56 T'Bird New owner problems

[CT Car Guy]

I just bought a 1956 T'Bird.  Everyone calls it Coral Color but according to the color charts, it is Code K, Fiesta Red, I am having a few problems.

 

1. The previous owner had a power front disk brake setup installed using the original booster.  The booster only goes to the front brake and there is no proportioning valve. When I first start driving it, within a few miles, the front brakes start dragging. Lifting under the pedal releases the pressure. This happens on and off. The pedal has about 1/4" more to return.  This also causes the brake lights to stay on. I've adjusted the push rod to allow the master cylinder to push the pedal back but that has not helpped. I added a small spring to insure the pedal pulls up but it did not work. Ideas?

 

2. I've had 3 instances when the motor suddenly cut out. It seems like the fuel suddenly stops but it never stalled, just lost power.  Very infrequent but dangerous when on the highway. I have both  mechanical and electric fuel pumps.  I only use the electric to prime. I don't know if its related but the motor gets hot on the highway. I traced it to timing. The distributor has a Pertronix unit. I checked timing today and while the vaccum advance unit checks out, the timing is not advancing the 12 or so additional degrees at 2000 rpm. I am waiting to hear from Pertronix to see what the gap should be. From my past use of these units, the current gap looks wide. The base plate moves but I think the wire routing may be interfering.

 

Otherwise - I really lke the car.  An excellent cruiser.

 

Larry

[1957Birdman]

Hi Larry,

Do you know where the previous owner bought the disk brake kit? I would try to find out from him and talk with the vendor to see if they have any thoughts about what could be causing your problem. It could be that one of both of the rubber hoses is collapsing which is causing the fluid to not come back to the master cylinder when the pedal is released.

 

Does your car have the original Loadmatic distributor and carburetor? Check out the link to the article referenced. It may help you troubleshoot the problem.

 www.ctci.org/gilsgarage/Distributor.php

Regards,

Lew​

 

 

 

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