Per Mr. Kenyon Wills article on his Imperial restorations he used the following method to bleed brakes. I ask the questions:
1. Any discussions on how well this works as a "one man bleeder system on the cheap"? Seems to me like a real nice way to do this.
Thank you. I stole this directly from someone else here on the list - Dick B. if I remember correctly - Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery. It worked super for my 1964 which has a different MC location that is easy to access.
2. Did the connection with the valve installed on the master cylinder cap get accomplished with a screwed-on fitting at the air hose?
No, it was the same fitting used to inflate tires. My compressor line has a dial that allows me to dial down air pressure, though, and using full-on pressure can blow out the seals in the system, so drop your pressure to 3-5 lbs to start out...
Pour in your fluid, put the cap on, and leave the farthest bleeder screw open to push fluid through, being careful to monitor fluid level in the MC bowl so that it does not empty out, but is constantly topped off. Work your way through the next closest bleeder and so forth. Don't forget new hoses while you're in there!!
I want to try this on my '57 but of course the master cylinder is hard to get to and adding fluid during this process is a pain also. Any suggestions?
Look at a schrader valve that is angled and extended like on big-rig tires? Maybe a truck stop would have such? That's where your inventiveness comes in. I did mine on a 64 that has the MC inline with the booster, and not under. I like it so much that I might retrofit it to my 1960, but had used a mityvac to do that one, with far less effective results. -Kenyon
Tim Hogan
"The other thing that I did was to go to the local tire place and get a metal tire stem that is threaded with a rubber grommet that is intended for custom rims. I drilled a hole in the cap of the Master Cylinder and installed it there. I then dialed down the pressure level on my compressor to about 20 pounds of air pressure. Once the new brake parts were installed, I opened the passenger side bleeder screw and used compressed, low pressure air to force the fluid in the master cylinder through the lines. When fluid started to come out the rear wheel cylinder, I went back and tightened it down. I then loosened the other rear wheel, then did the passenger side front next, with driver?s side front being last so as to always be working on the wheel farthest from the master cylinder before working my way closer to avoid residual air bubbles in the system."
Back to the Home of the Forward Look Network