My eBay purchased 74

[Jamiez]

I took the passenger side wheel off and took a look at the drums.  Everything looks good back there...just needed cleaning



The emergency brake stops the car, but the pedal doesn't, so mechanically the brakes are fine..but there's some issue with the fluid side.  The pedal travel is way more than I remember as well. So I popped the cover off the master and took a look.

I think I found the problem.  I swear when the light first came on I checked the master and both chambers were full.   My guess is I've got a leak in the rear lines.  I've set up cardboard under the car and added some more fluid to check for leaks.

And while crawling under the car I've been staring at the old air shocks under there.

That's what they look like after I did enough cleaning to read the manufacturer name.

[burdar]

I'd spend a few dollars and install a new spring kit for the rear brakes.  It's cheap insurance.  As long as you're going through the brakes anyway, put both front and rear brake hoses on too.  They go bad from the inside out.  They are still available from the local part stores.

[Jamiez]

I have to spend some time working on them to figure out where the leak is. I got a little spray on the cardboard and the back of the driver's side wheel so I'm guessing the problem is on that side.  Despite working the brakes quite a bit it wasn't a lot of fluid.  My guess is that it's had a small leak for a long time and it just now got the fluid level low enough to be a problem.

Assuming the leak doesn't just turn out to be something not connected correctly/tightened down, I'll probably just play it safe and replace all the lines at once.  The master itself looks pretty rusty, and the booster could use a refinish as well.  I'm undecided about buying replacements/sending my originals out or just leaving them in for now.  It would be nice to actually drive the car once in a while

...You know before I decide to replace the shocks, leaf springs, and whatever else I discover

[Jamiez]

With the master refilled, the leak quickly became evident, the driver's side wheel cylinder was spewing out brake fluid, it would spill out onto the strut and drip downward

I ordered some replacement cylinders and was pondering what to do about the lines, until I looked at the dried brake fluid on the cardboard.  I had placed under the drum:

So new lines are definitely in order, and a brand new master as well.  Might as well clean everything up at once.
And with some advice from this board, and the service manual I disassembled the driver's side drum:


Hopefully I'll get new parts over the next week or two and will be able to put my brake issues behind me.

[MizzouRT]

This is an inspiring thread on so many levels.  Nice find as the car is very solid but slightly neglected.  Your series of small projects are delivering big improvements.

[Jamiez]

Glad you enjoy it   I'm just paying it forward as, my challenger is the only car I've ever really done any work on, so this site, it's members, and their project threads have been invaluable to me  

[jimynick]

Looking at the sludge in the master, may I suggest a flushing of all lines? You may know that brake fluid is hygroscopic and absorbs water, which is why the rust forms in the interior of the system. Use DOT 3 or 4 fluid. For the wheel cylinder to blow out the piston/seal, usually requires it to extend out farther than it should so you'll have to adjust the shoes carefully with just a slight drag when on and turned by hand. Wash the shoes with brake cleaner if they got fluid on them and if they're really badly soaked, replace them; it's cheap insurance. Good luck. 

[Topcat]

Brake cylinders are re-buildable and not that hard to do if you wanted to.

[Jamiez]

I checked the drivers side one. The rusty sludge that was pushing through it looks to have damaged the hone of the cylinder itself. I suppose a machine shop could repair that, but right now I'm not sure it's worth it.  I'll save them in case I change my mind later

[diyhemi.com]

I just bought a pair of raybestos wheel cylinders (performance grade) at rockauto.com for a little over $6.00 for the pair. It's so cheap, it's kinda hard not to just replace them. I also purchased the drum hardware and front disk pads from there at crazy good prices. All raybestos performance/ professional grade.

[Jamiez]

Week 48:
Here is the driver's side cylinder that came off the car:


I had already decided to swap them just to be sure, but I ended up taking them both apart, soaking them in Evapo rust, brushing pieces of them, but the driver's side just doesn't have a smooth feel to the interior.  I put it in a box for now, just in case I decide to rebuild it at some point in the future.

Since I had to take the drums apart to swap the cylinders, I also ended up swapping most of the springs and cleaning everything I could.  I still need to torque the wheel cylinders to the correct setting, but I'll do that after I swap out the brake lines/MC.

[Jamiez]

Week 49:
The brake lines and new master showed up I took some side by side images of the two
Brake lines

Master Cylinder

I spent the majority of the week removing the old lines and installing the new ones.  It was a very dirty job and a lot more work than I expected, but I finally managed to install all the lines.  I thought for sure the long body line would be a the most difficult, but it turned out the front passenger side was the most trouble.  The hard line was a pain to install due to the clearances with with booster/firewall/engine. And the threads on the caliper that the soft line connects to needed to be cleaned up.


I decided against swapping the prop valve, I have heard aftermarket ones had issues.  So once it was free from the lines, I pulled the old one off the car:

I soaked it in evapo rust, brushed it, soaked it again, and then soaked it in mineral spirits to flush it all out:

Pretty happy with the way it turned out, not true original condition but a pretty good match for the new master.


I also did some work on the replacement bumper filler I have had sitting in my basement for a few months. It's awfully time consuming to remove the existing paint but I've got the process down now:

It gives me something to work on when I don't feel like crawling under the car or when I am waiting for parts.

Next week I hope to bleed and install the master and then bleed all the brakes.  Who knows I might even get to drive the thing

[Street_Challenged73]

Nice job with your rebuilding progress!   You're doing a good job getting everything back in order considering this is the first car you've done any of your own work on.

[Jamiez]

Week 50:

I bench bled the master and then installed it.  The next day my dad came over and we bled the rest of the system.  There might still be a small leak up front that I am working on tracking down, but the car was actually drivable.


Unfortunately when I took it out, the radio, reverse light, and turn signals were not working.  I'm assuming that I either popped a fuse or knocked something loose while working on the brakes.  Since I had noticed the positive cable was looking pretty ratty I figured I'd wait until I replaced it.  On Saturday a new positive cable showed up and I figured it would be a quick swap.  Unfortunately the headers make it very difficult to get the solenoid connections.



I messed with it for a few hours, but I haven't been able to get the smaller connection off.  I'll have to think on it for a while...but right now loosening the starter so I can move it a bit seems to be the best option.

Sigh

[ChallengerHK]

That does look like a bear to get to. Might be easier to support the vehicle and go in from the bottom.