Brakes, Not As Good As They Should Be....

[Toilet Duck 0]

Bit of a story, sorry....

 

Wondering if anyone can help, I've started bringing my new (to me) 1.4 Cj up to scratch, the first thing I'm working on is the brakes, so I know if anything goes wrong, then at least I can stop!

 

When I got it, the brakes were really spongy and difficult to get them to lock, on closer inspection the reservoir was full of black gunk, a sure fire sign the master cylinder seals had gone. So I got a brand new Bendix master cylinder, cleaned out the reservoir, bled the brake lines, swapped all the bleed nipples over to stainless for longterm use. The slave cylinders in the drums are still fairly shiny so I assume they are newish. It has improved a lot, I can now get the wheels to lock. After payday I'll be swapping all the friction materials, and the discs and drums depending on condition of the current items. This should give me a good starting point, and bring things up to scratch.

 

Now for the problem: there is still an iffy feeling to the brake pedal (not as bad as when I first got it), which made me wonder about the servo arrangement on the car, and was it fully functioning. I did the usual test, foot on the pedal, then engine on, and the pedal sinks slightly, but not as much as I'd expect on other cars I've tried this with. I had a look at the servo pipe, which looks like its probably the original item, so I was going to suspect that its perished with age and replace it, cheap and possibly a quick fix.

 

But then after looking at the servo itself, I noticed that the union where the vacuum hose attaches to the body of the servo, Its hard to describe. Its not loose, but i does move a bit, almost like its mounted in rubber. So does anyone know if its supposed to be like this? or could there be air getting in here too, reducing the servo's effectiveness?

 

Also does new vacuum tubing need to be a specific type, or will the £4 a meter stuff from ebay do the job? I'm not building a racer so I don't need special twenty-quid-a-millimetre-stainless-braided-silicone-custom-fit with anodised ally end fittings, but I try where possible to replace with good new parts, even if it costs a little more.

[Pugnut 9 1 Cars]

yes the hose goes through a rubber grommet on the servo. So long as the hose is non-colapsible it will be fine. personally i'de hit the scrap yard and find any car with the same type of hose and use that.

 

are the rear cylinders moving freely? if they are siezed you'll have a nice hard pedal, but no real back brakes. Assumption is the mother of all F-ups and all that, they might look shiney, but do they work as they should?

 

have you been into the drums?

 

Al

[Toilet Duck 0]

If I'm honest, no I haven't been in the drums yet. As I say just after payday, I'll be renewing the friction materials, so I'll have to go in the drums then. If i need new cylinders, then I'll change them.

 

The current servo hose is currently just attached with a ropey old jubilee clip at each end at the moment, what I'm worried about with going to the scrappy that I'll just end up with another knackered pipe. I'm not trying to do this on the cheap so I'll happily buy new hose and any other bits that need replacing. I fully intend to spend a fair few quid getting it right the way I want it, its just I'm only looking for a good looking, reliable car for summer family fun. I've no intention of swapping engines, etc to make it go faster!

 

I'm doing enough to get it safely to the MOT station, fully expecting it to fail, this way I can fix the stuff needed