Front brakes sticking somewhat after front end rebuild

[Ross Wooldridge]

Are you running a disc booster? A drum booster will bolt up and work, but doesn't have enough power to safely energize the disc system properly. While some will say a drum booster on a disc system is just fine, I am one who emphatically disagrees, and say that disc systems need a disc booster. That's why the factory did it that way.

If you are running a disc booster, give the pads a chance to wear in, and as you noted, double check the bleeding just in case. Also - modern pads don't have the same feel as the old style asbestos pads. Craig @mobileparts will tell you that, and has the correct pads to sell you if you've put modern replacements on.

 

[TheWarthog]

I know it originally had front drums (the backs are still drums) but the front brakes were swapped out with disc brakes from a 70 fury by the previous owner ("mineshark" on the forum was previous owner, rip my friend). When he did that he ran new lines and a new proportioning valve but I don't know if he swapped the booster and now he's not around to ask.

He was the one who told me about this forum if I ever got stuck on something and couldn't get ahold of him for help. I was just a punk kid when I bought the car from him years ago, not much older now so learning as I go lol.

I'll definitely look into a disc booster, didn't even know they were specialized like that.

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

Take a picture of your booster and post it. Easy to identify.

FYI, here are pics of the 3 boosters that it could be.

Drum Booster - is unsafe (in my opinion) to use on a disc system. Will bolt up and work, but not provide enough boost.

Disc Booster (what the factory used up to mid 1970). Hard to find, worth looking for. They're out there.

Mid 70 and up Disc Booster (will fit and work on console shifted 65-68 C bodies, but will interfere with the shift linkage on column shift cars). Easier to find. May require modifications to the booster backing plate to bolt up.

 

[TheWarthog]

I'll take a look today. I live with my girlfriend and the car is parked at my parents since theres more room to store it there. It's possible some of the lube I used got on the pads because I was so paranoid about making sure everything moved smoothly so I wouldnt have to repeat this process. I was pretty careful about not letting that happen but I still think maybe a little bit got on them when putting them back on. I'm OCD like that though so maybe I'm making something out of nothing. In lieu of taking the calipers off again I may just turn and wipe the rotors with a cloth sprayed with brake cleaner or something and see if that helps too.

It does seem though like its more of an issue that you describe, as I can push the brake pedal to the floor and doesn't have as much resistance pushing down on it as it once had.

I only use it to put around the neighborhood or as a grocery getter but I will need to hash this out before I consider venturing onto higher speed roads.

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

If the brake pedal goes to the floor , however slowly, then you definitely have a bad master cylinder.

Even if it happens to be that you have the incorrect booster on there, pressing on the brake pedal should producing enough resistance at some point mid-travel that the pedal will stop going any further down.

A pedal that goes to the floor (even gradually) indicates that the brake fluid is getting past the piston and returning to the reservoir.

 

[TheWarthog]

Sorry for the delay, It's definitely pic #3, the mid 70's style booster.

Since my last, I've went ahead and replaced the master and you were right! We are back in business people.

Feels good to be able to have this done. Excited to be able to start taking it out again since this whole dilemma started a while ago when I first tore into the front end and so it sat alot except for the occasional short drive just to run it.

I appreciate you taking the time to list all that out for me and to all who had posted on here in the past. This place has saved me alot of times when I was stuck on something. So much knowledge on here. I'm sure I'll be back for the next project! There's always something