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1955 Buick Special - brake pedal to floor - Master?


jonahboo

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hey guys -

so i brought the car outta winter hibernation - went for a nice ride 2 days ago (no issues). Went to drive it today and the brake pedal goes all the way to the floor - pumps up and holds - then when re-applied drops all the way again.

Master had good fluid level

no visible fluid leaks by wheels

all stock brakes

my first thought is master cylinder - thoughts

easy rebuild? - or buy from Kanter $$$$?

thank you

Jess

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Say, while you are there, it would be a good time to replace those rubber hoses, one each side in front, one in the rear. They are now available at auto parts stores for around $15.00 or less. Shop around, stores now have the older models in their databases. That way your can kill 2 birds at the same time, gotta bleed 'em anyway. John

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Buy a hone, will need a drill motor,WD40 and couple cans of BrakeClean. Auto parts stores will also have wheel cylinders, it's probably time for those as well if they are same age or that will be your next problem. They may already be bad and you won't know unless you pull the drums and peel back the rubber cups to look. Just do it right, parts are available and at a reasonable price now. Don't bother rebuilding wheel cylinders, buy them new. In Texas, we have Autozone, O'Reilly, NAPA and others. I have not tried to buy shoes so I don't know about availability of those. John

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Jess, You said it was full of fluid and would pump up. There is a cup seal on the plunger in the master cylinder, rapid movement will make it "flare' out and seal against the cylinder wall. When pressure is released it relaxes again and won't seal under normal pedal application. The other mode of failure is usually to bleed off slowly while holding at stoplight. Good luck, John

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Jess, You said it was full of fluid and would pump up. There is a cup seal on the plunger in the master cylinder, rapid movement will make it "flare' out and seal against the cylinder wall. When pressure is released it relaxes again and won't seal under normal pedal application. The other mode of failure is usually to bleed off slowly while holding at stoplight. Good luck, John

that said are we still thinking "rebuild the master"?

or

how to correct this?

thank you

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If the master cylinder has pits or corrosion that will not clean up easily with honing, consider having it resleeved. Even then I would not rebuild more than once. During manufacturing a hard surface was rolled into the bore and use along with repeated honing removes this. Back when these cars were contemporary, I rebuilt yearly...until it was 'splained to me. Since new wheel cylinders are readily available, don't even consider rebuilding these.

Willie

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