Help with brakes

[Fun_in_my_z]

My 73 has no brakes at all, when I push the brake pedal it only gose about 1 inch then stops, it makes a sound like metel hitting on metel. Could this be the brake booster?

Thanks Bill

[e_racer1999]

maybe your master cylinder is siezed? has it been parked for any substantial period of time? if it were me, i would disconnect the MC from the booster and see if the piston is moving.

[Fun_in_my_z]

Yeah it was last tagged in 92. Thanks for the peply.

[e_racer1999]

no prob. GL

perhaps someone else has some other ideas?

but i'm willing to be it's a siezed MC

[JimmyZ]

Yeah, seized Master Cyl.

It would be near impossible to seize a master vac with all of the plastic to metal contact inside it. Even if it were exposed to saltwater it might not move freely but at least it would move.

One other possibility is that your clevis pin fell out and you are simply hitting something with the fork and not actuating the brakes at all. Look under dash and jostle pedal to verify.

I had a spare Master Cyl that was seized so bad I had to soak it in mineral spirits for a few days. Of course it had to be rebuilt after that since the MS ruins seals. A light whack on the plunger and the pistons sprung themselves free. Prior to the soak a medium whack wouldn't even budge the piston assy inwards. The spare I kept for JIC the rebuilt original ever dies or for spare parts not for use as a primary.

2c

Jim

[Fun_in_my_z]

I will be rebuilding the whole system anyway because i want to do a 4 disc conversion but it would be nice to be able to move the car out of the way without killing somebody . I really didn't want to buy a 400 dollar booster to fix it yet so this is good news. It didn't have fluid in it when i got her home, as soon as i get it off the trailer i filled the MC up, and now its empty again. I could push the pedal then but cant now. Guess i will try a new MC, thanks guys.

Bill

[JimmyZ]

Curious. When you filled it where did the fluid go? Did it leak from the back side of the MC or was it a rotted line?

It might just be a leaky caliper or rotted line. Did both resivoirs go empty?

[zbane]

Bill, I had a metal on metal grind in my front left brake, and I was going through a res. of fluid every few days. For me, the problem was a poorly connected (loose) brake line-caliper side. Once I tightened it up, the grinding went away and the fluid didn't. I could be something that simple.

FWIW