hustonek

Just bought a project 68 coupe. Brakes were mushy so I decided to flush out old brake fluid and bleed each brake. Rear drums bled just fine. Moved to FR and as soon as I touched the much smaller bleed valve it cracked (may have already been cracked). How do I get the valve out now that it is about to come off. Two different mechanics say I can't remove the valve and that I need to replace the clinders/calipers for big $$ when all I need is a $1 part. Only have about 2 inches of space to work with as the wheel mount(?) rod is right across from the valve. I believe the front brakes are disk as the drum/brake housing is different from the rear drum.

Starfury

First, do you have discs or drums up front? You can't have both. Disc brakes look like a big plate with a caliper smashing the pads up against the plate.

hustonek

Thanks for the reply...I don't know if they are drum or not. The rear brakes are definitely drum, pulled the 5 hole drum off the lugs to check the pads. On the front, I didn't pull off what appears to be drums but I did notice the lugs are part of the cover/drum. There is not your standard disk with calipers on both sides unless it is contained within this housing/drum. I'll look tonight. While I'm in there, anything I need to look at specifically, regarding the bleeder valve, cylinder/calipers?

racin66coupe

sounds like you have drums to me. pics would help though.
if you do have drums all you have to do is replace the ( the name is blanking on me) cylender that the bleeder screws into. a lot cheaper than a caliper

KMatch

A front wheel cylinder with drum brakes would run you about $12-15 from Oreilly's unless you have a 390, which is about double in cost. I didn't look up a caliper for rotors as it sounds like you have drums. Pulling the cylinder and removing the bleeder isn't too terrible a job, but for a few dollars, it isn't worth it. Also, before you go to the store, you'll need to know the bore diameter of the cylinder unless you know for sure it's the original engine. 3.3L 1-1/16" BORE, 4.7L, 5.0L, 7.0L 1-1/8" BORE, V8-390 1-3/32" BORE. Mismatching the bores WILL lead to a brake pull when stopping.

hustonek

Thanks KMatch. Pretty sure I have the original 289, rebuilt, but original. Will O'Reillys know the bore? Does the bleed valve pass thrugh the housing and into the cylinder? If it does how do I get the cyninder off? Will I need to remove the remains of the valve from the inside? If so, how. Unfortunately I'm not sitting in front of the brake and I'm just trying to visually put this all together.

TexasAxMan

No offense intended, but you are dealing with drum brakes and getting all the springs in the right place, while not terribly difficult, does require some mechanical skill and knowledge, which it doesn't sound like you possess. I think you should take it to a brake shop and let them fix it for you. Brakes are not something to guess with.

Again, I mean no offense.

KMatch

OK, we're getting into a little gray area here, and as T.A.M. points out, I'd hate to lead you into a job over your head. First, no parts store will know what size bore you have without some input from you. The specs I gave are from my ordering screen and are exactly what you will be asked: Engine size and maybe bore size, then you take it and check to see if it's right. Now, while "I" can swap one out in a matter of minutes with a little creative spreading of the shoes and no major disassembly, I have no idea what your abilities are. Everyone has to start somewhere, but brakes ain't a good starting point for safety reasons. You either have a good level of common sense or pay someone to help or do it.

The wheel cylinder (provided you really do have drum brakes) resides inside the brake drum. It spreads the shoes which applies the brakes. The "valve" or bleeder you're referring to will never be seen again. It's broken inside the cylinder which needs replacing. Forget about it. Things of a critical nature: Proper installation of the brake shoes and EVERY spring. Proper adjustment of the shoes to the drum once finished. Proper bleeding. Proper wheel bearing packing AND torque. Too tight is worse than too loose. Are you up to this?

hustonek

We'll see if I'm up to it; I'm not so macho that I won't pass to job to a pro if I can't handle it. I haven't worked brakes in 30 years. Right now the broken bleeder valve is not leaking so it's not a rush job so I have time to "refresh" my skills. Never changed a cylinder, just the shoes and made adjustments. Thanks for the help. As far as the diameter goes I can get that from the other side, assuming I don't crack that one as well.

KMatch

The diameter mentioned is the piston inside the cylinder of which there are 2 per cylinder. You'll have to pull the drum and most likely the cylinder itself to measure the piston or bore diameter as the shoes cover the piston in question. And, you'll need something real accurate to measure as we're talking 1/16" difference between each one if I remember right. If you can hang shoes, you can replace a wheel cylinder. It's just a couple more steps. Either keep the other side in one piece for a reference or take pictures of the springs as you go.