A Brake Job Means More Breaks

Last weekend Tom decided to give me a thorough brake job, but the project turned out to be more thorough than planned.

Step one was to remove the original brake hoses for replacement. Both front steel lines twisted and broke when he unscrewed the fittings (the fittings were rusted to the line and the Deep Creep he sprayed didn’t creep deep enough). Having replaced one of the rear hoses during the post-fire repairs, that left only the passenger-side rear hose to remove. That fitting came loose from the original hose without twisting the line, but Tom noticed that the original steel line seemed a little too flexible (due to rust). He measured all three lines and sent Ariel on an errand to Pep Boys to buy new ones 12”, 30”, and 60” long.

With the hoses out, next on the list was rebuilding the wheel cylinders. He had ordered kits from Clark’s and installed them after honing out each cylinder. He took the opportunity to install the self-adjusting hardware on the front brakes (having already upgraded the rears) when putting the brakes back together. With brakes reassembled, he installed the new hoses and then bent and installed the new steel lines. With Ariel pushing on the brake pedal, he went around and bled the air out of the system. The subsequent test drive showed I can now stop nice and straight. Another set of items crossed off the To Do list.