ITC Fiesta brake booster or no brake booster?

S

swiftin

New member
When I bought the car it had a brake servo but I think it may be leaking. Did everyone run these cars in the day without a servo? I have new master cylinders for both systems (boosted and non-boosted) but I think it is going to be difficult to find repair parts for the servo. Will the pedal effort increase significantly?
Also, any recommendations for gear oil? Thanks, Kurt
 
Ususally the pedal ratios are different on a boosted vs. non-boosted car.

I do not recall if it had a booster, but I think that all imported into the States would be all with or all without.
 
I don' tknow the car well enough to even start answering the brake question, excpet to say that the showroom configuration in the USA is how you must run it in IT. if you could get it unboosted, go that way, but be sure to replace EVERYTHING that would be different with that system. anything sold for the street will have a low enough pedal effort to be tolerable. Even in Prod or GT, any good brake system should not have an overly stiff pedal.

gear oil: Amsoil/Royal Purple/Redline/Shaeffer/lucas/mobil1 etc... all have good options. application matters. For a manual transaxle or plain gear oil (i.e. synchros or no?) and do you need a diff additive? I'm betting FWD transaxle, 80ish weight, locker or eckerich style diff without additive, and GL4 or below synchros, and recommend amsoil manual transaxle or redline MT90. both work great and are readily available.
 
When I raced my Fiesta it came with a brake booster, in fact all of the Fiestas (3) that I owned had one. If any came without I don't recall seeing any.

Just did a quick check at RockAuto and they do list a rebuilt booster for the Fiesta so you should be able to get one through them or other sources.

I used synthetic gear lube 75W-90 with the stock diff and with the Quafe when I installed that. One thing that I would mention is if you do happen to open up the transaxel is to check out the internal shift linkage. Twice the linkage failed on me at the track when a retaining pin failed. It was a simple fix but it required you to remove the transaxel to fix it. The second time I drilled the hole bigger and used a bigger roll pin.

The first time the trans was stuck in 4th gear and the other time in neutral.
 
booster

I do not have a brake booster on my ITC Fiesta. Brakes have always felt spongy, but seem to work. Subject to fade if you overwork them. Brake pedal pressure is easy. you don't need the booster for that. However, seems I remember that at some point someone was claiming the booster helped stiffen the firewall. I find it a bit hard to believe but that was the claim.

I can also tell you that the Fiesta does NOT turn in at the end of the Mid-Ohio straight when you blow out one of the front brake lines and have zero braking. Very interesting ride!
gls
 
I've had 4 fiesta's (2 street, 2 race) and none of them had boosters.
Like Gary says, the brakes can be a bit spongy but after years of fluid/pad combos, what has worked for me is using Motul 600 with the Porterfield R4E pad on the front with 2.5 dia brake hose.... no more sponginess even at Sebring club course.
 
On a Fiesta you brake with the fronts! The rear brakes are just there. They do some work but you have found as I did when I raced my Fiesta that the rear brakes will last a long time. I raced mine from 1988-1995 and think I changed the shoes once! And I think I did that just because I had a set of new shoes that I got tired of looking at.

Also back then I was helping out a local racer who was running in some SCCA Trans Am races. He had an Ex-Roush Mustang. I would grab the used brake pads which when removed were nearly as thick as a new stock Fiesta front pad. I would cut it down in size to fit the Fiesta caliper. I got the best and newest Performance Friction pads for free. Once I started doing this I had no brake issues.

I never had a spongy pedal. I used SS brake hoses and pressure bleed the system.
A Fiesta with a brake booster requires less pressure to slow the car which results in the firewall flexing less due to this reduced effort on the driver part.

Oh, you do need to adjust the rear drums before every race. You want just a bit of drag when you spin the rear wheel. On track the drums can get hot and expand and that makes for a longer brake pedal.
 
Rear brakes

I agree that the rears don't do a whole lot of work. I put a new set of stock shoes on my car when I first got it. They still look brand new. Just for kicks I put a brake bias dial in my car (came in the spares box). So far I haven't figured out how to make it make much.

When/where are you planning on going out?
Gary
 
The fiesta came with and without a brake booster.

The OEM brake set-up, the pedal was always a little soft. I fixed it with twin aftermarket masters, not ok for improved touring. The OEM master cylinder might have been a little to small??

Front brakes, can use hawk blue rx7 rear pads, almost fit perfectly.

Rear, if the drums are worn, the shoes will wear faster. With worn drums and worn out shoes the wheel cylinder can come apart, causing the brakes to fail.

Hubs, the cast OEM hubs really should not be used on the track. There used to be sources for billet hubs, even those are not very strong and should be inspected for cracks. I converted to much stronger Tempo hubs and bearings, that requires the tempo outer CV and custom axles. Not really a proper improved touring mod but I think some did this in the past.
I have one set of billet hubs, not sure of the condition or how much track time they already have, but if someone wants them let me know.

Front bearings have no adjustment and will require replacement often, carry spares.

The one part that is rare, cylinder heads. Anyone know where I can get some extra heads??

TED fiesta H prod
 
What's the prep level allowed on a Fiesta in Prod.?
Or is there a multi-level prep.?

I know that there is a "sweet" aluminum head available for FF's that will bolt right on but the valve size is larger then stock Fiesta. I wonder if you resized the valves to stock could you run that head?

Most likely not but I'm just throwing that out there.

I do come across a Fiesta in the Pick-N-Pulls ever once in a while but never thought of pulling the heads as most of the cars that end up there most likely have cracks in the head.
 
F prod can port the OEM head or use a Formula ford head.

H prod must used OEM unported head.

The fiesta fits better in H prod but the only issue is having OEM heads.....

For improved touring most of the engine is basically a formula ford, but need to use the OEM head.

There are a few diffrent heads that will fit but the fiesta head is what should be used for improved touring and H prod.
 
Ted,
Bit embarrassing, but I believe we were talking a couple seasons back about Fiesta heads. My apologies - business kept me out of commission and I lost track of anything racing.

Your comment earlier about spare heads triggered some random synapse firing long enough for me to remember that I was supposed to track down a head for you. I take it you're still interested?
Gary
 
Yes if anyone knows of any fiesta cylinder heads that are for sale, I want to know.

I have a few, but they are getting impossible to find, so it would be nice to locate a couple more.

If anyone wants info on running one of these, feel free to ask me questions. No need for anyone else to learn stuff the hard way. Although I run production, some of the issues I have dealt with would also apply to improved touring.

TED Heinritz
 
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