Guys,

What do I need to do to shorten up the travel on my brake pedal? I drove this car with the single circuit setup and the pedal felt "normal" by which I mean the pedal had maybe 3-4inches of travel between the fully returned "up" position and full braking.

Then I did a single to dual circuit conversion in strict accordance to Ehrenberg's article in MA (from back in April '04 I think it was).

- I installed a reman OEM spec dual circuit MC that I had as a spare for my '67.
- I used the existing '65 pedal arm and plunger geometry.
- I have bled the system and there is no air.
- I can get good braking action, it's just all at the bottom of the pedal travel. FULL DISCLOSURE: I haven't tested it fully on the road. It COULD be weak. But for driveway purposes, the braking has been fine and held good.
- The pedal does return properly to the "full returned" position.

So, my brakes DO work - but the pedal travel is much farther to the floor than it was before. It's not as hard and immediate.

If I pump the pedal it shortens the travel by an inch, but not much.

Otherwise the brakes seem to perform normally.

What geometry do I change at the pedal? Do I have to switch the pushrod to a '67 part?

Thanks!
-Art

I do not believe it is air.

the fact you can get good travel if you pump says it is one of 2 things.

you didn't put a residual valve in for the rear drums, or they are out of adjustment.

Thanks RRobert, your suggestions are very useful as always!

I have retained the original drums all 'round but rebuilt them. So first, I will check that the shoes are advanced to the proper clearance to the drums.

The entire setup has zero miles on it - all new or reman parts.
The "at rest" position of the pedal is at the same "fully returned" position as before.

Air? Hm.... that could be. I did bench bleed the heck out of this MC, but leaks elsewhere in the system drained both reservoirs dry this winter. I'm not accustomed to re-bleeding an MC even if the reservoirs go dry*. But I will try that second.

SIDE NOTE: When I pump the pedal it gets hard like there's no air, but I'll have to road test it around the neighborhood to re-verify that assumption.

The MC. Hmm. Yes possibly a bad one. This is the second reman MC I have put on the car, the first one I discarded after it basically failed to benchbleed. I got foam in the fluid for what seemed like hours. This one bench-bled properly, but that's not to say this one hasn't failed or hasn't retained some air.

*I spent the better part of all morning manually bleeding the entire system in place: rr/lr/rf/lf and I assume that would take care of the MC being bled too, as any air in it would be pushed out/back through the brake cylinder bleeder screws. I can always re-bleed.

Thanks,
-Art

easiest would be to as Andrewh said to check the shoe/drum clearance. Pulling the E brake on will save you the trouble of checking the rears just for this test. jack up the front wheels off the ground & spoon em up till when you spin the wheel forward by hand you reach a point where there is a "tick" of contact at 1 point during the tires' revolution then adjust them several weeks later. You're past that but if your brake shop "arcs" linings to the drum it's worth it & here it's $5 per drum/pair of shoes & takes minutes for them to do & gives a much greater contact area. On the air you'd think bleeding out the corners would expell the air in the M/C but for some reason it doesn't happen that way but if they dont pump up you're good there. Holler how it goes Art.

Is it a manual or power brake car?If power the rod probally needs adjusted.I did the conversion on my 65 years ago when it had all drum.I used a 67 master.had a good pedal but never stopped quite right.then I used a 69 type master for manual drum.Much better braking and pedal.Went disc and use the same type master for discs.My sons 62 300 we used a 69 70 master for drum.It has PBs and adjusted the rod and works perfect.Rocky

adjust your brakes...slight drag when turning the tire...the second pump gives it away, the pistons are traveling tothe max with one pedal stroke and its not enough!

Thanks guys,

It's a manual brake car. thanks rocks, I'll have to remember this thread when I do front disc conversion in a couple years.

I'm about to get started on it, a couple other things need attention first, then I'll come back and let ya know how things go with the brakes...

SIDE NOTE: At least I got the car out into the driveway after 6 years of resto - the engine runs GREAT and it sounds fantastic. I am SO psyched I can hardly sleep - it looks like I will have it ready for its first show on May 5th at Rhinebeck, NY. I'm in a friendly competition with a friend and his '70 Cutlass convertible to see who is the "most done" by then.

The drum to shoe clearance was too big! Thank you Andrew, RRobert and Sean. Right on. The pedal has improved vastly and it now brakes "with confidence". Even took my 3-year-old boy and his penguin for the car's first test drive down the street. It rocks!!

Glad to offer advice.Especially since you have a great looking 65.I wish mine looked that good.What are you running in it?Rocky