Brake overhaul on 54 Manhattan

[Chris Luecht]

Hi everyone,

In the process of doing a complete overhaul on the brake system on my 54 Manhattan, and have a few questions.  First, when it comes to the brake shoes, they both have two different lengths of brake lining.  Does the one with the larger lining go towards the front of the car or does it face the rear of the car.  Second, I am having a hard time getting the master cylinder to work properly.  I cleaned and honed the master cylinder and assembled the piston, rubber cup, check valve, etc. the way it shows in the shop manual.  When I get it all together and try to bench bleed the cylinder, I don't have any fluid getting forced out.  I tried reversing the check valve and that doesn't work either.  Any thoughts and solutions would be very much appreciated.  Thanks in advance, Chris

[jimkf]

About the brake shoes, the big shoe is mounted on the front.
One possible problem with the master cylinder might have to do with the piston. Make sure it matches what came out of the cylinder. Just because it's the same bore size doesn't mean it'll work. The length must match too. It sounds like you might not be getting enough piston travel...and that's most often caused by the wrong piston being used. You might also check to ensure that both holes are open in the bottom of the cylinder. Even the smallest bit of dirt will clog the cylinder. It's happened to me.