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Me and the Meadowbrook


Worden18

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Worden it's not a difficult task to change the master cylinder. It turned out being easier than I anticipated. The master cylinder came come out fairly quickly. Not as quick as "ready for this weekend", but worth doing yourself. 

 

Edited by keithb7
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On ‎5‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 9:01 PM, Worden18 said:

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May 12 cont:

A wet wheel in the garage.  I love those dog dish hubcaps and the pinstriping on the rim.  I wonder if the pinstripes are factory?  If so, how did they do it?

Two things - 1st - yes, the pinstripes are a factory item, I'd only be guessing if I said how I thought they were applied.  Many years, makes, and models had them (i.e., our '37 Terraplane has 'em) so I wouldn't have a definitive answer on when they started or when they ended.

 

2nd - the master cylinder is indeed not a difficult item to remove / replace / or even rebuild.  I don't recall if your car has the removable floorboards, our D24 does, so it was a topside fix for me.  If you do have to crawl under the car, that would probably be the hardest part.  It's not the first thing I'd want to do again, but I wouldn't cringe about it if I had to.   

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I fixed the pic for you ?

 

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Read your thread and it's quite refreshing to witness your enthusiasm for experiencing the idiosyncrasies of an old car. 

Edited by mrwrstory
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  • 2 weeks later...

June 13:

Finally got around to taking the master cylinder out.  Wasn’t too terrible (like some of you mentioned) except for the lines were pretty much already stripped and I had to crack them loose with a vice grip.  Developed a nice migraine in the process, so I’ll put the new one in tomorrow.

 

Do I have to bench bleed the new one?

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On 6/13/2018 at 5:36 PM, Worden18 said:

June 13:

Finally got around to taking the master cylinder out.  Wasn’t too terrible (like some of you mentioned) except for the lines were pretty much already stripped and I had to crack them loose with a vice grip.  Developed a nice migraine in the process, so I’ll put the new one in tomorrow.

 

Do I have to bench bleed the new one?

I was waiting for someone to respond who maybe did bench bleed their MC before install. I did not. I had installed new lines and wheel cylinders as well so I figured why bench bleed it? I installed it and many, many pumps later had successfully bled the entire system. With a helper of course on the pedal.

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Does anyone know how to get the windshield trim back on? If you don’t have to take it off I suggest you don’t. I had to to replace the windshield rubber on my 51 Meadowbrook and now I can’t get it to go back on. The trim isn’t at a 90 degree angle so when you get one side on and pull the other side of the trim in it pushes the corner away from the rubber and closes the brim into the trim. I’ve tried the string thing, I’ve tried to push at it, I’ve tried tapping it with a rubber mallet, I’ve told it I love it and still nothing works. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

July 2:

 

I installed the new master cylinder and hooked all the linkage up.  Ran into some snags like always, but got it all together.  Thought I had it made but then realized the upper line coming out of the master cylinder leaks.  I’ll be back under there tomorrow night.  Man, I’m way behind schedule....

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  • 2 weeks later...

July 14:

 

Finally got around to replacing that damn leaking brake line.  So the new line is fine, but now the master cylinder leaks.  I need some help with this fellas.  The 2 lines go into the master cylinder through that huge brass bolt that faces the rear of the car.  Its 1 1/2 inches (I measured with my caliper because I ended up buying a crescent wrench large enough to fit on it), and I tightened it down.   It leaked less, but there's NO way I can get it any tighter.  I'm assuming the gasket is shot, otherwise why in the hell would it leak?  

 

So here's my question:  can I remove the lines, and then that bolt and replace the gasket?  Or will the removal of that bolt spill the guts of the master cylinder?  Is that whole mess spring loaded behind that bolt?  I'm super frustrated with this as I was hoping to get the car back on the road today, only to be set back once again.  I feel the summer slipping by and it makes me sick to my stomach.  Please help me out if you can fellas.  Thanks a bunch. :(

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Worden are you referring to item #6, large rear plug fitting? See the seal at #19. That seals it.

I read in a factory manual that this plug is not serviceable. It is factory sealed. I am not sure that there is a seal readily available for it. Is this your original master cylinder leaking, that you re-sealed? Or did you buy a whole new cylinder assembly? - K

 

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5 minutes ago, keithb7 said:

Worden are you referring to item #6, large rear plug fitting? See the seal at #19. That seals it.

I read in a factory manual that this plug is not serviceable. It is factory sealed. I am not sure that there is a seal readily available for it. Is this your original master cylinder leaking, that you re-sealed? Or did you buy a whole new cylinder assembly? - K

 

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Its a new one Keith.  Guess I will be sending it back.  Thanks for the help, much appreciated 

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No problem Worden. I understand your frustrations over losing summer driving time in the old car. I too am down now as I await new wheel bearings and seals to arrive. Been a week now. I'm getting ants in my pants. I could have ordered local and paid twice or more, than the on-line order I placed. It's odd as sometimes I order on-line and the parts arrive in 2 business days. This order, so far has been a full week. I guess this is part of the charm of owning these old cars. The anticipation of parts arriving.

Edited by keithb7
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FWIW, my '52 Plymouth uses the same master cylinder as the Dodge and my factory shop manual mentions that you should remove the big rear plug when reconditioning the master cylinder.    They even have an 'exploded view' of it showing the plug and gasket removed from  the body of the master.

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  • 2 weeks later...

July 26:

Another new master cylinder is now on my car along with 2 new lines.  Brakes work really good now!  I did have problems with this master cylinder, too.  The hole for the pivot pin was about .003 undersized...go figure? I took it into work in hopes of using a .750 adjustable reamer...well, couldn’t find it.  Another machinist helped me set up a lapping tool.  Took about a half hour to get the slip fit I wanted.  Everything went well after that.  Car ran good, but I have a broken fuel line that is pouring out gas, so I’ll cut the line tomorrow and patch it with rubber hose for now.  I’ll get it back on the road yet!

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Lol. It keeps commin! Oh well.  2 more things fixed up better than it was.

 

You won’t be able to contain the smile when you are back out cruising. 

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July 27:

Got the fuel line patched for now.  It’s the Frankenstein’s monster of lines, but it’ll hold for now.  At least I will get to drive it to this car show tomorrow, my favorite of the season.  Feels really good to be behind the wheel again.  

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July 27:

Drove the Meadowbrook into town for “Houston Hoedown Days”.  The truck pull was going on, a band was playing at the fest grounds, then at 10pm they had an awesome fireworks display.  Following that more tractor and semi pull action.  The food vendors were awesome and the weather was perfect with the full moon.  Got home at 11:30pm.  What a great night! 

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July 28:

Hit a local show sponsored by a guy who has it right on his own property. Lots of Mopars, which I really like, and they even served food for 200+ people for free.  Anyway, my son and I washed the Meadowbrook and drove it down there.  Only 15 miles from my house.  

 

The pic here is of a gentleman who bought this 68 Charger new, owned it for 6 years, sold it, then got it back 4 decades later.  He spent 6 years restoring it.  

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Edited by Worden18
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They had a car with a jet engine at the show.  It shot out huge flames and pounded my chest with the booms.  The fire department cooled down the asphalt afterwards. 

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I talked to 4 different people who were really interested in my car.  I gave them the full story.  They all liked hearing about it.  That’s my favorite part, to talk to people and share stories. 

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