I am in the process of rebuilding the stock master cyliner on my '56 F100. The rebuild kit is from Mid-50. There are no directions, but I do have a 56 Ford shop manual. There are three parts in this kit that I do not know where they should go. One is a rubber cap, which looks like it belongs on an aspirin bottle. And the other is a very thin washer, which looks like it may go next to the valve at the end of the spring. And one looks like a grommet. Can anyone tell me where these parts belong? They have sort of a diagram in the Mid 50 catalog, but it's not really clear, and it does not show these parts, I believe. And these parts are not shown in the Ford shop manual either. Thanks for your help. I would post a picture, but for some reason, I am not able to. (I haven't figured out how to do it yet on this site!) Thanks!

 

Bump to the top..... Anyone?

 

Thanks FoMoKo!

I just wanted to let you know I did find some diagrams on some other sites, and I pieced it together, bench bled, then installed it in the truck and bled all 4 brake cylinders, and so far through some miracle, the brakes are working very well!

Thanks again for trying to get me mome help!

 

I rebuilt mine last summer and had the same problem. The parts I got did not match the 2 diagrams I had. I wasn't sure where to put that thin washer and that black rubber cap. I tried one way and put the cylinder on the truck and it didn't work, so I took it apart and switched them and it works great.

BUT: I don't remember what went where, so I did not want to tell you for fear of being wrong. I am glad you got it right!!

 

I glad you got it together. For anyone searching, here is an exploded diagram of the master cylinder.


I highly recommend getting this parts book.
1948-56 Ford Truck Master Parts Catalog CD - HiPo Parts Garage
It's only $20 and well worth the money just to look at the cool pictures, let alone how helpful it can be putting parts back together.

 

I glad you got it fixed.

 

This problem came up a long time ago, as I recall Bendix changed the internals in later production and all the kits sold now use the updated parts. It would be useful to post the diagram that shows the new parts lineup. I did a search and it pulled up like 20 pages.

 

Oh, that is the diagram I used but there was a small thin brass washer that is not shown on the diagram that I was not sure where it went... trial and error...

 

So where did you put the washer? If you could name the two part numbers it goes between that would help us that will be doing the same thing one of these days.

 

Exactly... we really need a place to archive this kind of stuff

 

Thanks for all your replys!

ABE:
I'm sorry you had to go through that too! I was going to go very slow. I was going to methodically take apart the master cyclinder, take plenty of pictures, etc...etc. But after I removed the unit from the truck, I could'nt get the the cylinder apart! I removed the snap ring, but the stop plate would not come out. I think it's been stuck there for 54 years! Eventually I decide to take a long shanked screw driver and poke it through the rear of the cylinder and tried to tap it out. It still would'nt come, so I pounded a little harder. The all of the sudden...bong! It all shot out, parts flying around, brake fluid splaterring against the wall. So much for my careful, step by step approach. The only part left in the master cylinder was the piece that looks like a rubber grommet. So at least I knew where that went. I put the grommet in first.(It looked like it was there to protect the valve) then the valve, and spring. So now we are half way there. But from the 3 or so different diagrams I had, including one from a '56 Ford shop manual, there was confusion as to where the "rubber cap" went. Or what it was. The last diagram I found was on jalopy.com and that seemed to make it clearer. The "rubber cap" it turns out was the primary cup, so that went next, fitting it to the piston. Now about the thin brass washer, according to again the diagram I found on jalopy.com, it went next,then the stop plate, and finally the snap ring. So it looked like the order was grommet,valve,spring,primary cup,piston,thin brass washer, stop plate, then snap ring. By the way the snap ring from the kit from Mid-50, was too thin, and didn't fit tight, so I used the orginal one. After it all went together, I bench bled it, installed it, then flushed out all the brake lines, while bleeding with DOT3 fluid. It seems to work great!

 

Hooler has the answer in previous post...

 

Personally I would not recommend rebuilding a master cylinder at home. Much of the time the bore has gotten worn and/or pitted. honing the bore only results in a bore that is either out of round, oversized, tapered, too course or too smooth a finish or still pitted. All of these conditions will lead to accellerated seal wear and early failure. Quality rebuilders will sleeve the bore with a stainless steel sleeve. While the MC is out, replace it with a dual chamber unit and replumb with new lines. Brakes are too important to cheap out on to save a hundred bucks. What is a life worth?

 

On the other hand, a lot of times you can throw new rubber in a good MC and it will be good for another 20 yrs. With the quality of chinese repro MC's, it's not so black and white. Wheel cylinders are a little different story, with rubber kits costing almost as much as a new one.

 

Ax, I hear what you saying. If I do have problems with my re-build,. I will do exactly what you are suggesting. Going to a dual MC with some new plumbing. I would even love to put disc brakes up in the front. It's on my wish list anyway!