Loyale 2.7 Turbo

By the way... The added metal to the brake Pedal, isn't noticeable, unless you bow down to see it

Here's the extended Pedal, already installed and tested: The brake pedal was placed from factory, almost at the height of the accelerator pedal's top; now that it has been lengthened, the brake pedal has lowered and is located at the height of the center of the accelerator pedal. The extension not only lowered it, but also it came out a little, resulting in a brake pedal slightly higher and much better located. The results of this small modification, are so Awesome, that I really wonder why the heck I didn't it Before, because I noticed this issue since I obtained the car, in december 2009

This is how the extended pedal looks, after a layer of anti rust paint: and after the second layer: Ready to be placed on the "KiaStein"

I drove many, many different cars, vans, trucks, SUV's, etc, since long years ago; and ALL of them had a brake pedal that is placed in a way, that you can easily (and Safely) reach it with the Foot, not with the Toes; only the second gen Sephia / first gen Spectra (same car, almost) on Automatic versions, suffer from this short pedal issue; which really affects the braking feeling / behaviour and safety on these models. So I decided to cut the Kia's brake Pedal bar, close to the pedal itself; and cut a little more than an inch from an old Toyota's brake pedal bar, which I found at a friend's pile of old parts... then I carefully welded the Toyota's metal bar piece, to the Kia's metal bar; as you can see on the followin' Photo: The old 'yota's metal bar is much thicker than the Kia's one.

Maybe this issue was a li'l more noticeable to me, as I suffer from Genetic Gout Foot Attacks from time to time (More info, ~► Here) So, I decided to go back to the 2004 Spectra donor car at the Junk Yard, and grab (among other things) its brake Pedal, in order to modify it, saving the original one as backup to place it back on the car, if things goes wrong...

No, the writeup is not gone, fortunately. Only the old link doesn't work since USMB updated its system. So, this is the new, updated link: ~► Kind Regards.

Still I believe that the Brake Pedal on this second gen Kia Sephia, is a little high placed from the floor, so the approach with the foot is more with the toes than with the mere foot as in other cars... and I use 12W shoes; my wife use 8 shoes, so it is even worse for her. I believe that Braking Behaviour could be improved even more, gaining less foot effort, if the Brake Pedal were placed a little lower... ...but that, is Another story.

So, this is the way to go: if you swap rear disc brakes on your second gen Sephia / first gen Spectra, those will be 10.1" so you Must swap the front disc brakes from the donor car also, in order to have same sized 10.1" front discs too, not the lousy 9" in front ... the Brakes works Awesomely with 10.1" all around in the four corners. Don't touch the master cylinder at all. Kind Regards.

SUCCESS!!! Thanks to God, everything is Successful !!! I've never drove a vehicle with such braking power, using little pedal force to completely stop, in a straight line; no matter if the road is paved, gravel or unpaved road. Finally, the KiaStein features the awesome Braking system that I always wanted, it doesn't lock the wheels easily, and lets you maneuver correctly, during panic braking. And the Best part: my Wife is Happy with her car's Behaviour. Thanks to God. Kind Regards.

Also, I had to Obtain new Brake Pads, which have nearly twice the rubbing area than the old ones; this new ones has almost the same rubbing area than a 2012 Sorento's Pads, little less, which is Big for a little sedan... Some months ago, I painted all the four calipers and brake parts on the "KiaStein" with high temp, red enamel; so, as the rear calipers were Red, I had to paint this new front ones in same Red, to match the rear ones... Then, after Bleeding completely the system three times in a cross-pattern, with the Help of my Wife; I took the "KiaStein" for a Test-Ride to the Mountains' Roads.

I removed off the Old Hubs still with everything attached, Notice their small size and the holes all around the base for the wheel... ...Then I installed the New Hubs along everything. Notice their increased size and no holes around their base. Also, the bolts on the Upgraded Brakes' Calipers, are way much thicker and can be held with regular Nº 14 wrenches, while the smaller calipers on the old hubs, required Nº 7 hexagonal wrenches... among other improvements.

The rotors had a superficial rust film, otherwise everything was immaculate; I cleansed everything and regreased all the ends of the Axles and Hubs; also changed the rubber boots that were torn and I was ready for the Upgraded Brakes' Retrofitting

Finally, Photos (hoping that Photobucket allows me to share 'em Here) This is the Donor Car, well... the front clip from an automatic 2004 model Kia Spectra premium, built in late 2003; which somehow came from the USA to the Local Junk Yard with only 31,000 Miles on the odometer: The rim on the floor doesn't belong to it; the front clip already was empty, I mean without engine nor transmission; no interior parts, etc... and the front hubs were still with their 10.1" front Discs, Calipers, and Axles! This is how I purchased them after I took 'em off from the Front Clip.

Also I must mention that to do this Retrofitting, I need: ► the Complete Hubs. ► the Rotors. ► the Calipers. ► the Disc Pads. ► along the Axles. Because the "Upgraded from Factory" brakes, are completely different from the regular ones, the Axles on the upgraded ones are way much Beefier and also they are much thicker at the Hub's end, to the point that the axles from the Regular models doesn't touch the Splines inside the Hubs for the Upgraded brakes. However, the other end of the Axles (the tripod joint that fits at the transmission's cups) is Equal, even the shafts has the same measurements and Splines, as long as you use parts from a donor car that has the same transmission as yours. This Means that I needed a donor car that has Automatic Transmission as the "KiaStein" is, otherwise the Axles will not fit... Think about it, it was not easy to find the Perfect donor car here, in Honduras; but Miracles happens.

The last Real Kia, came from its factory on march, 2004 and was a Kia Spectra with the 1.8L engine; then from April 2004 and on, all the Kias including the Spectra, are really rebadged Hyundais, with only differences on body / interior design; so the Newer Kia Spectras are really Hyundai Elantras with the 2.0L engines; (in the same way that the Kia Sorento / Hyundai Santa Fe are Brothers, the same goes to the Hyundai Tucson / Kia Sportage, also the Hyundai Sonata / Kia Optima, etc...), so, to find a first gen Kia Spectra with the "Upgraded from Factory" front disc Brakes in 10.1" fashion, was not easy; as almost all the "Newer" Spectras I came across on Junk Yards, were from the Hyundai plattform, and those are completely different animals with the Sephia, parts doesn't interchange at all. But thanks to God, I found one 2004 Kia Spectra, built in late 2003 with the 1.8L engine (Known as the "Old Body Style" somehow), which had the Famous Upgraded 10.1" front Disc Brakes.

About the FRONT disc brakes The rear disc brakes continues performing awesomely, thanks to God; not having a single issue so far... But the Rear disc brakes came off from a "Premium" second gen Kia Sephia (which is mechanically identical to the first gen Kia Spectra), which means that I have big 10.1" Discs in the Rear... and the smaller 9" Discs on the Front, which are the stock ones... I read online that there were 10.1" front Discs for the Late (2001) second gen Kia Sephia (and the 2002 ~ 2004 Kia Spectra) , known as the "Upgraded from Factory" front Brakes, available on Premium models... So, my Natural desire was to obtain the Bigger 10.1" Upgraded front Disc brakes, to match the 10.1" rear Disc Brakes, to has the car on Balance, and remove the "unnatural" Small Front Discs / Big Rear Discs setup that I had on the "KiaStein" but, those upgraded front brakes are not easy to come by; I've searched for Years... (Literaly) ...and only came across of the standard 9" front discs; I wanted the "Upgraded" 10.1" Discs. Until I found them, recently...

Glad to read that your Subie is back at home. I always used a Club bar in all my cars, since the 1990's Here things are even worse, and the Club bar really works as 1 Lucky Texan wrote: Kind Regards.

interesting project...

So, please dismiss the idea of using an increased bore master cylinder, it works backwards; the bigger the Bore, the less pressure will have the brake fluid at the Calipers, because their chambers will be filled earlier and brake pedal gets tall and stiff; you will lose the advantage from the Leverage Effect, and thus means less braking Power. The KiaStein performs great, with the original 7/8" size. But the double Diaphragm brake Booster, is really Better than the single diaphragm one... My wife is Happy now. Kind Regards.

And the results of the different braking Tests I did, proves that the car, Really has a much better braking behaviour with the 7/8" bore master cylinder, rather than with the increased sized one. Also the Brake pedal feels much, much softer and lighter to use; plus the braking power increases, as you get increased clamping force at the calipers with a longer running pedal, due to the Leverage effect. But pedal doesn't travel too deep as it did with the old (stock) 7/8" master cylinder, which leads me to think that the stock one was worn and about to fail, back then... anyhow; the "KiaStein" performs very good, braking with the 7/8" bore master cylinder, and the "in-tandem" double diaphragm brake booster.

So, after removing the 15/16" master cylinder, placing in its place a brand new 7/8" master cylinder and swapping the piping that was modified, with another one from a donor car found on a local junk yard; everything (Except the Double Diaphragm brake Booster) went back to factory specs on the Master cylinder and pipings.

Regarding the increased bore Master Cylinder. After long time with the KiaStein running with the increased 15/16" bore master cylinder, my Wife told me that her car has a hard brake pedal that makes her tired from pumping it on traffic jams; so, I Decided to return to use a 7/8" bore master cylinder, but a Brand New one; in order to do different braking tests and feel if with the original size, the leg / foot effort for braking, reduces; but not the Braking force of the car. And I must update here the Results, and also I admit that I was wrong. My mistake. Sorry. I wish I should payed more attention back then, and followed good advice, such like this one:

The trick consists in basic science: The Brake Fluid Swells the Rubber Seals while softening 'em; just the contrary from what age and usage does to them: Shrinking and Hardening. I'll update regarding this, as soon as anything new, happens; but the "KiaStein" keeps working Flawlessly, thanks to God. Kind Regards.

For two years, my lazy-áss trick worked well, but the hydraulic steering rack's seals decided to restart the leakage, and I am not at the best moment to find and buy a good used hydraulic steering rack at the local junk yards, and do the Swap. Also, the only car part when I have failed flat-on-my-face to successfully repair, is leaky hydraulic steering racks, all the ones that I've tried to repair, ends equally leaking or even worse, no matter if I use brand new seals from the original car brand, or aftermarket ones; so I really dislike to repair hydraulic steering racks; I prefer to Swap 'em... but I can't obtain another one soon. So, I decided to give to this lazy-áss trick, a second chance; and this time I poured more than two ounces of Wagner's DOT3 non-synthetic Brake Fluid, to an almost full Power Steering fluid's reservoir, while engine was at idle, just minutes prior to start a 420 miles trip, hoping to not need to be refilling the reservoir with power steering fluid during the Trip, nor running out of power steering fluid... ...and the Magic happened once again! The thing hasn't leaked a single drop in said trip, nor in this two whole weeks since I poured the Brake Fluid to the Power Steering Fluid;

C'mon fellows... I know that many members here also loves good ol' MuscleCars from the 1960's decade; so, if anyone has some advice or experience on Upgrading the fuse Box on these Mercury / Ford vehicles, please let me know. Kind Regards.