Re: '56 Patrician Brakes

Posted by John Payne On 2012/11/1 1:10:52

G'day Howard, thanks for your help. I did your test and will report on that in a minute. But first, the test I was referring to in my previous post was what happened when the vacuum to the reservoir was disconnected to try and determine if there was a leak at the reservoir. The vacuum hose was plugged but there was still vacuum connected to the BTV during this test. I was thinking that if there was a leak at the reservoir then that would have a detrimental effect on braking performance. If so, isolating the reservoir should improve performance to some extent, but there was no difference.

Now I did as you suggested and depressed the pedal a couple of times with the engine off, then fired her up with the foot still on the pedal. The pedal got lighter and dropped straight away and with one pump, became firm. Is this how it should be? I'm sure the booster is working but I would just prefer there to be a bit more boost. Don't get me wrong though, it's not so bad that it scares the hell out of me, although I do try to allow a longer glide path if I can. I appreciate that if everything else is in good working order then it must be how the BTV was set up.

That being the case, that's how she'll stay as I can live with it. I haven't forgotten the trials and tribulations of doing the job the last time. That's putting it mildly as there were a lot of expletives shooting around the shed with that job, particularly when trying to connect up the brake lines. And she who must be obeyed doesn't really enjoy brake bleeding either, although she's just had to do it again - I know that's going to cost me sooner rather than later. Such is life! Regards, John