Good afternoon all,

I bought a 1983 Porsche 944 recently and did a rear brake job and had to unhook the calipers so I need to bleed the brakes. The Porsche guys all swear but the pressure bleeder setup, to make the task an easy one man job. My kids are all now out of the house and thus unable to pump the brake pedal for me. Is there a device to allow me to pressure bleed the brakes in a C3?

Thanks,

Scott

 

Yes, Motive Products 0105 Motive Products Power Bleeder Kits | Summit Racing You will need 1-2 clamps to hold the plate on to the MC. The supplied chains are worthless. By far, the best way to bleed brakes IMO.

 

Consider the Phoenix reverse brake bleeder. You push brake fluid from the caliper to the master from each wheel. You can also bleed the master while on the car. It is definitely a one person job. It is also great for flushing fluid. No clamps on the master with covers. I bought the mid grade unit and love it. I had speed bleeders on the car, and had to remove them and use regular bleeders. Jerry

 

ScottEwine
Easy enough to make your own with a garden sprayer, a metal plate, some c-clamps, tygon hose, air compressor fittings, and they work like a dream. I made my own ages ago because I didn't want to wait for shipping and it works so well that I never bought a manufactured unit. I use a piece of inner tube as a "gasket" between my aluminum plate and the master cylinder.

see below for pointers on building your own contraption:

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...y-version.html

 

I'm a big promoter of the Phoenix reverse bleeder as well. With the C3's lip seals and unusual problems with trapped air. This is just THE answer.
Highly recommend!

 

Thanks! This whole project came about because the trailing arms on my '75 were shot, so I decided to do the full rear suspension overhaul, including the differential/spring/half-shafts/shocks. Since I had to open the brake lines I decided to replace all the rubber brake hoses, and I do have a new master cylinder, so my question is, will this pressure bleeder work if I start from a completely empty system, or do I still have to bench bleed the MC? Also, I forget, do I have to have somebody hold the bolts up under the dash while I tighten the bolts that hold the MC in place, or are those stationary?

Scott

 

The master cylinder is held on by two nuts. Studs come through the firewall that are attached to the brake box inside the car. With the Phoenix system. you can push fluid through the small holes at the bottom of each chamber of the master. The kit has fittings for it. Jerry

 

ScottEwine
Yes. Master Cylinder being empty, or whole system for that matter, is irrelevant. Just top it off initially. When I replaced my calipers & hoses with Wilwoods I had the system totally empty. I add the brake fluid to the garden sprayer and pump it up to between 10-20 psig and start bleeding (I have an inline pressure gauge on the tygon tube). Once the pressure drops to ~10 psig then I pump it up again to ~20 psig. Then I bleed away. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. I have even slowly pushed on the brake pedal while I have the bleeder pressurized..... just for ****'s and grins----just be careful since you don't want brake fluid on your paint. I don't even do other cars brakes anymore without my pressure bleeder. It works that well...and it works so fast that if you want to change your brake fluid it will do that quite rapidly also, and WITHOUT all the drama of losing brake pedal feel since everything remains pressurized.

 

I also use the Phoenix Reverse Bleeder on all of my vehicles. I bought a kit from Phoenix company which has all the adapters that you should ever need. The reverse bleeder is a dream to use as it pushes the bubbles UP and OUT of the system. I have the Motive pressure bleeder and another bunch of vacuum pump adapters which all work to some degree but in my humble opinion the Phoenix is the one I go 'to' when I need to flush the brake system. Flushing every vehicle every five years is a PIA but the Phoenix reverse bleeder makes the job less of a hassle and much faster.

Be aware that when you fill the fluid in the system be sure to tap on the brass junctions in the brake system as they like to hold air. I use a rubber mallet and tap on the junctions and the calipers to be sure the bubbles are free to get out. When you replace the rubber lines at the four corners be sure to try and use the SS Braided lines that replace the plain rubber lines. The difference is amazing and well worth the effort of installing the newer hoses that don't expand when the brakes are used. It makes for a better pedal feel when you have the braided brake hoses. I have them on both of my Corvettes because they work so well. Just be absolutely sure they have a D.O.T. tag on them, you don't want to trust your life to a Chinese brake line...

 

If you can bench bleed the MC do it. If everything is already on the car then follow this procedure I have used for years. It is important to understand where air get trapped in the MC

2 videos in the link will help you understand the procedure.

Get the last bit of air out from the brake master cylinder. - CorvetteForum - Chevrolet Corvette Forum Discussion

Now the bleed of the MC while on the car is the last step, not the first step.

Procedure.

1. Gravity bleed the brakes until each caliper has fluid. Start with the longest line first to reduce the amount of fluid needed.

My pressure bleeder setup is a DIY plate connected to a air compressor and set to 15-20 psi,

2. pressure bleed each caliper until you dont get air passing the bleeders. (Clear house at the bleeders to see) I usually have about 6 feet to clear tube at the bleeder for 2 reasons.

to see a pattern of clear fluid, and to see how much fluid I am bleeding to make sure I dont empty the MC again.

3. Once each caliper is pressure bleed then do the MC using the link to bleed the MC while on the car.