1972 270 M375 Brakes

[72twodoor270]

Well, Hell- I must have been jumped into this Travco gang! I got bumped from the "new member" side and am now in the thick of it! \n\nI got the Holley carb rebuilt and the old 413 is running ok, but I need to put a load on it to do some fine tuning of the carb. Its hard to do that when the brakes don't work. so I started bleeding them yesterday. The back brakes bled right out! no problems there. one of the vacuum booster thingys had a cracked hose, Napa had the exact hose and the old guy at the counter didn't even charge me for it. So that went well. Then I got to the fronts! \n\nAs my daughter pumped up the brakes and held pressure on the peddle I turned the bleeder out.... nothing. Hmmmm try again... nothing... hmmm switch sides, nothing... WTH? Why isn't there any fluid? I'm wondering if there is a check valve thing like in the Jeep's CJ5's? I didn't see one, but...\n\nI decided to start it up and try the peddle and to listen for a leak in the vacuum boosters. I didn't hear any leaks (except for the hole in the drivers side exhaust cross over pipe) and two short pumps of the peddle and I had pressure. I was happy. I pushed down on the peddle again and dropped it into gear. then put it back in park. all was well. then as I pushed the peddle down one more time I felt it let loose. its that crappy feeling when the peddle sinks to the floor. I knew I blew a line someplace.\n\nI crawled underneath and sure as god made green apples, a nice big juicy hole in one of the lines running along the frame. DANGit! So now here's my dilemma. patch the line just to move it and get it running good and then move on to the gutting and redoing of the inside or pull all the lines and M/C now. I'm leaning towards the pulling all the old lines and investing in a flare kit and switching them. and pulling the M/C and clean it and reinstall and start again....\n\nWhat say you fella's?

[72twodoor270]

inside lights work day2.jpg

Oh, and anyone know what size brake lines they had from the factory? are they 3/8ths? The ones on my 270 look original but its 40+ years old... could be the 3rd set of lines on it for all I know. \n\nI'm going to go with long straight sections, that way I only have to make a few bends. A roll of tubing may be a bit cheaper, but I also have to straighten it all out first then rebend it... (The big Napa truck center near my house has lots of different sizes available in nice long pieces.)

[72twodoor270]

HEY!! I got a pic to load!! yay for me!! \n\nThat's my baby! my girls have named her Delia Grace (ref Johnny Cash's song)

[Dave78Chieftain]

Brake lines are most likely 3/16"

[72twodoor270]

Thanks!

[72twodoor270]

I did actually get the brakes to work. needed a new MC and a bunch of brake line. I picked up a new brake line making set at Sears and leaned quickly how to double flare lines. I also used the newer "pliers" style brake line bending tool. that worked very well. I got the brakes all bled out and in working order and am very happy with the results so far. Now if I can just get her on the road for more than a test drive around the neighborhood...

[77Travco]

Sounds like your making progress!

[badbillybiker]

and... beating a dead horse once more.. check the age of your tires..\nYou're butt is on da' line with aged (over 5 years) tires...\nOld tires can blow after only 10 miutes (or less) of driving...FWIW...\nBBB

[Dodgy71]

What size did the hard lines end up being? 3/16", or larger?\nI have to do a complete brake job on my 1971 after the holidays Not sure if I'll need to replace the hard lines as it has been in CA all of its life, but I'm guessing that these hard lines rust from the inside out...\n Anyone have advice for determining the condition of hard lines if they look OK from the outside? I'd hate to find out I have a weak one in an actual driving situation

[Acesneights]

Craftsman actually makes an iso double flare tool for doing your own brake lines. A must have IMHO. I make all my own. Takes a few tries the first time to know how much to crush the second flare but after that a walk in the park. Now I just buy the stuff by the roll. Between the Travco and all 5 tons I just acquired, Might be time to build a power bleeder.\nI would change the boosters too. They probably original and shot.