mystery part (anti-lock brakes on a Formula Ford?)

This is the pedal box of a certain Merlyn Mk20 Formula Ford:

http://www.britishracecar.com/NeilMc...yn-Mk20-EC.jpg

I'm interested in the shiny object in the lower righthand corner. I believe it was intended to help drivers avoid locking up their brakes. Obviously this one is installed on the rear hydraulic circuit. A second one might have been installed on the front brake line, but the two mystery devices weren't connected.

1) What is the proper name for this device?
2) Who manufactured it?
3) Is it "period correct"?
4) How was it supposed to work?
5) How well did these devices actually work?
6) If this is already installed on the car, is there any harm in leaving it in place?

Thanks!

I used to race against a Crosley 32 back in the late 80's in RCCA that had the same "units" in it. I figured since the guy was like 300lbs that it didn't matter what brake system he had in the car. I'm sure he would respond here but he's banned from the site ;)

IIRC those were called safety brakers. I believe the intent was to prevent lockup. They were fashionable in the 70's but I have never seen them since.

I recall those devices; they came out about '72-73. They were advertised as th hot setup in preventing brake lockup. I never drove a car with them installed, so I can't say how effective they were. But I did work on a car that had them and I can tell you the one thing they did very well was constantly leak, no matter how well you installed them.

I remember advertisements for an anti-lock brake component, looks like that as I recall, but I don't remember ever seeing one up close (Cen-Div) back in the 70's.
Period correct? Not an OEM addition
If it was successful, there would have been more sold.
I think the driver's back then wanted to have control over their own brake system and not rely on another mechanical variable.

they were called safety brakers.

They had a diaphragm in them, i think, and the idea was to put area under the curve and smooth out the spike input that is put in by the driver applying the pedal.

I never felt a difference after I took them off.

They were very much the thing way back, but died out probably due to not really doing anything that the average driver would feel.

Indeed they were called Safety Breakers and were manufactured by Bob Booth in Cal. Later Bob owend Bell Motorsports, Bell Auto Racing, and pyrotect.He has sold all those and retired.
P.S. He was a long time FV racer in the 60's and 70's.

Sadly,Bob Booth died last year. The safety breaker was one of his many racing developments. He was a fv standout from the late 60's into the late 70's and claimed that Rick Mears was his student in fv at his initial driver's school. One of his stories involved his first trip in fv to Seattle Intl Raceways in about 1975. 25 vees,he's on the pole in the rain after having his wife Judy spray his tires with a liquid from a bottle marked "RAIN STICK" in bold letters and placed on the pit wall where each driver looked at it passing onto the track.. Timing sheets come up and a flock of locals head to Booth's pit to see what this Rainstick is. Bob casually unscrews the cap and downs the remainder of the bottle as they approach - it was coffee. Classic Booth. We all loved him and bought all our gear and helmets from him for decades and listened to dozens of similar tales.

I have a pair of these somewhere in the shop, removed from a early 70's FSV during restoration. I thought they were some sort of anti lock up device...........and so once again The Apex Speed Brainpool resolves yet another one of life's mysteries. Thank you!:D

FYI when the Street Prepared class was added to the Solo rules in 1983 "Safety Breakers" were specifically allowed. Interestingly they are still allowed but using the spelling "Safety brakers". Also allowed are Brake Guard System http://brake-guard.com/ and similar products.

Dick

Safety Braker were also based in....Spokane WA for years. Don't know when they disappeared but every cop car in town had those on them.

I noticed those on the front brakes of several FV's back in the mid 70's. IIRC, they basically provided an absorption of the initial pressure spike when the brake was applied hard. I tried it and found it made my braking no better, maybe worse.

I agree. If they worked really well they'd be on all cars.

I put them om my HP Bugeye Sprite because they ran advertisements constantly in all of the racing publications of the time promising amazing results. It just made my brake pedal very soft and I could never lock up my brakes meaning I probably wasn't getting full pressure, leaked alot too. Every one who was cool used them though!

I bought a Titan mk 6 about 12 years ago out of Roswell Mew Mexico that was parked in 1975. It had every Shankle/whizz go bolt on upgrade with catalogs and receipts for all. It had 2 of these on the front brake lines. The car is gone but I still have the cool Shankle newsletters!

I have one of these on one of Al Leake's old Alfa race cars and I have been trying to find out what the hell it was for 4 years.

thanks Apex Speed!!
and all that contributed