braking pedal query

[boydogs]

I have bled the brakes on a 1958 2door saloon twice myself and twice with two of us, The pedal goes down to 1 1/2 inches from floor and stops solid, Take foot off and back on again and pedal stops 2inches from floor still solid. The master cyl.has been removed and cleaned and new seals fitted, all new copper brake pipes, 4 new brake master cylinders, All new shoes and new fluid. I adjusted the threaded bar with 2 nuts on at the front of the master cyl. to get the free play at the pedal of 3/4 inch.I have been told that if i adjust these nuts slightly it will make brakes better, is this true as it does`nt sound right to me. Also the car has not been out on the road for years, am i better off using car for a while and trying again later.
PS. Before bleeding i locked each brake shoe. Any ideas please.

[les]

Make sure the brake shoes are centralised and adjusted so as the drums are just binding.

[MarkyB]

the free play at the pedal of 3/4 inch.I have been told that if i adjust these nuts slightly it will make brakes better

They will reduce the amount of wasted pedal travel, not anything else.
There must be some free play between the rod and master cylinder.

[kennatt]

long pedal travel BUT solid eventually,is usually,a sign of poor adjustment,air in the system usually shows as a soft springy pedal.If you are not familiar with the drum brakes on classics its easy to under adjust,try adjusting all brakes untill they are binding,then try the pedal,if you now get a short stroke then its NOT air.

[boydogs]

Thanks for comments i will check these points out.

[David W.]

When you say the pedal goes down and "stops solid," can I assume all four wheels have the brakes applied and are immovable? Is there any drag at any of the wheels when the brakes are not applied? Have you looked at the shoes, return springs and wheel cylinders? Is everything free in there?
David

[MarkyB]

As long as the brakes are working driving the car and using them will get things bedded in and in the right places.
All new brakes tend to settle down and improve with use.

[boydogs]

David, Thanks for your reply, All new brake cylinders and new shoes, when adjusting each wheel i screwed the adjusting screw fully until it locked the drum, then turned screw back one notch and drum was free to turn. I have run the car now for eighty miles now, so i am thinking of taking drum off and checking on the lining faces just where it has made contact with the drum and taking some of the lining away so that more of the lining is in contact with the drum on both front wheels. Pity there isn`t more teeth on the adjusting mechanism for finer adjustment. When i solve the problem i will let you know.

[bmcecosse]

It does sound like poorly adjusted brakes problem. It's very important to loosen the handbrake cables - then adjust up the rear brakes internally - and only then to pull up the cable adjustments to put the handbrake lever where you want it to be. And of course - on the front brakes, there are two adjusters in each drum..... The 'clicks' are perfectly adequate to get the adjustment right, but do adjust up and then stamp on the pedal, and then check if the adjustment can be clicked up another notch. New shoes will wear in - no need to open them up - just click up the adjuster another notch if possible. The brakes will drag 'slightly' when set correctly.