Scary Braking? Help!
 

Okay so this my first time posting here. I'm thinking about buying a '66 mustang, so I went and drove it today, and it has drum brakes on all 4 corners... I didn't think it would be a problem. The car did stop. Barely. The pedal seemed to go pretty much all the way to the floor before having any affect, and even then it took quite a bit of pressure for it to really do anything. With that said, I've never driven a car with 4 wheel drums before, or even one without power assist... So I'm wondering if this is normal or if there is something wrong that needs to be fixed or adjusted?

The pedal should not go close to the floor before you feel the car braking. If its not low on fluid and the brakes have been bled properly, its a bad master cylinder. That's assuming the drum and drum pads are all in good shape. High pedal effort is normal though.

If you end up buying the car, definitely the first thing on your list should be to swap the front drums out for disc brakes and get a new master cylinder. Flush all the lines with new brake fluid and most likely, over haul the rear drums too. I doubt they've had any attention in a long time.

Properly maintained drum brakes are adequate for most street driving. The key to that is "properly maintained". It doesn't take much neglect for them to lose efficiency, while disc are pretty much out of sight, out of mind. Low pedal could just mean all the shoes are worn and the brakes need adjusted. I wouldn't let that be a major factor about my decision to buy the car, but if I did buy they would get some attention before I did much driving.

Thanks guys... I figured that couldn't be normal. How much do you think I should expect to pay for a brake adjustment, a new master cylinder and a fluid flush?? I'm new at all this 'old car' stuff... Oh, and also, do you think it's safe to drive for maybe a few weeks if I do buy it, before having these things done?

Might just be that their out of adjustment. I rebuilt mine and never knew why they would go to the floor before really stoping. Well one day i put the parking brake on and forgot to take it off my brakes were working great and were hard. Came to find out they were really far out of adjustment in the rear drums. I adjusted them and they are much better still need a bit of adjusting tho.

Pay a few bucks for a how to book and do it yourself, it's pretty easy to adjust them, which is where I'd start. If no noticable improvement, get them inspected before doing much driving, especially in wet conditions.

I think the title of this thread should be your answer to that ......

True dat...I've had scary experiences in two different 4 wheel drum cars in my life, both involved some spinning about the vertical axis.
Good thing I was wearing brown pants;)