So I've gotten 73 Vette that's been sitting around for awhile running reasonably well again, but now I need her to actually Stop now.

Brake light comes on when pressed to the Floor, and from what I can tell the Rear brakes are doing little if nothing at all. The fluid in the Master did not look good at all, appeared to be lots of junk (Rust?) floating around. Sucked most of it out without emptying them with a turkey baster and refilled.

Never worked on brakes before but after reading the Service Manuals I have and this Forum I decided to try and and start with just bleeding the brakes and getting new fluid all around. Started at the LR and could get very little fluid out either the inner or outer bleed screws. I guessing since the light comes on the Distribution Switch is preventing fluid from running down the circuit or Rust has clogged up the lines. Is there a way to reset the Distribution Switch? or does it indicate a leak down line, that I need to deal with.

The looks of the old rusty calipers do not instill a lot of confidence and am thinking about just ordering one of these kits with new calipers/lines and MC.
When buying a Master they want to know if you have power brakes or not, I think I do since it appears I have a Power Brake booster, is that what I see behind my M/C?



Looking at the Manuals replacing the Calipers and the M/C seems pretty straight forward, seems the hardest part reading these forums can be getting everything properly Blead. As a newbie am I getting in way over my head here or is it as straight forward as it appears?

Thanks
Jeff

 

I don't know how long your vehicle has been sitting around but the first issue I would address when it comes to bleeding brakes is the condition of the caliper brake bleeders.

For the price of them, I would replace all of them, then bleed brake system. Search "brake bleed", lots of posts here!!

 

Yep you have a vacuum brake booster/power brakes.

My brakes sounded much the same as the way you've described yours. I pulled the calipers off and disassembled them with the intention of putting an overhaul kit in them. Once they were apart however, I saw that all the bores were badly corroded so I binned them and bought all new (overhauled) calipers that had the bores lines with a stainless sleeve.

I also replaced the master cylinder and all the flexible lines. Once I had everything installed again, I flushed brake fluid through the brakes lines by bleeding each caliper until the fluid came out clear - surprisingly though, it wasn't that grubby to start with. You can buy new rigid lines too, if you wanted to go that far.

When you say "distribution valve" do you mean the proportioning valve? If so, I have no idea if they are "resetable", however I know you can buy new ones if yours is blocked or otherwise buggered!

One tool that I bought that makes bleeding a breeze is a power bleeder. Go here for a look: http://www.motiveproducts.com/index.html

Also, make sure you bleed the calipers in the correct sequence:LR-inner, LR-outer, RR-inner, RR-outer, LF, RF. If you try bleeding with the power bleeder and using that sequence and still get nothing, IMHO it might be time to pull the calipers and have a look inside the bores.

If you do decide to replace the calipers and master cylinder, it is a job you can accomplish if you have reasonable mechanical skills and a resonable tool kit.

Wait till you get a few of the brake experts to chime in though as there's sure to be better advice out there than mine

 

For a car sitting a long time with original calipers, do yourself a big favor and call up Justin at Muskegon. Get there super brake kit and you get everything but the booster. SS Calipers, hoses, SS rear cal lines,pads, new M/C, DOT 3 or DOT 5 BF. I used this kit and it was great and cost is very good.
Say hi to Justin if you call.

Gary

 

Yep! All new stopping stuff!

 

Thanks for the verification!

Got one an your right, works like a charm.

Ended up being my Master Cylinder. Put a new one in today, and bleed the lines. Was very happy to see the fluid coming out the back calipers after the putting in the new M/C.

Wow it's nice to have good working brakes again

 

Good job, glad it worked out for you