Phares
Mostly Useless
- Thread starter
- #81
It has been two weeks since I finished the brakes and the tires. I am going to put the new springs on this weekend and begin Project Stop Leak 2013 but here is the update so far:
The brakes weren't bad. As long as you have the tech manual and a second set of hands for re-installation it isn't to hard. Definitely more difficult than disc brakes but not undoable for an average shade tree mechanic. It doesn't take any advanced skills or anything. As far as cost it was expensive, but I replaced everything but the master cylinder so...Bleeding the brakes was easy with a vacuum bleeder to do most of the work. Once I had it pretty well bled I started up the 40 and had the wife push the brakes while I did a world tour and bled each of the cylinders again. I think this was necessary because of the booster and it being vacuum assisted. Is this true?
The Sears brake tool kit turned out to be a huge waste of money. The only thing I used was the brake adjustment tool and I had to grind that down to make it work. Just go get an adjustment tool from the local parts store and a pair of needle nose vise grips and that should be all you need except for some basic everyday tools. The one tool I wish I had was a 10mm tube wrench. I used a standard 10mm combination wrench to remove the brake lines and ended up destroying two of the line fittings. So definitely get one of those before you start the brake job.
It appears the front brake cylinders have been discontinued. I was able to find a front PS Set but the DS set is no where to be found. So I ordered up a set from SOR. On the outside they appear very similar to the OEM parts. If I were to do this again I would order all the cylinders from SOR and save a lot of money, but I was really nervous about using Non-OEM cylinders after some previous members posted their reports. Time will tell how they hold up but so far so good.
The wheels turned out great! I had the local Goodyear store remove the old tires which they estimate to be from the year 1989! So although there was lots of tread left it was definitely time to replace them. In case you missed it I had the rims then powder coated to the closest original gray I could find and the rims were then wrapped in Pro Comp Extreme MT2 at 31x10.5R15. The only rubbing I get is the DS front wheel when I turn hard left. It appears to be rubbing on the sterring linkage. It is only on full left so I have just stopped going hard left to prevent this. Hasn't been an issue. I love the way they fill the rear wheel well and hopefully the new springs won't lift it up too much. Everyone now comments on the wheels and I feel a lot better driving it. The steering is more stiff at speed and I'm confident Herman will take me anywhere I need to go.
I will be posting some pictures about any leaks I find this weekend and hopefully I can stop most of them. I am afraid either my rear main seal or the transmission input shaft is leaking badly. When I got back from a long trip the other day Herman dumped a nice size puddle of what seems to be regular oil all over the ground. But it kind of smelled like gear oil too. So I need to get in there and clean it up. As always, comments and advice is welcome!
The brakes weren't bad. As long as you have the tech manual and a second set of hands for re-installation it isn't to hard. Definitely more difficult than disc brakes but not undoable for an average shade tree mechanic. It doesn't take any advanced skills or anything. As far as cost it was expensive, but I replaced everything but the master cylinder so...Bleeding the brakes was easy with a vacuum bleeder to do most of the work. Once I had it pretty well bled I started up the 40 and had the wife push the brakes while I did a world tour and bled each of the cylinders again. I think this was necessary because of the booster and it being vacuum assisted. Is this true?
The Sears brake tool kit turned out to be a huge waste of money. The only thing I used was the brake adjustment tool and I had to grind that down to make it work. Just go get an adjustment tool from the local parts store and a pair of needle nose vise grips and that should be all you need except for some basic everyday tools. The one tool I wish I had was a 10mm tube wrench. I used a standard 10mm combination wrench to remove the brake lines and ended up destroying two of the line fittings. So definitely get one of those before you start the brake job.
It appears the front brake cylinders have been discontinued. I was able to find a front PS Set but the DS set is no where to be found. So I ordered up a set from SOR. On the outside they appear very similar to the OEM parts. If I were to do this again I would order all the cylinders from SOR and save a lot of money, but I was really nervous about using Non-OEM cylinders after some previous members posted their reports. Time will tell how they hold up but so far so good.
The wheels turned out great! I had the local Goodyear store remove the old tires which they estimate to be from the year 1989! So although there was lots of tread left it was definitely time to replace them. In case you missed it I had the rims then powder coated to the closest original gray I could find and the rims were then wrapped in Pro Comp Extreme MT2 at 31x10.5R15. The only rubbing I get is the DS front wheel when I turn hard left. It appears to be rubbing on the sterring linkage. It is only on full left so I have just stopped going hard left to prevent this. Hasn't been an issue. I love the way they fill the rear wheel well and hopefully the new springs won't lift it up too much. Everyone now comments on the wheels and I feel a lot better driving it. The steering is more stiff at speed and I'm confident Herman will take me anywhere I need to go.
I will be posting some pictures about any leaks I find this weekend and hopefully I can stop most of them. I am afraid either my rear main seal or the transmission input shaft is leaking badly. When I got back from a long trip the other day Herman dumped a nice size puddle of what seems to be regular oil all over the ground. But it kind of smelled like gear oil too. So I need to get in there and clean it up. As always, comments and advice is welcome!
