Mcyl. Bleed; Silicone Fluid

[skid440]

I finally have my brakes done on my resto 70 Challenger.  I switched to front disc from manual drum and have a new booster and master cylinder.  It came with the blue plugs but I lost the instructions to prime the unit before bleeding the lines out.  The unit is marked for Dot 5 Silicone, so I bought a quart of it (Wow expensive!)  Any suggestions on what next to do?  I have read here before that not to rush the line bleed job as silicone is more prone to develop bubbles.  Thanks  Oh by the way, everything is new or rebuilt on the system.  Thanks   John

[71340RT]

I put a new master cylinder on my 71 Challenger and I have been running Dot 5 Silicone brake fluid in it for 12 years now. I always bench bleed a master cylinder before installing it. You will need the plastic fittings that screw into the master cylinder which have the ends that the clear tubing can hook into and be put into the reservoir. I just hook the fittings and tubing up and fill the master cylinder with brake fluid. I just set it on the floor and put a phillips head srew driver in and slowly depress the plunger using 3/4 to 1 inch strokes. I always try to use slow even strokes until no bubbles are seen in the clear lines. Most of the instructions I have seen lately say to wait 10 seconds between strokes. If I have any issues with the brakes after this I would bleed each wheel starting with the wheel that the fluid has the longest to travel ending with the wheel next to the master cylinder. Remember not to let the master cylinder run out as you will put air back into the system causing this process to take longer.

[ukneil]

I bench bled mine before installing, using a selection of fast and slow strokes. Just keep doing it until no more bubbles appear. It took some time and effort.