Pretty sure when I did my swaybar links the post was similar- had a 12 hour day in the office with meetings and stuff and was kinda mentally exhausted. Went to the garage and swapped the shoes around on the front brakes. Took my time, put a dab of brake grease on the metal to metal contact points, cleaned and lubed the adjusters, etc. pretty relaxing and not too taxing.
Though now I'm doubting myself and might double check the shoe orientation tomorrow. Definitely want to get it right this time.
Rears are done, everything should be correct now. I mashed the pedal a few times and it feels better but still mushy. I'm guessing there's still some air in the lines from the uneven pad heights previously. Hopefully I'll be able to work it out of there and check the brakes off my list for a while
Cant check the brakes off the list yet... everything is re-assembled and all the shoes are where they should be now. Pedal goes to the floor. I don't see any external leaks, must be a bad master cylinder? It was new last year (or possibly a reman I can't remember) and I would think it was still ok but I've bled the brakes countless times now and the pedal has been low. Now it finally goes to the floor and is bad enough I won't even drive the car around the block. Both front and rear fluid reservoirs on the master are still full.
Frustrating
In reply to Gunchsta :
Get a MC rebuild kit and a hone from your local NAPA. Easy peasy. Just hose it out real good with brake cleaner before reassembly.
In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
I'm not too worried about the master, replacing it or rebuilding it seems ok- I'm just not super confident that's the real problem.
I talked to some friends and I may not have adjusted the shoes out far enough. Before I do anything else I'm going to to adjust the shoes till they're dragging a more and see if the pedal improves.
Again, I think I need to respect this task more than I am. I've dealt with drums in the past, but really I've never rebuilt a whole system to this extent. So, though in my head it should be simple, this is uncharted territory for me and I need to give it the attention and respect it deserves
What a cool cruiser. As others have said, great job keeping it on the road, where it belongs.
Story time: There is (or at least in the early 90s, there was) a home that was directly adjacent to my high school, occupied by a fairly elderly couple, and their driveway emptied into our parking lot. When they were coming and going they had to basically cruise past the whole front of the school. They had a white Merc similar to yours, though I think theirs might have been a '64, and that goofy rear window just looked so backward and goofy to me. I didn't get it. But I get it now.
If your armrests are in good condition, you might look into coloring them with SEM Color Coat. I've used it a few times and it's absolutely magical.
Without derailing your thread, what's the story on your dad's '64 Cutlass? That has been the car I'll build someday for a hell of a lot of somedays now. The styling and proportions on them are just damn near perfect.
Angry suggested I check and adjust my rear shoes after a quick rebuild left me with low pedal. That fixed my problem. Easy enough to do and check.
Thanks for all the help gang. It would appear that adjusting the shoes out did the trick. I was able to drive the car around a bit today and the brakes feel better than they have in a while. They start grabbing as soon as you push the pedal down and seem to stop pretty straight and even. Now they feel like they should. When I was adjusting the shoes I noticed a couple of drips of fluid from a line/bleeder so I went around and snugged all of those up as well. Seems like I was potentially fighting multiple problems.
speaking of multiple problems - I really wanted to get the brakes functioning before I tackled the pinhole leak in the expansion tank. Which is next on the list.
Hopefully that goes a little smoother!
In reply to DarkMonohue :
Dads 64 Cutlass is an older restoration, pretty much stock save for some lowering and dual exhaust. It's a 330 4-barrel like 290 horse with the 2 speed jet away trans. It works great, and I agree it has marvelous proportions. Plus, it's a GM a-body so it drives amazing and could even be made to handle if you wanted it to
Gunchsta said:
In reply to DarkMonohue :
Dads 64 Cutlass is an older restoration, pretty much stock save for some lowering and dual exhaust. It's a 330 4-barrel like 290 horse with the 2 speed jet away trans. It works great, and I agree it has marvelous proportions. Plus, it's a GM a-body so it drives amazing and could even be made to handle if you wanted it to
Thanks. Sure sounds like a sweetheart to me.
Took the time tonight and got the leaky expansion tank off. Pretty straight forward. Seems to be leaking at the joint where the top half and bottom half meet and the edges are folded over. I'm going to try my soldering iron and see if I can get anything to stick, otherwise I'm thinking JB weld might patch it up enough. I'm also tempted to remove the expansion tank altogether and run an inline radiator cap in its place
Seems like the right tool for the job
Before
During
After. Classic Rustoleum Restoration. Guaranteed not to leak for at least 20 seconds.
We'll see how this goes
A standard soldering iron won't do it if you go to solder that back together. Try a propane or mapp gas torch and acid core solder (and flux). It's tricky to do by hand with hobbyist skill levels, but it can be done.
Mr_Asa
UberDork
5/26/21 5:49 p.m.
I had a small pinhole leak on my Mustang's radiator. Right at the overflow line nipple thingie. JB Welded it with traditional JB Weld and it has been going strong for going on 16 years now.
That being said, if I were to do it again I'd take the plumber's approach and go with an actual solder setup using a propane torch
In reply to Mr_Asa :
That is encouraging to hear.
I agree that soldering would be the 'correct' way to fix this but with my limited (read: zero) experience soldering with a torch I'm afraid I'd do more harm than good. I figure if nothing else I can scrape the JB off later and try my hand at soldering it if that's what it takes.
Wish me luck!
"Seams" like you got it. Here's to luck!
The JB Weld 2 part epoxy is good stuff. I used it to seal a leaky engine block and it's still holding *knock on wood* 2 years later. I've used it to fix leaky thermostat covers, and even hold a valve stem in a tractor tire.
Dirtydog (Forum Supporter) said:
"Seams" like you got it. Here's to luck!
A+ pun. I read it twice without realizing it. Bravo.
FE thermostats sit vertically in a narrow machined area on the tube coming down from the expansion tank. Use gasket and rtv to hold it in the shallow groove it needs to be in so everything will sit flush.
Don't do like I did and imagine you can just get lucky and swooooop it up in there and have magically be in place. Because it won't be and you'll "magically" have a huge puddle of coolant on your floor in no time when you fill it and hear it drip drip dripping from the thermostat housing down the side of the block. Definitely don't do this twice before deciding to go to the parts store for a new gasket and some rtv.
Hilarity ensues because I'm a dunce
Oh and further hilarity ensues because I haven't yet filled it the third time because I'm scared. I'm going to give the rtv until morning to cure that way I can be thoroughly disappointed before I go out of town for the weekend.
Mr_Asa
UberDork
5/27/21 8:35 p.m.
Gunchsta said:
In reply to Mr_Asa :
I agree that soldering would be the 'correct' way to fix this but with my limited (read: zero) experience soldering with a torch I'm afraid I'd do more harm than good. I figure if nothing else I can scrape the JB off later and try my hand at soldering it if that's what it takes.
Wish me luck!
Oh, believe me, I know that feeling. Look at my fiberglass repair thread to see how well I'm handling that. No fun doing stuff the first time without someone else looking over your shoulder.
Still, it can be done!
Last night I had a dream I was hanging big long sideways skids with this thing and doing parking lot donuts after that.
That must be good juju for the thermostat housing not leaking right?
Good juju indeed
everything is buttoned up and seems to be holding fluid. Drove around on a couple errands this morning and had no issues.
Further success. Drove the car to meet a buddy tonight for a beer and it worked great. Brakes are right there and actually work admirably for 4 wheel drums. The JB weld seems to have cured the coolant leak as well. Been a bit of a struggle lately (mostly due to my own incompetence) but it felt good tonight to drive the car around and use it.
Here's a silly little walk around/idle video.
