wilbur46

There definitely has to be some slack in the push rod. You should check for at least 1/16th to 1/8th" of freeplay at the Master cylinder. You do this from under the car. You can also see the relief port about 1/4 " behind the main port in the master cylinder thru the filler cap. You could check that it is open with a piece of wire (BE CAREFUL) The only actual way a pedal hits the floor is a leak, which leads to an empty master cylinder. The pulling is a classic bad adjustment, bad front brake hose symptom. There is no "sweet spot " The adjustment can be very effectively accomplished (at the cost of completely disassembling the brakes) by removing the shoe bolts and slotting them on the threaded end. You can then do a very good job of adjusting both ends of the shoe with the drums installed! Brake grease is required. As far as the cost--Rockauto has your front wheel cylinders (listed under 1949 plymouth) for $15 each!!!!!! Hoses $4 each. You need an older mechanic to look at it for you. Also, your very best brake bleeder is your wife/girlfriend. Promise her lunch/dinner (or whatever) Regards, W

I did the job in the car. I also did it from the back, by undoing the brake lines and removing the plug. Its a lot easier to get at this end of the thing. That o-ring seals the cap on the pedal side. Loading it all from the plug end is duck soup. Regards, W

My local fabric supply store has a bunch of nice ,friendly ladies who will "demonstrate" how the "foot" for the sewing machine works. By the time they have finished the demo, I have enough for both doors. Just take one piece so they can see how much 'tail" you need. I use the rolled cotton batting they sell and naugahyde, cause its bulletproof. Just smile a lot! W

Hiya, There is also an antique radio guy here in Sebastopol Ca. He has an ad in Hemmings. Sorry I can't find his card. Easy to deal with, reasonable. Also does FM conversions. He has done several for me. Good luck, W

Howdy, My best idea is to replace both front brake hoses. They rot from the inside and really cause pulling. Rockauto has them cheeeeaaaapppp!!!!!!!!!!!, but they don't include the copper gasket. I skipped this step, had the same problem you do, changed the lines and ----Presto!! Good luck, W

Hi Dalient, Thanks for answering the post. I can feel the gear selector spring loading. Should I feel spring loading on the up/down lever too? My trans won't select reverse. Thanks, W

Hi Roger, I'm new here but I'm also fiddling with my trans (50 Dodge wayfarer). I have discovered that the shift linkage is unlike all others I have worked on. Looking into the trans I see why. The forks move on two rails , one on top of the other. The shift lever on the top of trans moves the gear selector. The bottom lever moves the selector up and down . Down is 2nd/3rd. Up is 1st/reverse. I don't know which position the bottom lever should be in to select which rail yet. If the gear selector will not move, move the bottom lever around moving the gear selector at the same time. If the gear selector will not move at all, I would think that the trans is dry. You would have to drain it , remove the cover and see if the sliders will move into gear. You could jack up the rear end and spin the driveshaft to see what happens. I doing this exact job today. Good luck. W