the associated chart below will help you understand what was done to make the valve work.

ID
Comment
Connected hard line to passenger-side front caliper. Port thread size correct for original Gran Torino hard line.
Connected hard line from front brake reservoir of master cylinder. Used line from '74 Lincoln Mark IV. Original Gran Torino line will not work.
Installed brake sensor. Port thread size and sensor the same for Lincoln and Gran Torino.
Connected hard line from rear brake reservoir of master cylinder. Used line from '74 Lincoln Mark IV with a fitting. See below. Fitting not required if we had used '76 Lincoln Mark IV line. Original Gran Torino line will not work.
Connected line to rear brake junction/flexible brake line with use of two fittings. See below. One fitting required a slight counter bore for a better seat.
Connected hard line to driver-side front caliper. Port thread size correct for original Gran Torino hard line.

 


We needed three fittings and a counter bore to make the Lincoln proportioning valve work on the Gran Torino. If we had used the donor car master cylinder-to-proportioning valve lines we would not need the leftmost fitting shown in the picture.

This modification lives up to FordMuscle's promise to bring you the real story when performing upgrades. The original Gran Torino hard line (running to rear junction/flexible brake line) would not fit the female thread on the proportioning valve. We hunted high and low for the right fitting. In combination, these two did the trick. However, the one on the right required a counter-bore. We promise, it didn't leak.

We now understood why so many disc brake conversions go awry. Installing the correct proportioning valve took patience. We found ourselves tempted to "get by" with the original disc/drum proportioning valve.

We bench bled the master cylinder and installed it. Following that we installed the hard lines connecting it to the proportioning valve.

The system was now ready to be pressurized. We bled the brakes and found no leaks. We had a firm pedal but no power to road-test the car. The '73 Gran Torino factory 429 car is awaiting a drivetrain.


(Parking Brake)
 
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