[72cat]

When I hit the brake pedal it only takes right at the bottom, never really worried about it cos' most of our car's boosters have been disconnected and I am used to having to brake hard, but apparently the guy at the roadworthy got a bit of a shock as he slid halfway into the road after trying to stop at a stopsign, seriously woke him up I believe, good thing actually, no ways he was going to take my car for a joy ride after that, but ......
I had the rear drums replaced a couple of months ago, they redid the master cylinder as well and said my front brakes were fine, but on the testing thing the front brakes did not show up too well, altho he said nothing about the rear brakes and he did not even mention the fact that I have no handbrake, could be he could not find it and was too embarresed to ask, not many cars here have foot operated handbrakes. So what could my problem be with the front brakes, need adjusting? replacing? I seem to remember years ago being told to bring one of my cars back to the brake place after driving awhile for the final adjustment.
I don't have much faith in the brake place I went to now that their star tech guy has left, they did the mercedes brakes and it squeaks whenever I brake, also did the Kombi brakes and S says they are just as bad as they were, don't want to take the cars back to the same guys, if they could not do it right the first time then there is not much chance of them getting it right the second time. Brake resevoir is full, so there is no leak in the system. Pedal is not spongy or excessively hard, just only takes at the bottom. Can you adjust the pedal?

 

[Cougar Bill]

The first clue i have is about the "hand"brake. Proper adjustment of the rear brakes effects the whole system.The pedal should click 4-8 times, other wise it's too soft. Pull the rear wheels,turn the drum by hand, you should feel and hear a bit of rubbing. The drum should not move sideways, if so they are too loose. I hope the rear brakes are correct.
The next clue is about the master cyl. I suspect the rod between the master cyl & vac booster is too short. It can be adjusted ( 3/8 threaded tip) but requires the master cyl to be removed, thus the brake lines & rebleading. I cheat and cut the studs at the master cyl flush w/ the nuts. This allows the master cly to be removed w/ out disconnecting the lines. You do have to unbolt the dist block from the fender. It is held in place by 2 - 1/2" nuts accessed thru the dr. wheel well behind the tire. Good luck and keep those questions coming!

 

[72cat]

Okay, so I am guessing by your reply that it is the rear brakes I should be looking at, the handbrake works very well, we had to rely on it when the brakes packed up completely .thats when she went into the brake shop, the problem is that it won't lock in place, the rachet's teeth may be worn. The rear drums were imported from the States, the invoice said: Fairlane/Mustang 67-73 Part No: 140136, they were ordered for a guy with a mustang who never collected them, I know that the ones that were on her when we got her were incorrect, they were not deep enough. Apparently the piston inside the master cylinder was also incorrect, they had to 'machine it', a term i hate cos' it could mean anything.
Will check it all out this week, thanks for all the help.
Dayle