Chris87TA350

My rear drums are pretty useless (but i don't wanna waste money makin' 'em work when I'm planning to swap in a posi disc rear someday...) and I suspect the problem is the jet black nasty brake fluid in the master cylinder. I bled the brakes (which helped) but adding new fluid into that glop seemed like such a waste. So how do I flush it out? On the other hand, my dad said that simply flushing it and putting new fluid into a worn out MC would just taint the new fluid in a few months. I saw some $50 lightweight MCs in Summit's catalogue (or was it Jeg's) are these a good deal? Whose done this sorta thing?
Thanks in advance! ~Chris

Justa6

First and formost, never, and I mean NEVER cheap out when dealing with a brake system. Granted, front brakes do the most work, but the rears are there to do there job too. So never under estimate there usefulness. With that said, what your dad said to do (flush out the WHOLE system with new fluid) is correct. If done right, you should be able to clean out the system with realitive ease. Before doing so, and since you said your rears dont work good/hardly at all, pull your drums and carefully check out every piece of your drum brakes. Check your wheel cylinders for leaking. Cracked linings and glazed shoes. Broken springs and misadjusted shoes. If any of the above is wrong, fix it first before even bleeding the system (always replace shoes on both sides of the car and get the drums machined if needed, deep gouges, uneven wear). Those are the first things to do. After that, if still in doubt of the MC, get a new one from a good auto parts store. There light enough and there is really no need for a "special" lite weight one from Jeg's/Summit. HTH and if you need anymore help, just ask!

Chris87TA350

Okay, I noticed that the parking brake does hold pretty tight, but not enough to prevent rolling on semisteep hill. How do you adjust the rear shoes so they're almost touching (spaced out) so they can engage sooner in the brake pedal travel? Thanks for the advice!

CrazyRob75

This is how we do it at work. Make sure you can open all the bleeders. Then we use a a little hand held pump that hooks to an air line. Open the bleeder and let the fluid run through. MAKE SURE YOU DON"T RUN THE MASTER CYLINDER DRY!!!!!! keep filling the MC with fresh fluid. Since we use a clear hose, once the fluid running out is fairly clear, we move on to the remaining wheel cylinders/calipers. After doing all 4, do a regular 4 wheel brake bleed. If it's really that bad, you should notice a nice improvement. Your hoses will thank you.

As for your e-brake, make sure your brake shoes are adjusted properly BEFORE you go snugging up the cables. Provided your e-brake cables are in proper working order, poor engagement is usually an indication of worn OR misadjusted rear brakes. The shoes end up too far away from the drum so when you pull the lever, there may not be enough play in the cables. Good luck!

BretD 88GTA

Chris,
There are two ways to adjust the rear drums.

Method 1) There should be a small oval shaped hole in the backing plate allowing you to insert a brake shoe adjusting wrench (the proper tool for the job) or a screw driver. Simply use it to turn the adjuster screw and tighten up the shoes. Go in small increments and spin the wheels as you adjust to get a feel for the tension. DON"T OVER TIGHTEN THEM .

Method 2) The rear drums are supposed to be self-adjusting. Simply back the car down an open street or in an open parking lot and quickly apply the brakes a few times. This is supposed to actuate the adjustment mechanism and tighten the shoes.

TomP

http://www.mityvac.com (go thru http://www.eastwoodcompany.com )
http://www.brakebleeder.com

BretD 88GTA

There is also the Vacula systems that attach to your air compressor. A friend of mine bought one after I told him about it. It's a pretty nice set up.

http://www.vacula.com