[Spridgets] Brake Bleed From Hell Yesterday!
Bob Spruck
raspruck at gmail.com
Sun Jun 30 18:25:18 MDT 2019
Linda:
In my humble opinion, you are going through an awful lot of extra
aggravation, some of which will result in big problems, i.e. pushing the
brake pedal with the drum off and therefore not containing the expanding
cylinders. As I recommended a few emails ago, Speed Bleeders do away
with many of the issues you have been experiencing. Install them, crack
one open or even all of them at the same time, put a tube on them, catch
the overflow in a container, open the cap, pump the brake pedal by
yourself, check occasionally for low level in master cylinder, re-pump
the pedal, check for crud in the containers, close them back up. Done!
I've used them on both my '72 Midget for 30 years and my '67 Midget
vintage race car for almost 30 years. I bled the brakes on the race car
very frequently, of course. No problems. Almost all the racers I know
use them because of their reliability, ease of use and effectiveness. As
you can see, I am a believer! I don't like the idea of pressurizing the
system more than what happens with a pedal push. I have never heard any
complaints with Speed Bleeders. They also work on the clutch slave cylinder.
Make sure you look at the diagramsof the orientation of the brake shoes
and the return springsin your Haynes manual or on line. If the shoes are
not positioned correctly or the springs are oriented wrong or hooked
into the wrong hole in the shoe, you'll have major problems. Also make
sure the adjuster and the two wedges are not worn and are free and
clear. Use Brake-Clean. Test their operation before you reassemble the
whole system. The hand brake bracket positioning is also critical.
I do hope you have a Haynes manual or equivalent to help you figure it out.
Remember - your life depends on the brake system working correctly. Good
luck.
Bob Spruck
On 6/29/2019 8:49 AM, Linda Grunthaner via Spridgets wrote:
> Mike,
> That makes a lot of sense, what size is that cap and are they standard?
>
> Now I see why I have all that air and blew out that wheel cylinder, I
> had the drum off when I bleed it. Whoops getting back to the books and
> school of hard knocks. What a mistake I made.
> Linda
>
> On Fri, Jun 28, 2019 at 10:27 AM Mike Myers <mdmyersct at gmail.com
> <mailto:mdmyersct at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> Lin,
>
> If you press on the brake pedal with the shoes and springs missing
> that wheel cylinder will have no resistance and the piston may
> blow out past the seal. You may want to disconnect brake line from
> that cylinder and cap it off so pressure will build up to the
> other wheels and give you some brakes to move it around
>
> Mike Myers
>
> On Jun 28, 2019, at 9:39 AM, Linda Grunthaner via Spridgets
> <spridgets at autox.team.net <mailto:spridgets at autox.team.net>> wrote:
>
>> Yes, yes and yes, Lester, I tried everything on the hoses to the
>> Mityvac pump and I never let the MC go dry. With a new 1/4" hose
>> to the vac it was better but too late too much air got in. Yes I
>> turned the adjuster to clear the pads as I do understand how to
>> adjust that screw. Although when I get all my new parts I'll
>> require a list to learn that adjustment.
>>
>> Three new questions:
>>
>> 1. If I remove these drivers pads & the spring parts and put the
>> drum back on and wheel to roll her what could happen if I press
>> the brake peddle will I brake anything? Will the calipers up
>> front and rear passengers pads stop the car so I can use engine
>> power to move it and not hurt my back?
>>
>> 2. How do I know what size this wheel cylinder is to buy another
>> for temporary use till Gerard's parts arrive? Victoria British
>> catalog lists several sizes as per engine size & I did not
>> install these but I do have an upgraded 1275 and front disc
>> brakes so I'm assuming they are for 1275 (see pics attached).
>>
>> 3. The front calipers are making the front wheels tight to rotate
>> but with wheels on I can rotate, do I unbolt the calipers to
>> inspect as I recall doing this before with my Spitfire back in
>> the day and I press the pads in to get back on the disc.
>>
>> Again thanks for all your help Lester and to all the List,
>> Linda
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Jun 28, 2019 at 8:51 AM JMFangio <oldsaabguy at comcast.net
>> <mailto:oldsaabguy at comcast.net>> wrote:
>>
>> First, using your “oh so shitty’ Mityvac, you did put some
>> grease around the nipple being bled right? It’s important as
>> air will come in through the threads. In fact air coming in
>> is most likely from there or from the master if you ran out
>> of fluid. I haven’t had much luck with Mityvacs either FWIW.
>>
>> Second, yup, put the drum on and roll away.
>>
>> Third, just to be sure, the adjuster on the wheel you are
>> putting back on needs to be all the way in, second getting
>> the shoes aligned perfectly to get the drum back on takes a
>> little fiddling, if there is rust on the edge of the drum
>> (where it first contacts the shoes going on ) that won’t help
>> things.
>>
>> Lastly, the wheel cylinders are inexpensive, get new ones.
>>
>> Lester
>>
>>
>>> On Jun 28, 2019, at 7:37 AM, Linda Grunthaner via Spridgets
>>> <spridgets at autox.team.net <mailto:spridgets at autox.team.net>>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> List,
>>> I'm waiting for all new parts from Gerard so that is the
>>> good news, yes just be patient Linda. Below starts my bad
>>> news of not being successful which seems to be my biggest
>>> problem being "defeated" when working on any car project
>>> especially a Spridget.
>>>
>>> While I'm waiting for my parts to be built from Gerard I
>>> wanted to get my Spridget out of the driveway so I can get
>>> the VW bus out of the garage and in turn get my motorcycle
>>> out to ride with my older brother as he will be leaving in 8
>>> days for his cross country Harley Davidson trip to our
>>> family in California. Below is my hell with brake bleeding.
>>>
>>> I decided to continue bleeding with the "oh so shitty"
>>> Mityvac bleeder device as the brakes were hard but went to
>>> the floor after holding for longer periods of time. I
>>> cleaned the drums and all the rear parts with Brakcleen and
>>> was very happy with the results (I should be grateful for
>>> that), I kept getting air coming from the bleeder and hose
>>> to the Mityvac container which was sucking air and no clamp
>>> could control it on the drivers rear wheel cylinder but at
>>> least it was clear. Then I went to the passengers side rear,
>>> some air although not as much, then off to the passenger
>>> front caliper (yes upgraded disc's when I got Pinky in 2006)
>>> and it seemed nice and air free then to the drivers front
>>> caliper. When I was done with the messy job with continuous
>>> filling of the MC I still didn't have a firm peddle and
>>> somewhat less firm that before I started, (yes don't fix
>>> what is not broken).
>>>
>>> I went to the store got new hose 1/4" clear as I suspected
>>> my hose would not keep a seal to the container or the brake
>>> nipple. I decided to bleed the way I was successful with the
>>> VW bus, a tube in a jar of fluid push peddle hold peddle
>>> with a 3/4" dowel and then shut off the nipple. It was a
>>> sloppy nightmare as I saw fluid trickle from the drivers
>>> wheel cylinder which now I know was bad too so that I should
>>> be grateful for. I was unable to get the massive amounts of
>>> air out of the line now and have a very squishy peddle.
>>>
>>> I cleaned everything up after returning to using the stupid
>>> Mityvac again and now I can't get the drum on the shitty
>>> drivers rear wheel as the pads aren't lining up to get the
>>> drum on it. Note: I had to use a wheel puller to remove the
>>> drum (with now leaky cylinder) in the first place. After
>>> tapping with my lead hammer on the ads to get some kind of
>>> alignment to get the drum on the spring popped out (long
>>> spring has a spring coil on ether side and length of of rod
>>> separating both half's). I got so fed up last night I just
>>> cleaned up and hope for some advice.
>>>
>>> Questions:
>>> 1. Can I remove the drum pads from the shitty wheel and put
>>> the drum back on then the rear wheel so I can push the car
>>> without breaking anything? I'll assume yes.
>>>
>>> 2. Can I assume the only way I can get the car to move to
>>> the street under it own power and brakes is to try and buy a
>>> rear wheel cylinder locally fast to replace the leaker as a
>>> temporary fix while waiting for the good parts from Gerard
>>> then I can get my LBC into the garage and work through the
>>> night when the parts arrive, and get that bike out too.
>>>
>>> 3. Was I supposed to leave the master cylinder cap off when
>>> bleeding or put it back on during the bleeding procedure?
>>>
>>> Thanks guys for all your continued support I really want to
>>> succeed with this on my own and most importantly understand
>>> my LBC.
>>> Linda
>>> 62 California Sprite w/front discs "Pinky"
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> "Pay if forward" in honor of Frank Clarici III, Spritenut
>>> ------------------------
>>>
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>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> "Pay if forward" in honor of Frank Clarici III, Spritenut
>> <IMG_1589.JPG>
>> <IMG_1590.JPG>
>> ------------------------
>>
>> spridgets at autox.team.net <mailto:spridgets at autox.team.net>
>>
>> Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html
>> Suggested annual donation: $12.75
>>
>> Archive: http://www.team.net/pipermail/spridgets
>> http://autox.team.net/archive
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> "Pay if forward" in honor of Frank Clarici III, Spritenut
>
> ------------------------
>
> spridgets at autox.team.net
>
> Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html
> Suggested annual donation: $12.75
>
> Archive: http://www.team.net/pipermail/spridgets http://autox.team.net/archive
>
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