hi there, i was wondering if anyone knew what i could do here i bought a project 1970 dodge charger about 3 weeks ago and the previous owner said he installed new brake pads [drum brakes on all 4 corners] but when i push the pedal, it makes a squishy noise, goes to the floor, and just comes right back up. it is also leaking at the firewall where the pedal goes into. i‘m probably thinking this guy didn‘t bleed the system, or the master cylinder is out. how could i tell if it‘s either or? and how do you bleed a drum brake system on this car? and why is it leaking in area? [only leaks when you press the pedal down] so right now, i have no brakes on the car. the e-brake doesn‘t work either. and my last question, me and a few others were looking at the front suspension and noticed there isn‘t any springs, my father owned a ‘69 back in the late 70‘s and my friend‘s father owned a ‘68 back then too, they couldn‘t remember if it had front springs or not, theres no cupping area for a spring?
nob head i love your question but valiant runs torsion bar front end which do not use springs (torsion bar ) throw pin on brake pedal is possibly adjusted to far into the master cylinder there for allowing no pressure other wise check slave cylinders for boot leakage
You have a bad master cylinder. Are you planning on restoring the car or modifying it? If you are restoring it then keep the drum brakes, if you are fixing it up as a driver, then you may consider installing a disk brake on the front, if not on all 4 wheels. You can bleed them by loosening the bleed screw on the backing plate by each wheel. Start with the one farthest away from the master cylinder. The suspension has a torsion bar instead of a spring. It sounds like a nice car, good luck with the repairs.
The master Cylinder is shot, It's is leaking because the O-ring on the piston has rotted away. There are rebuild kits avalible for these at Napa and other autoparts stores, however it may be most cost effective and worth more of your time if you where to convert at least the front of the car to front power disk. There are kits avalible, just search on the web or check out any of the sources in Mopar Muscle, or action mopar. the brake system bleeds like any other system. You just need to turn the bleed valve on the wheel cylinder. As far as the spring question, These cars use torsion bars for thier front springs. It's the long bar that runs from the wheels to the center of the front of the car. You adjust these with a large socket and a ton of pressure. Make sure you completely understand how torsion suppention works prior to doing anything with these bars as serious injury can occur. If you need more information, Check out the links I have provided.
