Brakes on my 87 El Camino

[enio45]

OK, so I replaced each rear wheel cylinder, both brake lines across the rear axle, the flex line at the rear end, adjust the drum to shoe clearance and rebleed the brakes.

We have way better brakes - but it does not lock up like i believe it should. Maybe im expecting too much - or at this point maybe i have some front brake issues. Clearly the car nose dives with brake pressure, the proportioning valve seems to be working well - based on the bleeding process.

I'll drive it for a week of so and see if i get a different feel. I did notice that i had some small brake fluid residue on the passenger side brake cylinder.

So will give it a few miles and see if im happy enough. Swapping out the parts was very inexpensive way to go.

BTW - Old flexible hose seemed to be in good shape . Lets see....

Thank you all for the comments and direction.

[Big Block Bill]

Originally Posted by enio45

OK, so I replaced each rear wheel cylinder, both brake lines across the rear axle, the flex line at the rear end, adjust the drum to shoe clearance and rebleed the brakes.

We have way better brakes - but it does not lock up like i believe it should. Maybe im expecting too much - or at this point maybe i have some front brake issues. Clearly the car nose dives with brake pressure, the proportioning valve seems to be working well - based on the bleeding process.

I'll drive it for a week of so and see if i get a different feel. I did notice that i had some small brake fluid residue on the passenger side brake cylinder.

So will give it a few miles and see if im happy enough. Swapping out the parts was very inexpensive way to go.

BTW - Old flexible hose seemed to be in good shape . Lets see....

Thank you all for the comments and direction.

Well that's a good thing. Just remember the rear shoes and drums have not been applying correctly for a long tine due to the frozen wheel cylinders so I would start by resurfacing the drums to deglaze them and replace the rear shoe set and spring / hardware kit (cheap fix). That is a better fix than re-using the old, glazed shoes.

Once again as far as the brake hose issue goes, I have only seen an internally failed hose cause a brake to not release the fluid or at minimum restrict the flow causing a pull to one side or the other. Remember it's only original once. Look at what an original pair of red striped brake hoses for a 1969 Camaro are going for today. Who knows, your 20,000 mile 1987 El Camino could be a future 1969 Camaro as far as collectability down the road.

One has to be methodical with diagnosing issues with vehicles. Like Snap On tools moto was back in the day "TEST, DON'T GUESS"

Bill