VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 bad brakes?

The brakes on my '41 work like '41 brakes. You have to anticipate stopping because it takes a while to stop. This is normal for this period brakes. I replace all wheel cylinders, hoses and bands and properly adjusted each wheel. Every time I applied the brakes the right front wheel would lock up, I took the wheel off numerous time and each time the right front wheel would lock up the first time I applied the brakes. I did not think it could be the master cylinder but it was. Looking inside the master cylinder from the top with the nut removed there are two small holes in the cylinder. One is for the fluid to go out of the cylinder and the other for the fluid to come back into the cylinder. One of these holes was rusted shut and the fluid could not return to the cylinder when I applied the brakes causing the wheel cylinder to stay applied.
Drilled out the hole and rebuilt the master cylinder and now I have brakes. JIM

The brakes on all these old cars that we drive always seem unsafe because you are jumping out of a newer car and into a primitive car.
Back then all the cars were the same (all had the same bad brakes) so that evened the playing field.
Any time I feel that the brakes pull to one side, or the other, the first thing I do is check the opposite side wheel brake..If it has a problem and is not working the way it should, that will make the car swerve to the side that is working right....Good Luck...ED

I think the main thing is that we expect the action of the power booster and when it isn't there it takes a while for us to get used to it.

The hydraulic action from earliest thirties on have similar braking action to those today with a similar non-boosted system.

The weight of the old Chevrolet is much more than the weight of a car nowadays The new plastic ones now have much more braking action over weight ratio than those old ones (read shorter stopping distance).

Although we could (and can) lock up all four wheels it takes a little more pressure on the pedal for our non-boosted systems. Thus, it seems that our old systems are not as reliable and take more distance to stop than a more modern and lighter car. And, they do.

I think Chipper may tell us that it is simply a mater of physics, i.e., master cylinder bore, wheel cylinder bore, brake shoe/pad surface to drum, and weight of the mass being stopped and foot-print of the tires. Sounds reasonable to me. Involves some of Newton's laws.

I do try to stay farther back from the car ahead when I'm driving around. Besides, I have to face the fact that my reaction time is not as good as it once was.

Charlie

Did any of you try to use a vaccum brake booster in combination with the original drums? I guess it should be lots better as the normal system easyer/cheaper to install and you will not have to change your frond rims to 5 lugs.

Jianis

If the car has been sitting for 20 years the hoses are probably swollen inside inside as well.

Good point! Also a complete brake fluid flush out would be good idea.

If the car had been sitting for 20 years I would have inspected and checked everything (not only brakes) was working as it should before I drove it the first time.

I checked everything and it all works or so I thought. I checked the brakes and they work just not well. I check brake lines, gas lines.

My friend bought his '41 for me to look at. Said brakes seemd a bit anemic and pulled to one side. I opened it up, out of the 8 pistons (2 per wheel) 6 of them were stuck so hard tht I had to use a brass punch and several blows with a hammer to knock them loose. Cleaned everything up, bled the old fluid out of the system, checked for good flow through every cylinder, installed new cups and reassembled and adjusted. Eventhough he is crippled with arthritis, he could slide all four wheels on pavement. As another poster stated, it is common for the pistons to sieze up in the wheel cylinders when it is not a daily driver. About the only solution is to pull it apart, clean the pistons and hone the wheel cylinders. I don't have any problem sliding all 4 wheels on concrete with my '37, and for that matter on my '36 1 1/2 ton fire truck which weighs in at near 6,000 pounds. Neither of them are power assisted, simply a master cylinder. I would poll the brake drum and have someone GENTLY press the brake pedal while you carefully watch both brake shoes to see that they both move. If one of them moves and not the other, use a pry bar to lock up the one that does move and try again. If the other one doesn't move, you got a stuck piston.

Got the drivers side to lock up tonight. Tomorrow I plan on working more on the pass side. They are working just not as good as the drivers side.