I need a brake

[rjohnston79]

Sorry, I couldn't resist the pun. The new brakes and lines are now installed on my '63. Bled the master, but still have to bleed the rest of the system. But its nice to have some more shiny goodness under the hood. I might even get 'er out for a drive on the weekend. Thanks for the tips =)

[curt]

How do you bleed the master?

[rjohnston79]

Bled master using 2 fittings that came with a vaccum pump I bought for another car, they fit the m/c ports, and then run a clear hose from each into the m/c resevoir for that port. Pump the brakes a few times, until no more bubbles in the clear hoses. I've attached a pic of the kit ($30 at Lordco) and how I used it on the m/c.

The front circuit took quite a few strokes to bleed, so I'm glad I didn't have to push that air thru the whole system. The pump comes with adaptors that would work for pressure bleeding the original master cylinder if I had kept that style. Mine is the Raybestos unit for a 1970s AMC.

[StudeRich]

So you replaced the '63 Type lines and huge fittings with the smaller ones, and used adapter fittings to fit the '64 Stude. Type AMC Master Cyl. then? I seem to remember suggesting that to someone.<G>

In the pic. of the M/C bleeding process, you can see how awkward and wrong looking it would be to have a Dodge or Ford M/C on a Stude. as some have suggested, with the lines on the wrong side.

[Bob Andrews]

And just to add, a common mistake is to not 'bench-bleed' a master before installing. Pretty much impossible to do installed, whether on an all-new or an existing system. ALWAYS bench bleed.

Use slow, steady strokes, the length of the travel. Avoid pumping the piston too fast, or bottoming it out really hard.

Good luck Ron, and let us know how the test drive goes

[rjohnston79]

Yes StudeRich, I used smaller fittings with adapters on the new lines. I managed to bend the rear line so close that all but one of the original frame clips lined up to hold it in place - the one I missed is the one closest to the front of the car because my tube bender doesn't do sharp corners quite like some of the original bends.