1937 Dodge brakes, response.

[pepstrebeck]

I had tried to post my response on the original thread, but it tells me "we cannot proceed" so I will start a new thread.

I had not read this thread when it was first posted, but it sounds very familiar to a situation that I have been, and am currently dealing with. Hopefully some of the things that I have done and gone through may be able to offer some help, or at least a direction to look. I would first like to say that although my Dodge is a 1929 DA, the braking systems are reasonably close.

First I'll begin with the initial problem, a soft and fading pedal and brakes with no holding power. In listening to my own advice at the start, I saw hoof prints on the ground and instead of looking for a zebra I started looking for a horse. Starting small and working my way up, an inspection of the brakes revealed no visible leaks, a good start. next was to bleed out the brakes, after this was done the pedal was no better.

Next was to move on to the master cylinder. I purchased a rebuild kit, honed out the cylinder, cleaned and flushed the master cylinder thouroughly making sure that the ports inside were clear. Once re-assembled and bled on the bench it was re-installed and the sytem bled again, still no improvement

From here I moved on to making sure that the brakes were properly adjusted. Once all four wheels had been adjusted a new problem was discovered, a leaking front wheel cylinder. Rather than going through the time and trouble of just replacing the one I replaced all four. During the removal and replacement of the wheel cylinders it was discovered that two of the bolts that hold the brake lines to the wheel cylinders and allow the brake fluid to pass through were partially obstructed. Once the wheel cylinders were replaced the system flushed and bled again, and the brakes adjusted the pedal was somewhat better, but by no means was it good. Now the fresh and clean brake fluid that was coming out from the bleeding was as black as pitch. So to re-cap:

No leaks

No air in the system

New wheel cylinders

Brakes properly adjusted

Still a soft and fading pedal

Where to go from here? Next was to double check the diameter of the drums and the thickness of the brake shoes. The brake shoes are new , and the drums come in at spot-on twelve inches. With both of those checking out it was time to move onto the lines and hoses. Upon closer inspection the front hoses did not look bad but the hose from the frame to the rear axle was another story. After the carefully placed loom covering the hose was removed it revealed a hose that was to short and was cobbled to the right length by adding eight different fittings. As with the wheel cylinders, instead of just one, I had ordered all three hoses and as long as I will be putting on new hoses I may as well replace the brake lines.

Upon removal of the brake lines the question of the pitch black brake fluid was answered. The original copper brake lines were severly corroded on the inside, as well as the transitions from the hard lines to the hoses were partially obstructed, these being steel had started to rust somewhat. The brass four-way junction in the middle of the car that splits the pressure for the front and back, and the brass three-way junction on the rear axle were quite corroded as well and partially obstructed. These have since been cleaned and re-installed on the car, new brake lines have been bent and are currently awaiting installation on the car. I am waiting on a new flaring tool that is capable of dong a double flare. So this brings me to the current state of a great looking car that I can not drive. At the worst I am not able to go to the meet in Traverse City, and at the best once done the car will be safe to drive, so again to re-cap:

Rebuilt master cylinder

New wheel cylinders

New brake hoses and lines

Good drums and shoes

No air in the system

Properly adjusted brakes

Not able to make it to the meet in Traverse City (painful because I am only twenty miles away)

Hopefully someone may find something in this helpful, or at least distracting. I followed my own advice and looked for horses, I just didn't count the number of different hoof prints on the ground. Thanks for reading and let me know how you faired, Pep.