Strange brake problem.

[warweezil]

Looked at a car that a friend of mine has sitting in his workshop. It is an abandoned project he picked up - a 2 door '67 saloon. Having sorted out the glowing exhaust for him (timing) he mentioned that at some point the braking system would need recommissioning as it was drained down following the previous owner having "repaired" the master cylinder, so I suggested we popped some fluid in there and see if we could get some pressure going.

When he pressed the pedal a stream of fluid shot out of the breather hole in the cap, having crawled underneath I found that the front circuit appears to be intact and correctly run, and a new pipe exits the box section housing the M/cyl and i can trace the line back to the T piece on the rear axle, but the O/S steel pipework is absent from the axle and the circuit is open to air. Strangely there is no sign of any fluid coming out of the open pipe.

I am wondering what the last owner did to the M/Cyl (apart from the pretty coat of paint) so next weekend I'm putting the car on stands and stripping out the system, but ahead of this I wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts? My last involvement with minors was actually a "G" reg van I rebuilt around 1980 and boy do I wish I had held onto that. My involvement with this car is getting me a light blue '63 2 door on an "A" plate that my friend has parked up in his yard, it is in need of much work, luckily I can have use of the dry workshop space the 67 is currently occupying - once that is on the road. I have a few ideas about what I could do with it....... reading this forum can be bad for the wallet

[bmcecosse]

Welcome to the forum. It's normal to see some 'bubbling' in the master cylinder - maybe even a wee 'fountain' - are you sure the rear pipe hasn't been nipped shut to prevent the fluid running away?

[warweezil]

Hi, Thanks for the welcome, This was a definite steam/jet, it reached the drivers seat mount As far as I can see there is nothing to block the flow, but I was wary of going too far under with just a trolley jack. Next weekend I can get it on a 2 post lift and investigate it properly. The fact that someone abandoned the project makes me feel that there are going to be a lot of snags along the way, Now I have reduced the valve gaps from their former huge settings, and set the timing so she fires BTDC instead of ATDC (and it still started readily being so far over advanced) She starts and runs quite well, an occasional roughness I am going to look at after I change the leaking heater valve so I don't have to worry about water level (or get puddles underfoot),Ive already told him that I want to do an ignition overhaul as the leads look past their best. It does drive - the clutch is free (to my relief), I sorted out the lack of auxiliary electrics - by replacing missing fuses - still no charge light or horn tho, it needs one bulb in the number plate lamp and a tail light is also out, so that's on the list and If I can get the brakes up then shes off for an MOT and mine can take her place in the dry.

The car is supposed to have had a brake rebuild but with unfinished/missing pipework I cant be sure what sort of mess has been left behind, so with the car up in the air next week I will do a quick visual check, but I'm expecting to find that the M/cyl has been bodged or is otherwise compromised. If there is some issue with the pipework then I think its most likely been crimped inside the box section as the external pipework (while lacking a few clips and a complete branch) looks in decent shape.Thinking about it, I may have heard him say he would get online and buy a new Master cyl this week - he is intending to use it as a local run about, and isn't worried about doing repairs that are needed,it's a local car maybe never been out of the county given the mileage - my one on the other hand looks to be on its second circuit of the milometer.