Picked up a set of three (3) rubber brake hose for my Effie off eBay from a guy named Goodbrakes, D.O.T. rated, good stuff. The brakes themselves have been gone through recently and are in good shape.

I might be willing to tackle this myself, are there any tips and warnings on this I need to know about. Figure on hitting the bleeder screws with some PB blaster or Kroil, and vaguely remember seeing "one man bleeder kits" at the auto parts store, etc. A buddy of mine does stuff like this for extra cash sometimes, might try to pawn it off on him, too.

Right now am busy so don't need the aggravation, brakes can be a PITA. Any suggestions would be welcome. I know brake fluids are always supposed to be backwards compatible, but the stuff in there now is so ancient I gotta wonder. Next, while am thinking of it, is it possible to just bolt on a more modern master cylinder and get away from the single reservoir deal? The brakes work fine for what they are, but the "lose one line, lose them all" angle has always kinda bugged me. The new hoses will add a bit of confidence anyway.

 

Ditching the single pot master if you are on a budget isnt something I would tackle as theres alot more then simply swapping the m/cylinder...proportioning valve, reworking the brake light switch...its an ordeal for it to be done right.
Replacing the brake lines is pretty straightforward..wire brush and a flarenut wrench will be your best friends...I recommend a good brand wrench as the key is a snug fitting wrench as it fits around a few of the sides. Wirebrush the tar out of the brake lines getting as much dirt and rust and whatever else away and out of the area immediately around the fitting on the metal line. Flush the crud away with the pb blaster...a little will do on this typically unless the lines are really nasty rusty looking.
What I do is break them loose first, retighten so no fluid leaks...if it broke loose it will also have broke more crud loose...wirebrush and try to fish out what you can from between the fitting and line. If while you are undoing it, simply retighten, brush some more and wipe away the crud and undo the brake line from the wheel cylinder or junction block or line depending where and which end of the line you are tackling. On the front hoses, if they look okay...as in no tire wear flat spots on them...take a couple of pics so you can see how it was curved as you dont want the hose to be twisted after its all together. Make sure the hoses are for brakes as opposed for another fluid...
As for bleeding...I would bleed out MOST of the fluid out of the m/cylinder...then mop out the rest with clean rags so you can wipe out the crud in the bottom...just be careful to no push crud into the port the fluid feeds into. If the fluid is nasty I would remove the brake light switch from the master and flush that little stretch of passage out as thats the brake lights source of action or inaction typically...look on the inside of the switches port and pull some of the crud out if there is any with something like a toothpick...soft and all that jazz.
Bleeding..I would get a friend to help...a good trick Ive learned is getting a line that fits snugly over the bleeder screw and is long enough to go into a glass jar...I would hit a boneyard and get a piece of window washer tubing off of some car...clear is good...jap cars use it alot like Mazdas I know for one.

Also use fresh brake fluid...a can opened for a long while isnt worth beans as brake fluid is a magnet for moisture...thus the rusty cylinder bores and rusty fluid that is typical in long neglected systems or from a long sitting rig.
If in the end you replace other paerts...dont skimp on cheap parts...lots of the cheaper stuff is made abroad.



- cs65




- cs65

 

Hey, many thanks for the advice, that's exactly the kind of been-there done-that got the T shirt stuff I was looking for.

Am gonna re-think this. May have a "pro" do this. SOME times the aggravation is worth paying someone else. Only problem is some shops won't use parts brought in or purchased elsewhere other than through them.

 

Putting a dual master cylinder on is not that involved. Get a master from a drum brake 68 mustang, about $40 at NAPA. It'll bolt right in. You don't need a proportioning valve with an all drum system. "T" into one of the lines for the hydraulic brake light switch and run a couple of new hard lines and you're done. Lots of "peace of mind" knowing that you won't lose ALL the brakes if one line goes.