I've been trying to get my manual brakes squared away for a few months mainly having issues with air trapped in the lines in my F1. I have the frame mounted dual style ford master and after hours of bleeding I have a pedal but its soft and I don't trust to drive. I chased this problem from thinking maybe it was a bad master, a collapsed line and even checked my residual valves. Finally, a buddy pointed out since my master is still under the floor It will be difficult to get the air out due to my calipers and wheels cylinders being higher than the master. Ive already tried bleeding my truck with tilting one end higher than the other, had luck with the rear, but unfortunately it won't work with the front. Any solutions I can use short of moving the mc to the firewall? When I built the truck, it wasn't nearly as low and has since had the axles front(dropped) and back flipped.
get a plastic pipe fitting that will thread into the master,and put a long piece of pipe up-even if you have to use hose to go around a corner-then fill that pipe up til its higher than bleeders-i use clear plastic hose so you can watch...
Was the M/C bench bled and have you checked to see you have a little free play in the M/C push rod? You could try pressure bleeding the system. Shops have them or you could buy one.
You may need a residual pressure valve or two. Wilwood have them and they come in different pressure settings for drum and/or disc applications ..... they're especially applicable with an "under floor" master cylinder setup. DS-100 FINAL.qxd Good luck.
I bought the little pressure bleeder that connects at the wheel and you push back to the Mc. Worked good on my coupe. Also check your Mc pushrod length if its adjustable. Might try lengthening it a scosh.
Yes......Bench Bleed and check Check Pushrod at M/C. Seen some Weird stuff (missing parts, wrong size pushrod) out of box(speedway brand) and on used stuff. Check Flexible lines in front. Clasped internal lines can act up this way in my experience. I am ***uming you are running Drums all the way around? Stock Set-up.
What brake cylinders do you have? I recall reading recently that someone was having a similar issue, turned out the Chinese wheel cylinders use incorrect cups and was causing air to get trapped inside. Switching over to US-made cups from NAPA fixed his issues for they were made correctly and sat in the right spot inside the bore. I have my M/C under the floor of my '28 AV8 roadster with 4 wheel drums and I have a rock solid pedal using US made wheel cylinders on all corners. Good luck. Sounds like a frustrating situation.
I bleed mine by myself. Have a cheap vacuum bleeder. Mustang type master.. 53-6 pickup front. 8 inch Ford rear.
I use a vacuum bleeder on my heap to get air out of the under floor master. With front discs you can unbolt the calipers and lower them below the master to manually bleed them. Use a piece of wood between the pads to simulate the rotor to keep the pistons from protruding too far. Just make sure the bleeders are positioned at the top of the calipers, so all the air is removed. Good luck!
I was having similar issues with my panel. I couldnt get a pedal. I pulled it out and bench bled the MC I adjusted the brakes. I reinstalled the MC I installed speed bleeders and used one of those kits that lets you put a bottle on the fender and use gravity to get the air bubbles out since the bottle is higher than the bleeder screws. I think the last step is a little redundant but whatever lol Gordy
I've bled the breakes on hundreds if not thousands of cars in the past 64 years and the biggest problem I had was helpers who just flat did not understand that "Pump it slowly, hold it and don't let off until I tell you to" were not lame suggestions but law. Too many people pump the pedal to fast and fluid doesn't have enough time to flow from the reservouir to the chamber in front of the piston. I've had helpers who cannot get it in their head that they cannot let off the pedal until I tell them to after it goes to the floor when I open the bleeder and don't wait until I have the bleeder closed and tell them to pump again. I've used a vacuum bleeder a lot and the red one from Harbor freight works as well as any of the spendier ones I have had. There are tutorials online on how to make your own pressure bleeder out of a one gallon or smaller weed sprayer that end costing around 30 bucks but require fabricating and this one off Amazon for 59.84 has the plate that clamps down on the top of the master cylinder and the hardware to clamp it on saving some scrounging and fabricating.
I have use all mention above. Also take one spare bleeder Drill hole in seat so when bleeder is in no air leaks @ thread & use Bottle & hose . All so on some on cover have added a tubless tire vale steam & pressurized master with around 5 ish psi .. Vac bleeder when using Need Not **** air @ bleeder screw or where you stick hose On
You could use one of those remote reservoir kits for your M/C as per #9 in this post https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/posts/12734397/ . For a more period correct reservoir you could go with a couple of these https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/remote-brake-fluid-reservoir.1055054/
The Jalopy Journal
