Ah, yes, the elephant analogy. Perhaps not a shining example of
decorous discourse, but still serviceable, in its own way.
The good news is that if you can get the car to Karpps there is no reason
why you cannot drive back in your own car. The will take, I am sure,
your old one as a core and replace it with a properly functioning unit.
I don't know if they will remove your old one, however. You'd need to
discuss that with them. Frankly, I would be surprised in they
will.
Evidently, you don't want to try to remove it yourself. No
problem. If it ain't your cup of tea then that's OK. Here is what
I would do. If Karpps will do the whole thing, you are one incredibly
lucky guy. Assuming they won't, however, get the car to a brake shop
that is prepared to work on it. (A tow truck will do nicely.) Have
them remove the unit. Take it to Karpps and get your replacement.
They may rebuild yours on the spot. I can do it in less than an hour so
they would be able to get it done faster, without a doubt. Get the
rebuilt unit back to the brake shop and have them reinstall it and bleed your
brakes.
The trickiest part of the whole thing is the brake bleeding part, due to
the round single master cylinder and its proximity to the booster. Bench
bleeding the M/C is a must if you are to have any success. Successfully
bleeding the brakes is a truly troublesome aspect of this era of
Imperial. I'd have to say in my ten years of having the 1958 I have had
more problems with this than anything else. When I remove the engine of
mine to get it rebuilt I shall have this to look forward to, again.
Just another one of the joys.
Hugh
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, December 19, 2003 7:24
PM
Subject: Spam Alert: Re: IML: 59
emergency brake
Hello Hugh,
I gave serious thought to your elephant
condom theory of the inner tube over the booster unit, and almost wrote to
you to find out which size inner tube to use. You have answered that
however, in one of your recent mails. I thought about doing it, so I could
drive the Imperial to Karps, and let them take off the booster and perform
all of the necessary work. Problem is, how do I get home from Karps once I
drop off the Imperial. It is in Upland which is a good hour from where I
live, and would require taking several freeways to get there. I'd hate to
bother anyone to follow me and drive me back such a distance, and if you
know anything about Los Angeles, we are not very well known for public
transportation. Truth is if you don't have a car here, your only alternative
is pretty much a bicycle!
Bill '59
Crown