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© 2000 Brian F. Schreurs
Even we have a disclaimer.

Basically, some engineer somewhere designed the worst imaginable remote reservoir as an April fool's joke, then dropped dead later that day before telling his supervisors that it was a gag. So here it is on our cars. Luckily, Walter Acker IV discovered that the Mitsubishi reservoir would drop in its place. And fortunately, the Mitsubishi mod is not that difficult. Note that we did it the expensive way; for a less-expensive (but in our opinion, less attractive) setup, check out Kirby Palm's Brake Fluid Reservoir Fix.

To do it our way, you'll need the following parts: the remote reservoir (Mitsubishi #MB534534) and reservoir bracket (Mitsubishi #MB534537) off a 1991 Eclipse, a hollow 5/16"x20" tube (Bendix #STD520), a couple feet of 1/4" and 3/8" air hose (red-orange outside layer, black inner layer), two brass 1/4-to-3/8 hose splicers (PlumbingSupply.com #BA-C64), two 9/16" hose separators (Earl's #167209), two 11/16" hose separators (Earl's #167211), four -4AN hose ends (Russell #2225), four -6AN hose ends (Russell #2226), a bunch of 1/4"-ID hose clamps to replace the crappy Russell ones (Ideal #52F13), and braided steel protective sleeving (Spectre Magnabraid I #2008B, designed for fuel lines). For the switch, you can either use some cheap crimp connectors, or you can build a weatherpack for it. The latter will require the following Motormite items: two-wire weatherpack housings (#85317 male #85318 female), 16/14-ga. pin connectors (#85307 male #85308 female), and end seals (#85305).

Top, the original stock brake fluid reservoir scheme. Above, reservoir and master cylinder are both removed.

Lift the brown rubber cover from the reservoir cap and pull the plugs. Then remove the cap.

Use a manually-activated portable semitransparent brake fluid transfer system (found in the turkey baster section of the local grocery store) to transfer the old brake fluid out of the reservoir and into a glass jar. The jar must be glass so you can easily see how contaminated your system is and just how badly it needs to be flushed. Now.

The old reservoir is held by two bolts. They are 7/16", and just your luck, they have nuts on the underside. Getting at the nuts is tricky but doable. The passenger-side bolt has a grommet attached to it. This doesn't really affect anything, just be aware of its presence.

Disconnect the reservoir-to-cylinder brake lines at the master cylinder end. They use a flathead screwdriver. Be ready with the glass jar to catch any errant brake fluid; this stuff's not good for paint. Pull the reservoir off the master cylinder. Set that skanky thing to one side.

If you were thinking about swapping the master cylinder, now's the time to do it. We did.

Take the Mitsubishi reservoir and put the Mitsubishi bracket on it. The bolt to tighten the strap around the reservoir, conveniently not included with the bracket, is a 6mm-1.0x12mm bolt.

Now, generally hold the new reservoir where you want it to go. The idea is for the base of the new reservoir to be at the same level as the base of the old one. It should be pushed as close to the power brake servo as possible, keeping in mind that the new hose is rather stiff and doesn't like short bends. It should be as far back to the firewall as possible, keeping in mind the difficulty of bending the custom bracket, interference from the bonnet safety latch, and those stubborn hoses again. Think about all this and maybe test-fit some components to see how they go together.

The new bracket assembly takes shape.

Once you think you know what you want, take the hollow tube, cut the ends off, and remove the fittings. Use a tube bender to begin the bending process. This tube is going to become a bracket: a lightweight, non-cluttered, adjustable tube bracket. Start with the passenger-side mounting hole, bend it upward to the passenger-side reservoir bracket hole, run it along the bracket to the driver-side bracket hole, then down to the driver-side mounting hole. Do not worry about conforming to the contours of the reservoir bracket; just get it close, as it will be a tighter fit later. As you bend, try to plan ahead because the tube bender does have a minimum radius for its bends. Take your time and test-fit often.

When you get the bracket to your liking, you'll probably have some excess tube. Cut it off.

Put flat spots on the four locations around the bracket that will have bolts in it. Measure and mark carefully, then squish the tubing through whatever means you have handy. For us, the handy means was a set of massive Vise-Grips. This actually worked pretty well.

Drill holes in the four flat spots for whatever size bolts you have chosen to use. We used 1/4" bolts. For extra security, we threaded the holes.

Loosely attach the custom bracket to the reservoir mounting pad. Test-fit the reservoir to the bracket; make any fine-tune adjustments as necessary. Loosely attach the resevoir to the bracket. Test the hose routing by holding the 3/8" air hose in its approximate position (don't actually put it on the reservoir, as it's really hard to get off). Make any more adjustments as necessary. Try to close the bonnet. Adjust as necessary (we had to give up on the cool Napoli bonnet latch mod, as described in our bonnet strut article).

Once everything is adjusted to your liking, tighten the bracket to the mounting pad and to the reservoir. Don't forget to pinch the nearby hose grommet's bracket onto one of the reservoir bracket's bolts. Note how the bracket will bend to accommodate the reservoir's bracket -- pretty cool. Having the holes threaded makes this step a lot easier, although we still put nuts on the other side just to be extra safe -- after all, this is the brake reservoir.

Test-fitting the reservoir hoses.

With the reservoir mounted, it's time to work out the hoses connecting the reservoir with the master cylinder. It doesn't take a master mechanic to see that the space between the air filter housing and the brake servo is, well, tighter than an elephant in an elevator. Since both the reservoir and the master cylinder use side-by-side hose ends, a side-by-side hose arrangement would be ideal; alas, however, quite impossible. The hoses must start side-by-side, switch to stacked, and go back to side-by-side. But fear not! This can be done.

First, consider that the reservoir uses 3/8" hose and the master cylinder uses 1/4" hose. If you did your shopping ahead of time, you already have this stuff. Otherwise, you'll need some guidance. No parts store will sell brake hose by the foot, not that we could find anyway, so go to a hardware store and get some air hose. The air hose you want is red-orange on the outside and black on the inside. Many kinds of rubber won't withstand brake fluid, which is why it' important to not use any old hose, but this stuff is up to the challenge.

You'll also need a way to connect these hoses. At the hardware store, the best we could manage was a series of adapters connecting two different barb fittings. This really didn't make us happy; we finally found that we could get barb fittings that go directly from 1/4" barb to 3/8" barb through PlumbingSupply.com. Their customer service is excellent but their shopping cart is wanting; be sure to use the comments box on their order form to explain exactly what you're after.

Because the barb fittings are several inches long, they must be installed in a straight part of the hose scheme. And where is the only straight part? The part where the hoses are stacked vertically, the "narrows" between the air filter housing and the brake servo.

So, this is how it works. The nipple on the driver-side of the reservoir leads off with 3/8" hose, which goes straight for a little while, then bends for the narrows. Once in the narrows it goes straight, and about halfway through it gets spliced into the barb adapter. Then the adapter exits with 1/4" hose, which runs straight to the rearmost master cylinder fitting. The nipple on the passenger-side of the reservoir leads off with 3/8" hose and immediately dives under the driver-side hose. It will end up being a little longer, both because it must make a longer bend around the servo, and because it must cover more vertical distance. It will end at approximately the same place as the driver-side hose and will be spliced the same way (it is important that the two splices occur at approximately the same point, so that they appear to be stacked). Then the 1/4" hose leading off the adapter will immediately veer off for the foremost master cylinder nipple.

Looks good on paper, but you're probably wondering how to force rubber hose to do all that. We'll get back to that in a minute.

Carefully measure and cut the 3/8" hose to the proper length. Insert the barb adapter in one end. Carefully measure and cut the 1/4" hose to the proper length. Jam it onto the other end of the barb adapter. In all likelihood, the hose will have a natural bend to it. Try to work with the bend, rather than against it, as you assemble the hoses.

Take the reservoir out of the car and attach the hose assemblies. With them in place, you can add the Spectre Magnabraid braided-steel sheath. This stuff serves several purposes: it protects the hoses from damage; it offers the hose separators something to grip; and it looks cool.

The braid is about the diameter of a straw in its package, but it'll expand to cover the 3/8" hose with no problems. Push on the front of the braid to force it to bunch up. Slide the end over the hose. Continue to slide the braid over the hose by progressively bunching it up where it meets the hose, and scooting it along the length of the hose. It will also have to be stepped up a little bit at the junction between hose sizes. When you get it pretty close to the reservoir, leave a little bit of exposed hose at the end -- the braiding tends to shift around so you need the extra "fudge" room.

After one side is done, you'll have to cut the braid. Wrap it in electrical tape where you plan to cut, and use a Dremel cutter to slice through it. You can also use a Dremel to trim the loose ends.

Once you finally have that braid installed to your liking (yeah, it's a pain to work with, but the results are worth it), install the Tube Seal hose ends. Each end consists of a hose clamp and a metal cover. The cover's purpose is solely one of looks; we admit it. Hey, it's a Jaguar, not a Camaro -- it's gotta look good! Unfortunately, Russell provided crappy undersized hose clamps with their -6AN Tube Seal ends. Take a hose clamp to a parts store and demand a set of four clamps one size bigger.

Each hose will require one -6AN clamp at the reservoir, one -6AN clamp at the hose adapter, one -4AN clamp at the other side of the hose adapter, and one -4AN clamp at the master cylinder. The clamps provided with the -4AN Tube Seal ends are acceptable; only the -6AN clamps need to be replaced.

For each clamp, slide the clamp along the length of the hose, being sure to keep the worm gear where you can get at it with a wrench. Also, keep in mind that the metal cover will have to go over top of the clamp, and must be installed in a certain order: for the clamps nearest the reservoir, the cover must go on first; for the big side of the hose adapter, the clamp must go on first.

Those metal covers don't fit very well as they come; stretch them by inserting a pair of pliers and opening them. Then, after you've got the covers on the clamps, squeeze them closed again. With all of these clamps and covers sliding around, watch that they don't snag on the braided sleeve.

Now for the fun part: making these steel-sleeved rubber hoses fit in the very tight amount of space between the airbox and the brake servo! Woohoo! Seems impossible, doesn't it?

Well, not to worry. This is where the Earl's hose separators come into play. Those separators take their job very seriously, and careful placement will ensure that they bend the hose to your will. You'll need three of them; two of the 11/16" size and one of the 9/16" size. The hex keys on the separators are 3/16". As you attach the separators on the bench, tighten them loosely -- you'll have to makefinal adjustments on the car.

The first separator, a larger one, goes just after the nipples end at the reservoir. This one makes sure that the hose doesn't get misaligned at the seal during all of the gyrations.

The second separator, also a larger one, goes on the hoses just before the hose junction. The trick is that it goes on vertically -- stacking the hoses is the only way to make them pass. Take the passenger-side hose (which should be a tad longer than the other, if you did your measurements properly) and twist it below the driver-side hose. Attach the hose separator. It probably won't go on straight at first, but after you tighten it down it should straighten out.

The third separator, the smaller one, goes on the hoses just after the hose junction. Its main purpose is to take any stress transmitted through the smaller hose, preventing it from disturbing the hose junction. From here, the top (shorter) hose will point straight for the rearmost master cylinder nipple; the bottom (longer) hose will bend forward and upward to reach the foremost master cylinder nipple. The nipples on the master cylinder can be adjusted by gently rotating them.

Frankenbrake: the final reservoir/hose assembly prior to installation.

With the basic idea mocked up on the bench, drop the reservoir/hose assembly back into the car and test-fit. Odds are it won't fit too well at first, but keep tugging and yanking and adjusting -- it'll get there. Of critical importance is tightening down the hose separators progressively, so that locking one down won't permanently skew the others. With patience, both hoses will pass between the airbox and the servo without contact.

This assembly will be pretty stiff, so getting the hoses to attach to the master cylinder nipples won't be easy. But remember, "not easy" isn't the same as "not possible", so some patience and stubbornness will get the task done.

Tighten down all the tube ends and doublecheck the hose separators.

Once you've used weatherpacks, you'll never go back to crimp connectors.

For the switch wiring, you've got two choices. First, the original Jaguar spade connectors will barely fit on the Mitsubishi connector. You can just do that if you don't like wiring. Second, you can do the job right by installing a weatherproof connector.

Most parts stores should sell weatherpack connectors, those plugs so common on GM vehicles. They're sold disassembled so you'll need to pick up a bunch of pieces: two-terminal male and female housings, 16-14-gauge male and female terminals, and wire plugs.

Snip the connectors off the reservoir and the Jaguar harness. Remove that ugly brown cap thingy. Don't worry about which wire goes where; the way this circuit works, it can be wired either way.

Slide a wire plug onto each wire.

Strip a little insulation off the wires. Try to keep each pair the same length. Crimp the terminals to the wires; be sure to use the same type of terminal on each end (for example, two males on the reservoir and two females on the harness).

The new reservoir and hoses in their final installation.

Press the terminals into the connectors, being sure that the type of terminal (male/female) is matched to the correct connector (male/female). The terminals will click when they are properly seated.

Slide the wire plugs up the wires until they press into the back of the connectors.

Carefully join the connectors. That's it! It's much easier than it looks.

Back to the reservoir: fill it and check for leaks.

Flush the brakes. They probably need it anyway, and there's certain to be a bit of air in the lines after doing this job.

Get cleaned up and go for a good romp with your Jag!

All that street rodding stuff costs a lot of money and frankly you can make the Mitsubishi reservoir work just fine without it. But we like the look. Either way, the safety improvements of this reservoir make the job well worthwhile.