My 76/77 Buick regals going to the darkside!

Dang. The hose was delayed in shipping today. The only part needed for plumbing the hydroboost. That sucks.

 

Hydroboost installed... had to use my factory master cylinder until I can make a new bracket since I had to add washers to keep the reservoir from hitting the hood. The bleeding process takes a long time so I decided to finish tomorrow. I will also probably cut the link to the pedal and weld the one on from the old booster. The holes are not the same size. Its either that or make a sleeve to take up the extra space. That may be a better option. I could also weld up the hole and redrill it to the right size too.

Anyways there is a ton of extra room now with that big ass can booster gone now.

 

Well I guess I am cursed. A replacement radiator is on the way, apparently this aluminum radiator does not like having straps attaching it like I have done in the past. I guess the fins broke and are leaking. I will fab up different mounting brackets before the new one comes in.

 

OUCH. That sucks.

 

Summit already sent the new one. Not a huge issue. The brakes on the other hand are pissing me off!

 

I swear, Im going to lose it! I have absolutely had it with these f-ing brakes. I cannot get the portioning valve to reset. Not by pushing the button, not by slamming the brakes with the working side bleeder open and not by pushing the pin from the disassembled rear brake side.

I made a reverse pressure bleeder which worked perfectly on the front. I cannot bleed the rear because this G-D portioning valve is stuck therefore cutting off the path to the rear. To make matters worse, I found a torn seal inside the portioning valve and you can bet your sweet ass that there are no seal kits available.

So now, I have to buy a new portioning valve and install it. That seems simple right? Nah. The fricking rust is going to guarantee that I will be under the car for 2 days trying to get everything loose.

At this time I am about to say screw it and do the test drive with front brakes only then when I get the rest of the car together, drop the damn thing off at a shop to let them rebuild the brake system.

Brakes are turning out to be my nemesis like drywall. Everyone has that thing that they absolutely hate working on. The damn brakes lines and drywall are it for me.

 

With great ANGER I used an old amazon gift card and purchased a new proportioning/combination valve. My plan is to try to remove the factory lines while mounted on the car but it they won't budge, cut the lines and relocate the new valve in the engine bay since the factory location on the rail is just stupid any way.

 

Tonight I installed the new combination valve. I used my pressure bleeder to bleed the brakes which went okay. Something is still wrong though. I will have a 5 day weekend to figure it out though. I may just need to replace all the old brake components. Maybe it is time for a disk conversion after all.

No worries. I will figure it out eventually. Tomorrow I will replace the leaking radiator and send the defective one back. I might just bolt the wheels on and try to drive it. I have brakes just not as firm as I'd like. I bet it will turn out to be something super stupidly simple.

 

Found another one! Passenger side front brake line has a leak. I guess I wont get away with using any of the old lines at all. I am trying to resist the urge to drive it down the street to my local mechanic to get the rest of the brake lines replaced. I am so tired of working on them.

 

My dear friend Chris, who works on french cars (it's true) has the opinion, that you shouldn't bother troubleshooting that. Just replace EVERYTHING. I stubbornly troubleshoot, which often ends in the same place.

 

I will be picking up the two front rubber hoses in the morning and I already have the nicop hardline to replace the broken line. There will be only 3 original lines left after all is said and done.

 

Getting closer. I re-bled the brakes using a simple pressure plate that I made from a piece of 1/4 inch steel and some fittings. I was able to put a positive 20psi in the master cylinder making the bleeding way easier than any other method that I have tried. The reverse pressure bleed works but wow is pressure bleeding simple. Basically it replaces the second person (pedal pusher) with positive pressure. I think that in the future I want to bleed with reverse pressure and then follow up with pressure bleeding. Maybe vice versa, Idk.


Anyways, I now have no more sinking pedal feel but I have a seal kit on the way for a hydroboost rebuild just as good measure. Tomorrow I am going to attempt to get a ride around the block after cleaning up all the mess made during all this brake troubleshooting nonsense.

 

PHASE 1 COMPLETE!!!
She is a driver!