The brakes in your car are either improperly adjusted, have air in the lines, still need more parts, or any or all of the above. When working correctly, the brakes should feel good. They should inspire confidence that the car will stop under normal circumstances. If the pedal doesn't feel right, the job isn't finished, or it wasn't done correctly. The parking brake in a '62 Imperial has NOTHING to do with the service brakes. Also, it should feel like any other parking brake, except when you use it to stop the car. It is on the drive shaft, so it feels very odd (at best) if used to stop the car. Otherwise, it should hold that car on a steep incline with no trouble at all. It sounds like it isn't working properly either. You should not drive this car at all until the brakes are working correctly.
Fellow Imperialists,
I got the Imperial back from Chrysler dealer and the brakes went all the way to the floor; there was no pedal pressure whatsoever. They bled the brakes again and now the pedal goes half way to the floor before I get any pedal pressure. This is a new master cylinder and all new wheel cylinders. My mechanic suspected that it might be a problem with the master cylinder since it is different from the one originally on the car. Should he adjust the master cylinder rod, even though the FSM says specifically not to?
I know this is unrelated but the parking brake requires no force whatsoever to go to the floor. It seems to prevent the car from rolling when it’s parked, but I accidentally forgot to disengage it when taking it for a test drive and it didn’t seem like it was stopping the car. What should working brakes and parking brake feel like on a 1962 Imperial? I’ve never dared to drive this car above 10 mph. The car stops, but the pedal is soft, I'm just not sure the car will stop at higher speeds.
Graham Quimby
1962 Crown Coupe
PS – I’ve been taking pictures as work has progressed on the car. Someday I’ll post them on the web. If anybody would like to see them, let me know. Maybe somebody can tell me what the name of the color of the car is?
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