VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1946-1948 Help! I have no brakes after brake job

I need some advice. I did a brake job on all 4 wheels, new shoes, new brake cylinders, new springs and clips, some new brake lines (when I could not loosen the bolt to replace the wheel cylinder), new brake hoses, new master cylinder. I adjusted the brakes and bled the brakes starting with rear passenger brake, then rear driver brake, front passenger brake and finally driver side. I made sure the master cylinder never ran out of fluid (except when I put the new unit in and the new brake lines). The air in the lines appears to be gone, I have nice clear fluid coming out of the bleeder screws but the brake pedal still goes all the way down to the floor when I press it. I did not drive the car because my garage leads to a steep driveway....

What am I doing wrong? Have I overlooked a critical step? Do I need to bench bleed the new master cylinder?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated..

Jacques

Do you have a shop manual. I ask because you did not bleed in the sequence in the manual. LR, LF, RR, and RF. When you adjusted the brakes did you follow these instructions ? Tighten each shoe, each shoe all 8 separately, until a slight drag, then back off 4 notches.

You said the MC pushed the fluid through and out the WC, so did you get a "hard " pedal with a pump-up between each bleed?

Just asking questions to know what and how things were done.

Check the push rod etcentric adjustment as per shop manual. Places compensating port in proper place.

Russell, I do have the shop manual and you are correct, I did not bleed the brakes in the correct sequence. How much of a difference does that really make? the brake pedal went to the floor each time I pressed it from the start and never offered any resistance after each wheel was bled. In fact I pushed it easily to the floor by hand each time...I wish I had the automatic brake fluid filler that screws into the master cylinder. It is difficult to add fluid to the master reservoir without overfilling it and spilling fluid all over the frame of the car... I don't see it on Chevs of the 40's or the Filling Station, any idea where I might find one?

Thanks for the comment, I need all the help I can get with these darn brakes....

Sorry Gene but you lost me there, etcentric adjustment and compensation ports? I have no idea what that is...

Yes, a chore to fill the MC. A turkey baster and lots of rags and paper towels is all I can offer.

Based on what you said about no resistance I'm inclined to agree with Gene. Something not right with the MC. Sorry to say I can offer no help with that. BUT, before you try anything else, do as Rusty suggest. Go around and adjust each shoe to where it just touches the drum and see if you get any resistance at the pedal. If not, call who you bought the MC from and ask their suggestion.

I also agree with Rusty about the sequence of bleeding. Just so you get all the air out.

Did you get the parts you needed for the parking brakes?

Were you able to adjust the brakes to minimize the operating clean race between the shows and drums? I always adjust the brakes before I bleed them.

The shoes need to be close to the inside diameter of the drums. The master cylinder only pushes out a small volume of fluid. If there is too much clearance for the shoes they will not contact the drum.

While I know this will create controversy I have never found that the bleeding sequence makes a difference. In fact, my preference is to start with the wheel the shortest distance from the master cylinder. That means all of the air keeps getting pushed to the furthest wheel.

Also, in today’s cars with ABS and various forms of traction control you cannot determine which is closest or furthest.

JG,

Try these suggestions, some of which have already been mentioned.

a. Adjust brake drum to shoes. Tighten until you lock each wheel then back off about for notches. Remember facing the wheel cylinder adjuster and turning the adjuster clockwise will tighten the shoe to drum.

b. When bleeding the wheel cylinder, have your daughter to pump rather vigorously and to hold pressure even when the brake pressure is depleted. That's so you don't suck air back into the system. Lock the bleeder back down before you tell her to pump again. Make sure you tell your daughter to pump until you yell "hold it" and to not let up and pump again until you yell, "OK."

c. Make sure that both holes in the MC are open. The one in front will need a needle to clear it, if stopped up. See the missus for a sewing needle. Don't go get one out of her sewing basket on your own. She will miss it in the time you bet back to the car. Count on it. She will not be happy or any of those other elves. Well , grumpy maybe.

d. Do bleed in the sequence of farthest from the MC first. May save doing any one WC twice. The sequence Russell gave you is the correct one in that it has you bleeding the farthest from the MC in distance the fluid has to travel to each WC.

Barring any goofs you may have made , the above will give you pedal with only a couple inches of brake pedal action. Readjust shoes after a few miles of stop and go driving.

Good luck,

Charlie

BTW: If your car is a stinkin' Fleetline, send me a dollar.

Thanks Russell! I think my shoes might not be tight enough against the drum. I will adjust the WC to make the shoes as tight against the drum as they will go, then back them up until barely touching and see if that does the trick.... and to answer your question, no I haven't gpt the parts to fix the parking brake...At this point I will be glad to keep using my RV's rubber wheel chocks as parking brakes...

Hi Jacques,

The adjustment procedure is described in the shop manual. You need to adjust each shoe in each wheel. That is a total of 8 adjustments.

As Charlie noted you need to back each adjuster off 4 notches after you feel a slight drag for that shoe. This gives the proper and equal clearance for all the shoes.

Rusty,

Actually, what I meant to say was to adjust the shoes to the drum until you can't move the wheel with arm power, then back off about four notches on each side of the WC. Especially when installing new shoes to smooth new or turned drums. You will hear the shoes contacting the drums way before you feel it and eventually reach lock down.

Best,

Charlie

Thank you all for your assistance, I will let you know if I was able to get some firmness to the pedal after making adjustments and bleeding the brakes again....I have to wait a a little cooler weather, it is 100 degrees in the garage right now...

Brake job finished, I now have a good pedal and solid brakes, thank you all for your help!

I'm glad you now have brakes BUT sad to see you are selling the car. Anyway, good luck with it!