Brake Frustrations

[moparguy10]

Well, I figured i would drop a post to vent a little. My recent aquisition, '83 GP, needed work. I got it running (yay) and now figured i'd start on the brakes. There had been a guy working on the brakes but im not sure what he did. When i got the car, the master cylinder was empty/low. I figured i'd start with filling the m/c and then see if it ran out on my garage floor somewhere. Nothing yet.

Next step, start with the wheel farthest from there. Couldn't get to the bleeder screw. For some reason, it is recessed in this little cubby hole and 25 years of crap have built up to keep me from getting to it. Well, i'd probably break it off anyway and then break my ez-out trying to extract the broken bleeder. I went to the parts store and bought two new wheel cylinders and shoes. Now i cant get the brake line out of the wheel cylinder. ive soaked it for days with wd-40 and have been hitting it with my torch for heat. I've got the flare nut wrench on it and now its starting to round it off.

i DONT want to have to do metal brake lines if i dont have to. So i put some more wd40 on it and will wait til i put my daughter down for her nap today. I'll go back out and try it again.

Well, thanks for letting me vent. Drum brakes can be so frustrating!

David

 

[chevy94ss]

been there done that and i know exactly what you are going through. you'll eventually get it.

 

[moparguy10]

Limited Success!!!! Woohoo! Well, i got the pass side loose. Good old vice grips. I broke it loose enuf to get the flare wrench back on it. It's loose. Now to get everything back together. The 32 degrees F in the garage doesnt help morale or the ability to grip tools. It is supposed to be up in the mid 30's tomorrow. Gotta love a warm front when it rolls in!

D

 

[Rockstar]

Thats good its finally coming along. As for the Weather part of your day its a cool 79 degrees here. :lol:

 

[moparguy10]

Well, got the heater goin in the garage. Temp is up to 49 in there now. Found out where the brake fluid went. Got the car from elderly drivers. Not running. Empty m/c. Apparently they let the drivers side rear brakes wear down to metal, it was cutting into the drum, it dug in enuf that the piston blew out of the wheel cylinder. It was layin in the bottom of the drum. Maybe they were hard of hearing. It appears to have been driven quite a while after it began to leak. Headed back to the parts store now for drums. Advance Auto Parts (where i got my shoes and wheel cylinders wanted $35 each but said they'd price match. Called another store that had them for $23.97

So i'll get my core back on the shoes and pick up the drums shortly. Who knows, i may have it streetable by nightfall! I'll keep you posted.

 

[clean8485]

Keep in mind that the rear wheel cylinders are not bolted to the backing plates, they're secured by a circular clip with 2 tabs on it. If the car was used in a rust belt area, the backing plates may be rusted to the point where they won't properly hold the wheel cylinders anymore. Also, look very carefully at the brake line which goes to the rear of the car in the area near the rear axle for any excessive scale or rust, because if you're going to have a brake line failure, that's the most likely place for it to happen.