Brake bleeding help on 54 Chevy.

Hey there hambers, I just drug home another 54 Chevy 210 2 door. It's complete and I was even able to get it running with not much effort. The car was driven around 10-12 years ago, but the last decade hasn't been kind. I filled the master cylinder up, it still had a little fluid left in it. I can't get any pedal pressure at all to start bleeding, no bubbles out of the master either. Any ideas anyone? The car is all stock with a power glide.

 

are you sure that the piston didnt stick down the cylinder when you first pushed it down? sometimes the return spring inside rotts out or gets weak. i would take the master cylinder off and rebuild it anyway to be safe. at least clean it out. once you re install it you can crack the line right in front of the master with the pedal down and get some fluid moving.

sometimes you can take your finger and stick it over the bleeder hole while someone pumps the pedal, itll push your finger off and let air out but then when the pedal returns it sucks it sealed. once you get a little pressure started re install the bleeder valve.

 

The pedal was stuck at first, took a bit to push it the first time. I'm planning on rebuilding it, mainly wanted to get things moving to flush all the nasty fluid out. The pedal moves free and smooth, the plunger seems to be moving ok.

 

Ok, I left it to sit for a few days and when I came back to it the master was empty. So I refilled it and started tracking down the leak. Turns out the seal behind the pushrod was the culprit. So I wrestled out the master and tore it down. It was full of sludge and very rusty crusty inside. I ordered a kit, of course it's a special order item. I threw the master in the blast cabinet and blasted it inside and out. Ran the hone thru the bore and got that to clean up nicely. Dropped it in the solvent tank repeatedly and gave it multiple blasts with air to clean all the blasting media out of it. One final bath in the parts cleaner at work and it's clean as a whistle. Gave it a mask and squirted some fresh paint on it. So when the kit shows up I'll put it back together and reinstall it. I'm going remove the bleeders and flush the lines of the nasty fluid, I don't want to have to redo this again.

 

Glad you found the culprit! Those old masters are pesky critters. Plan on new wheel cylinders or rebuilding them at least, after a decade just sitting the seals are probably shot.

 

I would pull the drums and adjust the brakes it will make it easier to tell when the brakes are good when you start bleeding the brakes. If you look around you can find a brake adjustment caliper tool to make the job easier.

 

Thanks guys, I got the kit installed and put it all back together. Problem now is the whole system is dry and I can't seem to get the master to pump any fluid. I filled the master and it isn't dropping the fluid level at all. The master was bench bled and worked as it should, now nothing. I'm thinking of some type of pressure bleed may be in order. Any ideas?
And yes, I've already ordered wheel cylinders all around, as well as shoes. Brakes are no place to cut corners I figure.

 

I recently redid the entire brake system on mine. New master, hose, lines and cylinders. Wasn’t too expensive and it stops pretty darn good. I didn’t turn the drums or replace the shoes, they still looked great. I didn’t want to rely on 60+ year old lines.
How’s the build on the other 54’ coming along?

 

I'm going to leave the lines alone, I've looked them over and they look to be sound. The hoses have been replaced at some point, they look new and are in good shape. I'm going to replace or rebuild the rest of the system.
The other 54 is coming along slowly, wrapping up some wiring for the lights and saving up for exhaust. It's very close to its maiden voyage.

 

Any luck getting the brakes bled yet? If not try gravity bleeding starting at the RR wheel and working closer to the master. Crack the bleeder open and just let it move through. Once it start dripping then go to the LR and do the same. Then RF then LF. Once you have a little flow at each wheel you can go back and thoroughly bleed each corner. Just make sure youre keeping an eye on the level in the master throughout the whole process cause you dont want it to go dry.

If you have somebody around to give you a hand, you could get the fluid moving by doing down/ups. Open the bleed nipple, press the pedal down, then close the bleed nipple, then let the pedal up. Do this until fluid is coming out of each corner. Just make sure not to press the pedal too far in without pressure cause you don't want to damage it.

 

When you rebuild the MC make sure that there are two hols going from the reservoir to the cylinder. I had a MC the only had one hole, and the fluid never returned to the MC, and the brakes stuck. After a close inspection, I saw the second hole was filled with 50 year old crap.

 

Thanks cabbie, that was the problem. I popped the cap off and sure enough, the smaller of the 2 holes was plugged solid. It took a sharp drill bit to chew it out of there. I pulled the lines and flushed it out and reconnected everything, and after a quick bleed, got a good solid pedal now. Thanks for all the help guys, I will have to remember that second hole on the next one.

 

Good to hear. I just made the adaptor to bolt in a duel circuit MC, and have never had my car stop like it does now. I would highly recommend looking into it.

 

I don't think you can gravity bleed on one of these because the master is lower, or at about the same level, as the wheel cylinders.

When I have to pedal bleed alone I find a piece of wood I can use to prop the pedal in place, pump it up, put the wood in, and go open and close the bleeder.

 

I built one for my other 54, it's a bit different as I didn't reuse the original master, just made a pedal bracket. I'm going to keep this one all original for my wife to cruise for now, may upgrade to disc brakes in the future.