Hard Braking

[deucecard]

My '66 Sport Fury still has power drum brakes. Front and rear. The brake pedal is extremely hard to push. The car does stop but not quickly. Brake travel is very short. Where do I start? Bleeding the brakes; new brake lines; new master cylinder or what? Yes, disc brakes would be nice but not sure of my abilities.

 

[CBODY67]

A "hard pedal" sounds like a plugged vac line to the power brake booster. If it was a bad diaphram or a hole in the vac hose, two things would happen when stepping on the brake. Harder pedal and an engine miss when doing so, with the engine miss going away when the pedal is released.

it does NOT take disc brakes to stop quicker or better, just a fully-functioning drum brake system, as when it was new.

Did this situation happen suddenly or has it happened slowly, over time?

CBODY67

 

[413]

Booster is bad or vacuum not getting to booster.

 

[deucecard]

A "hard pedal" sounds like a plugged vac line to the power brake booster. If it was a bad diaphram or a hole in the vac hose, two things would happen when stepping on the brake. Harder pedal and an engine miss when doing so, with the engine miss going away when the pedal is released.

it does NOT take disc brakes to stop quicker or better, just a fully-functioning drum brake system, as when it was new.

Did this situation happen suddenly or has it happened slowly, over time?

CBODY67

Thanks.
Engine does not miss while braking or stopped. It's always been hard but getting worse.

 

[volksworld]

make sure the check valve where the vacuum hose attaches to the booster is ok

 

[deucecard]

make sure the check valve where the vacuum hose attaches to the booster is ok

Thanks. Will do.