Help please, WC 57 brake woes!!

[The General]

Hi all, I am having problems with my WC 57 brakes. The command car had been laid up by a previous owner for at least 5 years, so when I bought it, lots of stuff had perished or corroded, including most of the braking system.

 

We have replaced just about everything, Master cylinder, brake cylinders, all brake lines and all linings. And bled the system.

 

We just cannot get the brakes shoes to back right off, if we turn back the adjusters top and bottom, so that we can get the drums on, we get dragging brakes/overheating drums etc. It seems to be a problem on all the drums.

 

Has anybody had a simular problem with their WC, or any other ideas to get the brakes to adjust properly?

 

Thanks in advance, Tim from Shepton Mallet.

[Gordon_M]

Sounds like your new linings are too thick Tim.

 

Build the hub and adjust by the book and it will work every time, only over-thick linings will cause drag like that with the adjusters backed right off. Sounds like the same on every hub, which suggests all the linings need ground back.

 

There is a profiling tool / setup illustrated in the manual, I'm sure, and I'll guess your drums are reasonably well worn so it won't be them.

 

Profile grinding time.

[Tony B]

Set the shoes up by the book, set the right clearance through the slots in the drums. Then jack each wheel up and spin the wheels, and adjust each one on the snail adjusters. Have you got the manual? I have scans of the relevant pages. PM me an email if you need them.

Edited June 13, 2015 by Tony B

[Enigma]

Could the master brake cilinder be adjusted wrong allowing brakefluid to enter the lines but blocking the return hole?

[Tony B]

Mnaual says : Fill master cylinder bleed brakes , then pump once more. There should be about 1/8 inch gap bettween fluid and tip of cylinder.

[wattie]

Had a similar problem on a 1/2 Ton Dodge ,check vent port not blocked even if its NOS .

[Nick Johns]

Had a similar problem on a 1/2 Ton Dodge ,check vent port not blocked even if its NOS .

[ATTACH=CONFIG]105240[/ATTACH]

 

Me too, on a Dodge car that uses a similar style M/cylinder, NOS, apply the brakes and they stayed on, the vent port had not been drilled all the way through!

Edited June 17, 2015 by Nick Johns

[The General]

Me too, on a Dodge car that uses a similar style M/cylinder, NOS, apply the brakes and they stayed on, the vent port had not been drilled all the way through!

 

Thanks for the replies everyone, I have fitted a replacement master cylinder from Dallas as part of the refit, I think its an M series one as it doesnt has a sloping top. I am sure that its a soild hex plug with no vent, should it have one? the old sloping top cylinder has a pipe brazed on the top to connect to a remote filling pot!! that said we have been bleeding and adjusting with an open top to refill the brake fluid.

 

Next option is to try the old shoes to see if i can get any adjustment on them.

 

I will keep you posted.

 

Cheers, Tim.

[Tony B]

You may find the old top fits on the new cylinder if you want the remote resevoir.

[CMP-Phil]

Hi

 

Let me see if I understand your problem, hard to bleed brake and or the brakes are not releasing completely?

 

Recently while doing a brake job on a similar master cylinder design, ran into a silly cause for the problem above. When I first installed the boot on the master cylinder I did not push it all the way down the shaft past the middle bulge on the push shaft, this held the master cylinder just a little past the small bleed hole in the bore. This did two things one it would hold a little preasure in the system and while trying to bleed the brakes would prevent fluid from entering the bore when the peddle looked to be all the way up.

 

Once I notice this pushing the boot past the shaft bulge the problems when away.

 

Cheers Phil