Ok, I'm in the process of switching my 65 Skylark over to an A-bod Front disc set-up.I got the proportioning block and metering valve from a 67 Caprice.I am getting no pedal after bleeding the master cylinder twice and the brakes 3x.I am going to be re-routing my brake lines while I have the front clip off and if replacing the prop. block with one from OPGI would be all that I need?Meaning I don't have to use anything else with my brake set-up.
Hi! '67 Caprice - A body? - B body? One of the reasons you're getting no pedal counld be the incompatibility of master cylinders and or pushrods from the pedal. Do you have the correct length pushrod? Are you using a disc master cylinder. Discs use more fluid than drums so there is more fluid to move. If you have a drum m/c then you will probably not be pushing enough fliud to operate the brakes. Anyone else care to comment? best regards nick
I think a caprice is a B-body,I bought the booster/master assembly from a company and i came with 2 pushrods,I used the shorter one because the longer one would fit and still give me some pedal.
Need more info. What did you have originally? Are you using the booster? What master cylinder? I've done this swap, had no problems, but I used A-body stuff. Did you bench bleed the master cyl.? When you bleed the brakes do you get fluid out of any wheel position?? If it is a non power set up, you need to move the pushrod to the upper hole on the brake pedal to get more leverage. Gary G.
Originally I had man drums all-around.I'm using a booster and master that were made for an A-body.I didn't bench bleed the master,I get fluid out of all 4 wheels when I bleed them Its just that the pedal feels really weak like theres no pressure I moved the pushrod to the upper hole already. Thanks, Philip
I think I'll have to look at my car, but if your car had Non power drum brakes, wasn't the pin on the pedal already in the top hole?? You move that to the upper hole for more leverage with the non power set up. Seems like the push rod may be too short, when you bench bleed the master cylinder you will be able to see how much travel it takes to get fluid to move from each resevoir, compare this to the pedal movement. Is this a new master cylinder? No fluid leaks? The master cylinder may be internally by-passing fluid causing a soft pedal. So after bleeding the pedal is just soft? Here's what I'd do, you need to bench bleed the master cyl. noting the travel required, as mentioned, if the pedal pin was origionally in the top hole with Non Power, move it to the other hole, re bleed all wheels starting at the rt rear, then lt rear, then rt front, and lastly lt. front, check pedal travel compared to the bench bleeding, check the hoses to the caliper, if all checks good and pedal is soft, I'd get a different master cylinder. Gary G.
Ok,I will do all of that this weekend hopefully.I was thinking about using a mighty vac brake beelder or possibly one of the bleeders that uses pressure in the master bleed,do you think that will help?Again can I get the proportioning valve from OPGI and use that instead of the Caprice stuff?I think that this maybe part of the problem.
I don't know about the proportioning valve, I think I'd go with one from an "A"body. I'm using one I got from the junkyard off of a '68 Pontiac Lemans, that had front discs. Pay $1 or $2 go to the junkyard, find one, leave the b-nuts attached, cut the lines, hide it in your tool bag, or stuff it in your pocket and save yourself some money, save the b-nuts incase you need to make new lines, double flaring is easy. You need to bench bleed the master cyl. by itself, then you can use whatever for each wheel, my 12 year old son works pretty good at pumping and holding the pedal. Good luck. Gary G
Well,I have haven't done anything to the brakes yet because I'm trying to finish up my engine,and paint the front end of the chassis and firewall.I will post when I do somethin. Thanks, Philip
Well as you may have seen in my other post,I still get no pedal.I bought a proportioning valve from OPGI.bled the master ALOT after I got the air out,then bled the system 3 times and I still get no pedal.Could you check your car to see what hole the pushrod is in on the brake pedal?Mine is in the bottom hole.Maybe I just need to adjust the pushrod? Thanks, Philip
On the brake pedal: Use the top hole for manual brakes.....this gives you more leverage and applies more force to the master cylinder. The bottom hole is used for power brakes. I don't think that is the cause of your problem, tho... There is some good advise posted above, you just need to check everything... Did you bench bleed the master cylinder yet???? That's where I'd start. Is the pushrod between the power booster and master cylinger the right length? I think it was 1970 that used a different length, so it's possible the booster/rod/master cyl is mismatched. Is the master cylinder new???
