Looks pretty simple to me, Motors manual conveniently includes an exploded view of what has to be a Chevy master. Car is a '50 Chevy - Heres the problem. The old one was junk, it seems to be rusted inside good. So a guy offered to swap me an old store stock rebuilt one. Which, it's fine, but the one he sent me is for a Chevy with Powerglide. I need one for a manual trans, with mount for the clutch pedal. So I bought a "NOS" one on eBay. It's been in a ba*****t or barn or something, and is rebuilt (the piston in it has pitting on the shaft, no way it's brand new). Okay, I can swap the guts from the PG one, which are fine, to the other one, and have a good one - except: The one I need to use has a couple rings of rust inside it where it sat for ages somewhere, the rubber cups held some moisture apparently. So I'm ***uming I need to get a hone or a piece of emery cloth on a dowel rod and clean it out. And I would ***ume whatever I use I need to make sure not to score the cylinder, or fluid will be able to p*** the piston. If I have to hone it that does present a problem - I don't have one. Who rebuilds master cylinders anymore? (I do, when it costs $300 for a rebuilt one or $20 for a rebuild kit). I wonder if Autozone would have a loaner to rent? Then again if it's something I could find for $25 or so, I'd probably buy one. Anything else I need to watch for? The parts from the rebuilt MC fit, they're tight but I would imagine I want that. I need to swap one of the outer (line connection) ends from either the PG master or the old one into the one I'm using to fit with the line setup that was on the car, the fitting it uses will not fit the one that came on the replacement manual MC. One problem there, I can't get either of the other two to come apart. Okay to use the PB blaster in here? Can't get the spring and second cup out from the other end. I'll probably need to wipe it down after anyways. I'm suspecting that if I put a 1 1/4 socket on it and use a big-*** breaker bar I may bend hell out of the case or snap off a bolt lug, die cast or not.
You're makin more out of this than it is..... Just take em apart and then get a sheet of #320 wet or dry sandpaper. spray some Wd-40 in there and finger f- ERRRR-uh.....sand[you know how right?] - till it looks smooth and shiny-wipe er out and install the parts from the other spare one into the one ya need..it will work fine.....
Thanks. Just have to get the second one apart then... Do I just take a pin of some sort and hammer the pedals out of the old MC bushings? I haven't checked the book yet to see if there is some kind of snap ring, doesn't look like anything. Pulled the grease fitting off, something in there doesn't want to come off either. Loads of fun -
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- When it come to brakes, DON'T cut any corners !!!!!!! NAPA or any auto parts store would have a hone and they would prolly have any line to master conectors, too. Use brake fluid to hone with, as a cast master will absorb any solvent. OR, why don't you just look in the "yellow pages" for a shop that does brake work, and most would hone it for you and give you advise whether is is honable or not. THE LIFE YOU SAVE, MAY BE MINE.
Most of the bore is shiny clean, and the rings in it are light - they'll clean up fast, it's not enough to pit the cylinder wall. As for the fitting, it's just a matter of taking one of the ends off the other two and putting it in the one I am using. I had a big adjustable wrench (the same one I have used on the crank winch to pull cars on a trailer) and I am just about lifting the other side of the workbench off the ground, it's on good. But to run the line connections that came on the car I need the end with the deeper (and slightly bigger) female end. From there I can run standard lines.
I would consider converting to a dual master cylinder. Filling station and Buffalo Enterprises has them. Not cheap but good piece of mind. Are you converting your brakes to 51 and later bendix type? Todd
not enough replies here yet telling you to convert to a dual master! the kits for chevys aren't very expensive, or you can do it yourself by fabbing a bracket and long rod to p*** completly through the old master, thus retaining the pedal pivot, them mount the new master behind the original one.
Front is already done, actually, I just want to run some lines up there so I can move it around and get it into storage for the winter. Rear I may not even plumb for now - it's not going to be driven down the road or anything, I just need to pull it into a garage. The brakes on this are in really good shape, though, I think I could get new rubber for the rear wheel cylinders and run the Huck until I switch to an open rear. The shoes are new, the drums I pulled up front were clean, and the parking brake did work (something is messed up in the handle inside the car now). I'm not worried about running a single chamber master, I drove my '60 Pontiac that way for years, it was a lot heavier car and would go a lot faster. It's too much of a pain in the *** to convert this over, if I leave it under the floor it ends up over the crossmember and a royal pain to run lines from it. It just means I have to keep a better eye on it for leaks and things and change the hoses every two or three years wether it needs it or not. It's also a manual trans car, so I can downshift to slow me down in a pnch and pull on the e-brake.
famous last words. sure, lots of cars have single chamber master cylinders that haven't failed, but lots do as well! very few people who have been in an old car that has had it's brakes completely fail will drive one very long without upgrading. in the second or three it takes you to downshift and grab the parking brake a dual master cylinder could have saved your life. besides, you can't do both at the same time anyway. i guess you're just more hard core than the rest of us pussies.
Well no, you gotta do one, then the other, but if I put a T5 in it I have to change the parking brake setup anyhow. No big deal to put a pedal type in it. Still need to find out how to take the pedal arms off the old MC, though. I borrowed a big breaker bar and an inch and 3/8 socket for the cap on the end, but it does not want to move.
Just go over to http://www.chevytalk.org and ask those fellas. They will tell you exactly what to do.....
That not always the case. My account there is all screwed up somehow... Got the cap off the second MC and cleaned the rust out, but now the better rubber cup on the spring side of the piston binds in between the fluid holes from the tank on top. Some small pits in it, but nothing major.. piston that came out that was supposed to be NOS had one in the side of it bigger than any of these. Not sure if brake fluid will lube it up enough to make it work okay. It did work fine the first 5 or 6 pumps, then it jammed up. I think with a pedal on it I'd have brakes, but they might not come back all the way. More work to do....
Hey, don't take this the wrong way, but you have no clue what the **** you're talking about. I speak from experience when I say that you CAN'T "downshift to slow me down in a pinch and pull on the e-brake." My '54 Buick Special lost a single wheel cylinder on the way to work one morning. It being an old car, I was super **** about slowing down WAAAAAAAAY before a stop sign or intersection. Pedal went to the floor, I started slamming gears and downshifted all the way to first, and was literally standing up off the seat with my foot on the e-brake. It stopped, but not until it crossed one lane of north bound traffic, and was in the dead center of the south-bound lane (2 lane highway). This was in Lakeland Florida, and the 2-lane road was the one Publix Grocery Stores are headquarted on and have all their warehouses. From 8am until 6pm, this road is nothing but semi truck traffic. Go left, and it's all their warehouses and bakery. Go right, and it takes you to I-4. That morning I went to work early, and the traffic wasn't there. If I'd have gone in at 9am, I'd be Kenworth food. If you're just going to do the brakes to move the car around for now, why not just use the e-brake for that? And all that ******** about "I've done it before and was fine" or "I inspect the brakes regularly" is ****. Old parts break without warning. New parts do to (ever bought a water pump/distributor/starter from the parts store that didn't work?). Don't waste any more time or effort fiddle ****ing around trying to salvage a single chamber. Spend the same amount of money, and less time, putting a dual reservoir on the car. -Brad
"what do we want?" "BRAKES!" "when do we want them?" "NOW!" i wonder if he read the thread a couple of weeks ago about the guy who's brakes failed in his 60 or so f100? it made THAT guy a believer in dual masters!
Well, this is getting dumb. I know you guys are trying to help but this isn't a debate on wether or not to run a dual chamber master - I already decided what I am going to run in it and I am not going to change my mind. Besides, I would have liked to have had the car so I could putter it around the driveway under it's own power so that MONDAY when I take it up to store it it will be 1000 times easier than trying to jockey it around on a towbar. Now I could run lines and adjust the shoes and have front temp brakes in a couple hours at most, if I had the master put back together to go in the car - without it, I don't even have a clutch. When this is done every single brake part will be brand new ready to go. Last single chamber car I had I put 30,000 miles on with one set of hoses in that time. I've had more trouble with dual cars since then. The truck I have now, the damn proportion valve kicks in when I try to bleed the back out - for the $20 it's easier to have Monro do it than screw with it trying to kick it back over again and keeping it there. Also, for what it's worth this master has two outlets. Dont know why you couldn't plumb in an adjustable proportion valve with the same safety valve as my Suburban has. Add a remote auxillary reservoir if there is worries about losing too much fluid before it kicks. Just has to be an adjustable valve so it can be set to equal front to rear bias.
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