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C-3 brake bleeding

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Old Oct 11, 2018 | 12:36 PM
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Default C-3 brake bleeding

I bought a 71 that was converted to power brakes. The brakes are not very good and the previous owner said he would bleed the brakes , furthest to closest and outer bleeder to inner bleeder, the pedal would be full until the next day when it would be back to the same. 3 master cylinders, new calipers and the same results. Someone told me they need to be power bled only. Any suggestions?

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Old Oct 11, 2018 | 12:57 PM
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Did the previous owner use the power brake master cylinder? Also the rod coming out of the booster is different. I am converting my 72 to power brakes also.
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Old Oct 11, 2018 | 01:04 PM
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Originally Posted by smz8opop
Any suggestions?

yea, do a search this has been covered 100 times
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Old Oct 11, 2018 | 01:24 PM
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Everything was changed including the rod and brake light switch bracket swap as shown on Zip products How to Pics. If anyone has any information that would be helpful, I would appreciate it. I found a video on the older threads that I will try for the master cylinder and gravity feed on the calipers. Thanks Folks

Last edited by smz8opop; Oct 11, 2018 at 01:57 PM.
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Old Oct 11, 2018 | 03:17 PM
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Hi and welcome smz8opop,
The first thing to check is that the power booster rod to master cylinder is adjusted correctly.
Here's how:

cagotzmann has a helpful post on bleeding the air out of the master cylinder here:


https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-cylinder.html

When bleeding the rear calipers you must bleed the INNER first then the OUTER.
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Old Oct 11, 2018 | 04:24 PM
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Thanks for the info, I will try this. Who sales that tool? So I can remove my master cylinder with the pedal still connected to the rod and set it that way?

Last edited by smz8opop; Oct 11, 2018 at 04:26 PM.
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Old Oct 11, 2018 | 11:56 PM
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You can do the same thing with a dial or digital caliper, using the end 'rod' as a depth gauge. You just need to have the pin length be the same as the available space for that pin when the parts are assembled. There can be a slight bit of clearance in that dimension stack, but if the pin is longer than the space available for it, the master cylinder piston will be partially applied when pedal is released. If you understand the concept of the actuator pin and the space for it, you can get it right pretty easily.
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Old Oct 12, 2018 | 07:31 AM
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Originally Posted by smz8opop
...outer bleeder to inner bleeder
Rear inner caliper halves must be bled first; then the outers.
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Old Oct 12, 2018 | 08:42 AM
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If your unsure go to your local auto parts store and a $10 kit to bleed the master cylinder. Then do each caliper in the order mentioned. As your bleeding each caliper give it a good whack or 10 with rubber mallet...or lighter whacks with a regular hammer. It takes a lot more fluid than you'd expect. If your not using around 2 pints for each rear wheel and a pint for each front your not bleeding them enough.

My pedal was going to the floor because of a cracked line....
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Old Oct 12, 2018 | 02:20 PM
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Originally Posted by smz8opop
Who sales that tool?
www.cssbinc.com

So I can remove my master cylinder with the pedal still connected to the rod and set it that way?
Yes.
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