[Healeys] brake master cylinder

[Peter Linn]

Had just that problem with a Landrover recently - all new master cylinder, 
wheel cylinders, shoes etc - tried everything inc pressure bleeding - still 
no luck. Someone then suggested that drums may have been skimmed - put in 
oversize shoes & problem solved. Worn adjusters on one wheel contributed to 
problem.

Incidentally Landrover subsequently sold via Ebay - to guy with 2 AH 3000s!

 Cheers

Peter Linn
Brisbane Oz
BN1 Ward Spl coupe
BN1 Holden V6
Landrover Series 3 x2

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael Salter" <msalter at precisionsportscar.com>
To: "'James Shope'" <healeymanjim at hansencc.net>; "'healeys'" 
<healeys at autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 1:22 PM
Subject: Re: [Healeys] brake master cylinder


> Hi James, 4 wheel drum brakes can be a bear to get right. Several things 
> can
> contribute to a soft pedal and tracing and eliminating them can be very 
> time
> consuming.
> I would recommend gently clamping off each of the 3 brake flex lines with
> vice grips and then trying the pedal. (Be careful not to damage the hoses 
> by
> clamping too tightly).
> With the hoses clamped off the pedal should be rock hard. If it isn't 
> there
> is air in the master cylinder or brake lines. To get all the air out of 
> the
> master cylinder it often helps to raise the front of the car slightly.
> Once you have achieved the hard pedal hold the pedal down while someone
> releases the vice grips one at a time. Often you will find that one has 
> more
> effect that the others so you know where to concentrate your efforts
> I have on occasion resorted to removing the front drums and shoes and then
> bled the fronts after clamping the wheel cylinder pistons all the way into
> remove any air from them.
> Another contributing factor can be shoes which are not correctly arched to
> the drums. If you have new shoes on the car it may take some time before 
> you
> can get a good pedal without having the shoes accurately matched to the
> drums.
> Good luck.
>
> Michael Salter
> 100 (1953) #174
> AHX12 (1953)
> Bugeye (1961)