Peterbuilt

With the key ON, disconnect the BROWN wire from the distribution block.
If the light goes out it's a brake problem.
If the light stays ON it's a parking brake problem.

mchar

Don't drive on them at any speed. Car looks nice.

BLUE1972

You stated that the brake's were dry. I would be concerned about the seals and corrosion in the system.

I would replace the calipers - just me.

I do the rear drivers side inner first, then outer, passenger side inner, then outer.

Front driver, then passenger.

Good luck with the car - looks great

c3c4c6

My wife calls it a 50/50 car. It looks good at either 50 ft or 50 MPH.

It is a fun car. Just trying to get it usable.

I probably know the answer, but why the danger on the tires? Is it because they are so old and the danger of them just coming apart?/belts breaking?

Thanks!

c3c4c6

OK, I will do this. I'm building a list of things to check for the brakes. This is all good info. Thanks!

c3c4c6

This order looks a little different. I always thought it was the furthest to the closest. Just curious why you suggest something slightly different.

As for the calipers. I don't mind rebuilding them after honing them, but do you think they are too far gone? I know you won't know for sure until they are taken apart, but just wondering what your thoughts were. If not too far gone, is it worth it to rebuild or just go new.

slofut

I agree with Mr D, I just did this last week. I will say however, that the brake bleed prob took 15 minutes, but fussing with that chain and j bolt contraption cost me about four hours the day before, until I went with forum advice and used a single C clamp! Clamped it lightly and got a seal the first try. Threw the chains and j-bolts out back as far as I could...

Check your booster for the missing fluid...

c3c4c6

amazon says that the motive 105 will not fit this car, so i tried the 115 and it said the same thing. Anyone using a motive power bleeder on a 71 that can verify which motive power bleeder works on a 71. I figure if I am going to waste another gal or 2 of brake fluid, this may not be a bad investment.

Thanks

Rescue Rogers

Do not drive on them! There's been a few threads here of tires separating due to age. The tire comes part and you have a 3 foot long tire whip slapping you fiberglass. Thousands of dollars in a second. Manufacturers recommend replacement at 10 years. Please replace them. It's safer for you and your car

BLUE1972

[QUOTE=c3c4c6;1594390721]This order looks a little different. I always thought it was the furthest to the closest. Just curious why you suggest something slightly different.

QUOTE]

It's the way I was taught in the 60's. Less chance of pushing air into the already bled line.

I would not rebuild the cylinders - auto zone has re-man Delco cylinders cheep with a lifetime guarantee.. If it's a number matching car - keep the originals and rebuild them for the future. The Auto Zone work well and I have used them on many friends cars. Just put a little Neversieze on the fittings.


Due to the piston setup on the C3's it's hit and miss on using a vacuum system to bleed the brakes. I usually bleed the brakes with low vacuum and then use the pedal to do it again - works well.

The pressure bleeder works very well. Just never got one..

leadfoot4

It's "different", because the rear calipers have 2 bleeders. You're still starting at the right rear, then to the left.....

c3c4c6

The different order posted was driver rear then passenger rear. This is the 'different order' I was talking about. Instead of doing passenger rear then driver rear.


Also - anyone have any suggestion on which motive power bleeder will work on a 71? Amazon was telling me that neither the 105 nor the 115 would work.

Thanks

Rescue Rogers

the bleeder pump is all the same, its the cap that is different. hold on I'll look it up...you need either the 0105 or the 0115 depending on the size of your master cylinder.

https://www.motiveproducts.com/colle...-bleeder-large

https://www.motiveproducts.com/colle...c-bleeder-kits

Rescue Rogers

everyone says to use the c clamps

c3c4c6

OK, I just ordered the 105. It should be in by Friday or so. Looks like I have some work to do on the weekend. I hope this solves the braking issues. I will report back.

Thanks for all of the help!!!

c3c4c6

I got the motive 105 yesterday with a foot of snow. Today was beautiful though so I gave it another try. When I was doing this in storage, I only bled the outside bleed screws on the rear. Never did the inside. There wasn't much air there, but enough. I bled about 1.5 pints through everything again. I started on right rear (both bleeders), left rear (both bleeders) then right front and left front, then did it all over again. It was so easy with the Motive 105.

I then got in the car and had a real nice pedal and the light went out. I put about 7 lbs of pressure in the tank and then started to jack up the car. The 7 lbs stayed while I got the car ready to go. This was great news for me.

I took the car for a short ride and the breaks worked perfectly.

Boy did everyone in here call it correctly on those tires. I went around the neighborhood for a 1 mile ride and the ride was junk. Tires bouncing all over the place. I went to a dealer to try to find out how to read a date of manufacturing on the tires. They showed me the current place to find it, but there wasn't anything like that on these tires. My wife said they were on the car when she got them. That was 1989, so who knows how old they are.

Thanks everyone! The car now stops.

leadfoot4

Glad to hear that you're back in business. Now get yourself some new tires, and go for a cruise!

c3c4c6

Yes, I priced out new tires - bf goodrich ta radials. I thought I saw some of those on the original car, but now the wife says she wants redline tires. The rims are pretty rusty and at least 1 has a dent, so this will be more involved that I originally thought.

It was nice seeing the brake light go out

Bergerboy

Just got my baby new shoes for Spring! - also BFG's all around! Big improvement in the ride and handling, especially after a good professional alignment. The rear trailing arm shims were almost all missing from lack of $.50 cotter pin on each side!

69Vett

after 10 years sitting,you may have to replace/rebuild all the calipers,
yes air does get trapped, the thing that worked for me after several unsuccessful attempts. was smacking the calipers with a rubber hammer,
the air bubbles are basically stuck to the inside wall of the calipers,
you will see alot of bubbles come out after several raps with a rubber mallet. good luck.