Help with my brakes

[Shinerunner and 39]

I have a 39 Buick eight and the brakes were leaking fluid and I cannot find any brake reservoir and I also lost my clutch well I lost all my brake pressure somebody told me that it is in the floorboards on the driver side there’s a small panel that I can’t figure anyway to get it up without damaging my car what is the best way to go about getting to my brake reservoir thank you I appreciate your comments

[Shinerunner and 39]

I also have numerous other problems with this car I just tried to start it after it’s been sitting for a few years and it’s completely dead I jumped the starter but have no spark it was converted to 12 V which I believe cause more problems than it fixed the points look good and free of corrosion and oil but all the wires and connections are corroded for the 12 V system any idea where I should start I not even getting power to the ignition switch the horn doesn’t work either which isn’t a big deal but it was one thing that always works the only thing that works is the headlights and tail lights Where should I start

[broker-len]

you are not giving us much info----------have you ever had it running ?    if some one put non original wires pretty hard to give advise   you have to get power to coil to get spark     some cars had access panels to get  to the master cylinder  in area of brake peddle      ---------------     where are the brakes leaking ?

[GARY F]

First buy a shop/ service manual.  They are very helpful.  I am 81 yrs. old and I still bought the manuals for my 37 Olds last year.  I know what I am doing but the manual still me things I did not know about the car.

[Bloo]

The master cylinder will be under the floor somewhere, probably under the driver's floorboard, In any event it will be down at frame level. As originally built the car would have had a rubber mat that could be rolled back. Crawl under the car to find where the master cylinder is and that will tell you where to go looking for access from the top.

 

What was leaking? Whatever it is you will need to fix it as you cannot keep brakes working with a leak, even if it's tiny. Air gets in. Plan on changing all three of your brake hoses at the same time if you don't know when they were last changed. They are rubber and could suddenly break, but also are notorious for failing internally and causing frustration bleeding the brakes.

 

And yeah, get a factory shop manual. You won't regret it.

 

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

.

 

 

[DFeeney]

Roll back the front floor material under the drivers feet and look for a cover.  I am not familiar with Buick but on cars  of this era you would remove a cover which would allow access to the top of the master cylinder.  The master cylinder had a plug you would remove to  add  fluid. 

[Rusty_OToole]

Be careful to brush away any dirt before taking the cap off the master cylinder, you don't want dirt getting in.

[jvelde]

On the '39 Buick the master cylinder is mounted down under the steering column on a brace. The master cylinder has a square cap - I have a white zip tie resting on the cap.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 26, 2020 by jvelde (see edit history)