I put this dual MC into my 1960. Should be the same deal for yours.
The brakes on these cars are just fine! They were sold to thousands of people new and did fine. They're only a problem when they wear out or rot out. 40-45 years is OLD when it comes to rubber components like seals.
Check out this May 1959 service info if you want to see what a high degree of design and thought lies behind them:
The challenge is that people don't think to REPLACE their entire systems. If you don't replace everything, you have a system comprised of many components that then fail sequentially as their 40-YEAR OLD RUBBER SEALS F A I L . One component failing on the original system is fatal to the entire system, as it's all about building pressure in a single circuit. One leak and you're sunk. One seal on any of the 6 wheel cylinders, the three flex hoses (rubber, again), or the master cylinder and you're down to the parking brake or your foot on the pavement. Newer cars have 2 seperate lines that allow one to fail but still allow the other pair of wheels to be slowed by the remaining circuit, but that didn't happen till late in Imeprial's career.
If you own a pre 1980(?) car, and are using it regularly, and have not inspected the brake system - just trusting it to keep on going, why are you, the reader, doing this? Apathy? Money? Just don't want to think about it?
My position on old cars is that you either replace everything that goes wrong as it does so (and not gripe) or replace everything that can go wrong before it has a chance. Alternators and power steering pumps are in the annoyance category. Brakes, tires, steering, and exhaust leaks are in the catastrophe category. If you're driving an old car and have not redone them, you're sitting on a time bomb, and should consider paying some attention to those components. Soon.
If you put in a new system, I'm sure that you'll feel confident and safe knowing that it's done. These systems stop the cars well, and I would trust a new single MC system that's new 100 times over an original one. The dual MC does not cost much more besides labor and the new lines. Nice to have those all redone, too, huh?
Back to the Home of the Forward Look Network