Vintage Car Thread - Discussion and Parts Requests

[Fading Fast]

Brakes are good.

The car looks great, Big Man. Glad you are enjoying it again.

+1 and, intentional or not, the shot of the car on the grass with the flowers in front adds to its vintage vibe as paved driveways and garages were much less common back in its day, so you'd see more shots like yours.

 

[1mach1]

HeyMoe, great work. Looks nice!

BigMan, glad she's back. Brakes are one of those things that is a must in order to drive, especially in an old vehicle. She looks happy.

 

[GHT]

The MG has been having serious starting problems of late, after tracing and testing plugs, points, distributor and so on, it's looking likely that the car needs a new coil. Hopefully NTG might stock the one that I need. Yesterday, we went to a massive classic car show, without the MG. My wife was disappointed that we couldn't take our car, but after showing her the coil and explaining what it does, she was happy enough to go, if only to see our friends' cars.
"Where's the MG?" they all asked. "Conception issues!" Answered my wife, mysteriously. "Conception issues? WTF does that mean?" From baffled and bemused friends. "Her coil needs replacing," giggled my wife.

 

[ingineer]

BigMan; now I see why you didn't buy the other.
Congratulations on keeping the 48 on the road.
Off topic my neighbor's 41 Chevy out for a spin yesterday after a new pumpkin gasket

So strange about some people, a mechanic drove a customer's car to the local store yesterday.
The shop owner asked him “what year?”
He responded 1941, I looked it was a 70's MiGi Fiberfab MG TD replica.
How can anyone not know?
All week long phone calls and visits from neighbors trying to buy my Aunt's 91 Honda.
GHT pictures of the Morris Garage please

 

[GHT]

GHT pictures of the Morris Garage please

Did you not know? MG owners get oh so tetchy about the full name, rather than the acronym. Some sort of snobbery about being associated with Morris, or so I'm led to believe by the British Motoring Press. Actually, I'm rather grateful to the Morris club. It was through them that I sourced the rubber weather seals around the rear doors.

 

[Big Man]

We had a little excitement after church yesterday. I was driving the old '65 Ford (as usual). We pulled out of our parking spot, circled around behind the church, and started down the long hill where the church drive intersects the main highway. About half way down the hill, and with no warning whatever, the brakes on the car go completely out. When I say OUT, I mean O-U-T, all the way OUT, no brakes, OUT.

I told my little granddaughter who was riding in the back seat, "hang on, we're going for a ride."

I turned the wheel hard to the left, drove across the front yard of the church, and finally got stopped at the other side of the church. Very close call. If the front yard of the church hadn't of been there (and been nice and wide with no trees), we would have crashed head long into traffic on the main highway.

I had the car towed to the local garage (If you drive an old car and don't have AAA, you are crazy). When I checked with them this afternoon the problem was a blown wheel cylinder. I'm having both of them replaced, so as to be a little pro-active.

Just another fun filled day ...

 

[1mach1]

:doh:
That was close, and scary as he!!, I'm sure. Glad that you and the girl were not hurt, and that the 65 is still in one piece.

 

[dh66]

Yowza! Close call. Glad no one was hurt. Driving an older car is always an adventure.

 

[LizzieMaine]

That's the kind of thing every old car driver needs to have in the back of their minds at all times, if the car is running with the original single-circuit brakes. My mother had the same thing happen in our '61 Chevy, and ended up driving it into the side of a house -- my sister and I were both in the front seat and somehow escaped with bruises. The car was totalled, and the house wasn't much better off...

 

[dh66]

It happened to my 61 Ford, too. I was lucky I wasn't going that fast and the emergency brake worked.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Time to add a dual master cylinder. Should not be hard as they began to be used about 1967, there should be one for a slightly newer Ford that will fit your car. You will need to change the brake lines but should not be too difficult or expensive.

 

[Talbot]

Ditto. Replace all hoses as well - you have to bleed the system anyway.

 

[Stearmen]

We had a little excitement after church yesterday. I was driving the old '65 Ford (as usual). We pulled out of our parking spot, circled around behind the church, and started down the long hill where the church drive intersects the main highway. About half way down the hill, and with no warning whatever, the brakes on the car go completely out. When I say OUT, I mean O-U-T, all the way OUT, no brakes, OUT.

I told my little granddaughter who was riding in the back seat, "hang on, we're going for a ride."

I turned the wheel hard to the left, drove across the front yard of the church, and finally got stopped at the other side of the church. Very close call. If the front yard of the church hadn't of been there (and been nice and wide with no trees), we would have crashed head long into traffic on the main highway.

I had the car towed to the local garage (If you drive an old car and don't have AAA, you are crazy). When I checked with them this afternoon the problem was a blown wheel cylinder. I'm having both of them replaced, so as to be a little pro-active.

Just another fun filled day ...

Glad you're Granddaughter and you are all right Big Man! What a terrible coincidence, last Wednesday, on my birthday, the brakes in my 2015 Tacoma failed and I went into a concrete wall! luckily, if you can call it that, it was at low speed in a parking garage. Still, I would not recommend that ride to any one.

 

[GHT]

When I checked with them this afternoon the problem was a blown wheel cylinder. I'm having both of them replaced, so as to be a little pro-active.

Just another fun filled day ...

A scary story, so glad you and your granddaughter are safe and well.
And so many brake-fail stories. The drum brakes on the MG are hydraulically operated. On one very scary occasion, the hose, carrying the fluid to one of the rear brakes, ruptured, causing the fluid to leak between the actual brake and drum. I was negotiating a steep hill, downwards, at the time. The brake was responding, but not sufficiently enough, it was like trying to brake on a slippery road. I managed to double de-clutch through the gears, which slowed me further still, but not enough to stop at the up-coming T-junction.
At the said junction, an approaching bus really put the frighteners on me, then, miraculously, the bus pulled into a bus stop, just short of the junction, allowing me to enter the main stream traffic, without incident.
We got home without further scares, by using the handbrake, in conjunction with double declutching, but I tell you, although such incidents are rare, when they do happen, they work better than any laxative.

 

[Fading Fast]

Big Man, so glad you and your granddaughter are fine. And didn't you just replace the brakes in your Plymouth?

A similar thing happened to my mom (as family legend has it) back in the early '60s in a Ford and she was able to stop it using the emergency brake. She then proceeded to drive home a few residential miles using the emergency brake, parked the car out front, looked out the window a bit later to see the car smoldering, called the fire department, by the time they got there it was ablaze and, that night, my not-happy Dad came home to see a burt shell of a Ford parked in front of our house.

It seems from the various stories above, that sometimes the emergency brakes work and sometimes they don't when the regular breaks fail - does anyone know what the story is behind that?

 

[LizzieMaine]

It depends on the car. On my Plodge, as on other Chrysler products of the period, the emergency brake is entirely independent of the regular service brakes. It has nothing to do with the wheels -- it's a lined ring that clamps around the driveshaft and theoretically immobilizes it. It's intended more as a parking brake than an "emergency brake," but I've used it for the latter purpose -- when I was having all that trouble with my master cylinder vent hole, I once drove nearly thirty miles without using the service brakes at all. I slowed the car with the clutch, and pulled the parking brake handle when I came to stop lights or signs.

This technique wouldn't be too helpful in a slam-on-the-brakes situation, but it's comforting to know that it does work for situations where I'm driving slowly and carefully just to make it home. When driving an old car, always have your emergency plan in the back of your mind.

It's important to check your brakes regularly even if you've had the whole system redone -- a lot of the parts you get nowadays are cheap Chinese reproductions, and they can fail without notice. A year or so back I noticed a pool of fluid under one of my rear wheels where a brand new wheel cylinder had laid down and died for no other reason than it was shoddily-made crap.

 

[tonyb]

Lost the brakes on my old '64 MGB westbound in the 800 block of James Street in Seattle. Those who have travelled that route can attest to its steepness. I saw that late-model Acura in front of me and that dirt embankment to the right, on the north side of the sidewalk, and my choice was clear. Crunched the right fender a little, but it surely could have been worse. And yes, I kicked myself for not fixing the handbrake before I really had a use for it.

 

[Big Man]

There sure are a lot of break failure stories. I'm just glad that mine happened where it did and I had a way out. I had the breaks go out once before, but it was probably somewhat my fault. It was close to 30 years ago. The breaks stared acting up and became very "spongy" when applied. I decided to drive the car to our local mechanic (who was about five miles away) when, all of a sudden, NO BRAKES. Fortunately, this was all out in the country and I had a clear, long up hill road to negotiate. Still, it was a scary ride.

At this rate, with a break failure on my old Ford occurring every 30 years, I should be about 90 years old when the next one happens. I don't know if my reflexes will be as sharp then as now.

I will, at some relatively soon time, see about converting the single master cylinder to a dual master cylinder. The car is scheduled to go to be painted next Monday, so that had taken a chunk out of my budget. I just had the brakes (including new master cylinders all the way around) done on the '48 Plymouth, as that will be my "daily driver" while the '65 Ford is out being painted (about two weeks time, if all goes well).

 

[Stanley Doble]

If my theory is correct and there is a bolt on replacement, the master cylinder changeover should cost about $100 bucks in parts.

Later..... a quick search reveals that RockAuto sells a Raybestos dual master for a 67 Galaxie for $45. Other models range from $25 (rebuilt) to $107 (professional grade, whatever they mean by that).

You will also need a couple of new brake lines and fittings, $10 or $20 worth plus installation.

If possible you should have the brakes done before the paint job. There is always danger of damage when working around fresh paint.

 

[1mach1]

If possible you should have the brakes done before the paint job. There is always danger of damage when working around fresh paint.

Brake fluid loves to eat paint.