Re: '56 Patrician Brakes

Posted by John Payne On 2012/10/19 0:56:27

Thanks for all of the advice guys, I certainly appreciate it. Now, if I come across as being a little pissed off with what is happening, that's because I am! Today I thought I'd follow Brian's suggestion about testing for vacuum leaks by taking the car for a 6 mile run as is, and then again over the same route with the vac tank isolated from the system.

Before starting out I decided to check the brake adjustment, just in case. It was done before the short test run after switching over the front drums and shoes, but not since. Surprisingly, the right wheel was reasonably hard to turn while the left spun pretty freely. I had done them both the same, backing off 12 clicks. After backing the right off a further 12 clicks, it was turning more freely, but certainly not ideal. OK, doesn't sound right but what the heck, let's go on that 6 mile run. Car seemed to drive OK, pulled up pretty evenly, so I started to think everything was hunky dory. Big mistake! After returning to the shed I decided to check the adjustment once more. The left was like before but the right, the bloody right, was now very hard to turn forwards and fractionally easier backwards, much worse than it was before I backed it off. At this point I gave up in frustration (and a torrent of invective) and walked away. It maybe a sticking wheel cylinder, who knows. On Sunday I'll take it all apart again to see if there's anything obvious. Testing the wheel cylinder while still attached might be a problem(??). Vacuum testing will just have to wait until this is sorted.

Now, on a different topic Packard V8 suggested raising the idling speed in summer to keep the generator spinning to provide more current, and I'll look into that. I have tried to keep the idle speed as low as practicable (about 550 rpm in neutral) as the TU likes to jump into reverse when selected, and more so when the revs are up. I have read on another post that this not uncommon and that the severity of engagement can be toned down by making a small internal modification that slows down oil flow. I don't want to fiddle with the tranny but have become aware of a specialist over here that knows something about TU's. I'm going to get him to service it for me soon and will ask him whether he can do the mod for me at the same time. Anybody else tried this? Regards, John