<VV> brake help

[Jim]

I've replaced everything in the brake system of my '69 in the past, and as
Hugo says, keep pumping.  You start with the wheel cylinder farthest from
the master, which, I believe for the rear is on the passenger side.  For the
front, it's also the passenger side.

For the record, I've been using the DOT 5 silicone fluid in all of my
Corvairs for decades with no problems.  I have, however, replaced all of the
components when I started using DOT 5. I can't say whether it won't start to
leak or not if used in a rebuilt system.

Jim Bartasevich 


There are two kinds of statistics:  the kind you look up and the kind you
make up. - Rex Stout


-----Original Message-----
From: VirtualVairs [mailto:virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org] On Behalf Of
Hugo Miller via VirtualVairs
Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2019 6:17 PM
To: virtualvairs at corvair.org
Subject: Re: <VV> brake help

If the whole system is empty, you have a lot of air to get rid of, and it
will take time. Just keep going round each wheel & you should eventually get
a pedal. One word of caution however - if the master cylinder has not been
rebuilt, you have to be careful not to press the pedal more than half-way
down. Otherwise the seals will be venturing into parts of the bore they have
never seen before, where there might be corrosion etc that will damage the
seals. I've seen many cars with rebuilt brake systems (except the master
cyl) suffer complete brake failure shortly afterwards for this reason. Also,
DoT 5 - is that the silicone stuff? I hate it! It creeps past seals, and
will leak where the old fluids do not. If everything is new it might be ok,
but it will find any worn seals long before the old conventional fluids will
- it's like the difference between water and anti-freeze.


On 2019-01-16 17:37, JUDY HOOK via VirtualVairs wrote:
> I need some help with the brake system on my newly acquired '69, soon 
> to be my new daily driver.  It has the dual master cylinder on it.
> This is my first foray into the world of dual master cylinders.  Last 
> evening my wife helped me try and bleed the brakes on said car.  All
> 4
> wheel cylinders where rebuilt, all 4 rubber hoses replaced, and 
> numerous pieces of tubing were replaced in the rear hazardous areas.
> Since I live in PA I decided to try the stainless ones Clark's 
> offered.
>
> Since I drove the car home initially, and the brakes seemed to work 
> ok, I chose not to rebuild the master cylinder at this point, although 
> I did buy a rebuild kit for it, just in case.  I also decided to 
> switch this car to the dot 5 brake fluid like my other 2 since I've 
> never had a single problem with it.
>
> When prepping the master cylinder for installation, I emptied it as 
> much as possible of all old fluid.  I then filled it with the dot 5 
> stuff and "bench bled" it with the plastic tubes and cone shaped 
> plugs.  You could see the fluid moving thru the tubes.  After 
> installation, she pumped and pumped and her foot kept going to the 
> floor.  When I would crack a bleeder- nothing.  No rush of air, no
> fluid- nada.  We did that a couple more times with the same results, 
> however, this time I noticed the fluid level in the front reservoir 
> was down about a half inch.  The rear one never moved.
>
>  This time, when checking the bleeders, I got  a teeny puff of air.
> Then the next time I got a little dripage from it.  But no major 
> squirt like you're supposed to get.  There was no resistance at the 
> front drum, either.  My wife said her foot kept going to the floor 
> with no resistance.
>
> Now, my question is this:  Since you could see the fluid moving thru 
> the plastic tubes,  one would assume the master cylinder is pumping 
> fluid like it is supposed to, right?  A mechanic friend suggested it 
> may be  a "trapped" air bubble.  But if it is pumping like normal, why 
> isn't it compressing the air in the tubes like it is supposed to?  Am 
> I missing something, or doing something wrong?  Or is it simply a 
> matter of the master cylinder not being in as good a shape as I at 
> first thought?  And if the verdict is for the latter, is it that big 
> of a deal to rebuild it, since I've never done a dual one before?
> Inquiring minds want to know.  Any and all thoughts and ideas 
> appreciated.  Thanks a million in advance.
>
>
> Randy (Cap'n) Hook
>
> Hopewell, PA
>  _______________________________________________
> This message was sent by the VirtualVairs mailing list, all copyrights 
> are the property of the writer, please attribute properly. For help, 
> mailto:vv-help at corvair.org This list sponsored by the Corvair Society 
> of America, http://www.corvair.org/ Post messages to: 
> VirtualVairs at corvair.org Change your options:
> http://www.vv.corvair.org/mailman/options/virtualvairs
> Archives: http://www.vv.corvair.org/archive.htm
>  _______________________________________________

 _______________________________________________
This message was sent by the VirtualVairs mailing list, all copyrights are
the property of the writer, please attribute properly. For help,
mailto:vv-help at corvair.org This list sponsored by the Corvair Society of
America, http://www.corvair.org/ Post messages to: VirtualVairs at corvair.org
Change your options: http://www.vv.corvair.org/mailman/options/virtualvairs
Archives: http://www.vv.corvair.org/archive.htm
 _______________________________________________