wolfy

Sounds right. I can tell you where it is grounding out. It is screwed to some metal plate on the roof of the car. Metal screws with a metal dome light, to the metal base on the car = good ground. So my next test will be to hook everything back up and then leave the dome light un attached but wired up with power and ground, and see what it does. if it works like this then the ground is for sure the issue. My next question is how do you all have the dome light attached without having it grounded?

Okay so I just did this. and the light did NOT go out. I disconnect the ground wire and when the I put the base back in to grounds out and bam light comes back on.

I did not do this. I hope to get to this tonight! Thank you so much for this simple check:) Simple check for a simple mind like me is perfect.

Marty: thank you. I have tried to wiggle all the wires when I had the switches out. No change at all. To clarify what I tested on the dome light. I also checked for power, when the base was in the car. I used my Multimeter to check for power on the dual prongs for the light base. When I tested one prong, I got nothing, an open. The other prong had the 6 volts of power. And when I touched that prong and the bulb base I got sparks. So the base was grounded and I was shorting it out. If I did have a wire that insulation was off of it and it was grounding out wouldn't that blow the fuse? Not ruling this out yet, because lets face it, She's 65 years old and cloth insulation can take a beating.

Okay so I spent some more time on this yesterday. I took all of my door switches out. Left the single wire to each in the open air. Took out my drivers side B pillar manual switch out as well. So no switches in the system at all. My dome light stays on! So I check the 2 wires going to my dome light. One has 6 volts of power and the other nothing. 6 volts of power is against the ground. So when I look at the wiring diagram the dome light is NOT grounded. However mine IS grounded. The metal screws that hold the dome light base too the car are just that METAL, to the METAL car. And when I check the ground against the power, yes the dome light is grounded. So please help me fix this. Wiring is not my strong suit. But I believe the dome light being grounded is my issue. Am I correct in my thinking? Thanks guys I really appreciate the help

I went and purchased the caliper so I should be able to measure the drums now. The drums could be over cut. But wouldn't the pedal be high and tight since I have the minor adjusters so close to the drums already? The adjusters are so close I cannot get them any closer without locking up the brakes. I have also replaced all the fluid and bled brakes three times. Once was with a vacuum assisted brake bleeder. Not saying there isn't any air in there but I cannot find any air bubbles or i can't get them out. My pedal is not spongy. It is just too low. I can pump it to get it higher. But when it's low or high it is tight.

Thanks! Yes that has been my experience with my "huck" brakes on my 52 GMC. That is why I am struggling here trying to learn about these different brakes. On my 52 I had to replace everything as it was all not worth saving. It takes two pumps to get the pedal high, but the pedal is nice and firm after this. Heck even when I go to stop without pumping the pedal is firm, just lower.

Rich, I just saw your email. thank you so much! I will consider your offer. I may try to talk to an old mechanic that is close to me. He is a great guy and would tell me either way if he could do this work and not charge me for that part;) I may go talk to him about this as well. Bob, thank you. This is what I thought when I took off the drums. I made sure to look at the shoes before I cleaned them off. The wear on them looked nice and even. Yes that minor adjustments on all 4 wheels is the only bolt I have touched. Yes I did both adjustments per wheel, 8 total. I cannot get them any closer without touching the drums. I have gone through this 3 times now. So as their being air in the system, I don't think so. I have bled the brakes no air came out, no change in the pumping action. I ran almost a quart through. Yesterday I also tried my compressed air venturi type bleeder. No change. To 100% rule out there is no air, I can't, but it is beyond me to get that air out. I just went and looked at the MC again. I cannot see the piston until I press on the pedal. One thing I did notice was that I cannot see the level of the fluid going down when I pump the pedal. The pedal is higher but the level stays the same. That or it lowered so little I could not see it. This makes me think that the shoes are adjusted properly. This also makes me think that there is no air in the system. If there were air I would suspect that the fluid level would go down so the fluid could "compress" the air. What are your thoughts on this? These are just my speculations. Obviously I am no expert here!!! Oh I saw that wetness as well. Here is the pic before I cleaned the parts. I believe what you are seeing is just some left over brake cleaner drying. I did take the pic right after I cleaned them. The before pic doesn't show any sign of wetness. This is still a possibility! Just to give you a frame of reference I am able to pump my pedal up 2" or more! Would .0006" x 8 shoes make this difference? I'm just trying to get a feeling if you guys think that could make up that much pedal travel. As I have no idea:) I just want to thank you all again for your help with this! You all have been great.

Thanks Tod. Yes I agree with you. To say that the sting method was to that point of accuracy would be wrong;) I am a mechanical engineer by trade and I would not say that method is accurate to that standard. There is no change in my pedal at all. But shouldn't be as I didn't change anything. So my pedal when I pump it is about 2.0" difference in the pedal height. Meaning if I just hit the brakes the pedal is about 2" lower then if I pump the pedal say 2 times. The pedal will then be 2" higher then normal. So what do you guys think is my next steps. Would .15mm translate to 2" of brake pedal travel? Or do you think I still possibly have air in my system? Remember I did bleed the brakes manually with my sweet wife helping me. I could NOT see any bubbles. I did bleed the front lower cylinder first. Is my master cylinder shot or going out? Or is this something that I will have to "live" with... Thanks so much for the help guys

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Okay I pulled all the drums off. The rears were harder and needed a puller. Anyway all brakes were in very good shape! Shoes, wheel cylinders, springs, etc, all look new. The shoes all look like they have worn evenly as well. I can't see anything what I would call strange. Except on the lower cylinder push rod on the front looks out of alignment to me. Please see the pics below and evaluate. But no leaks or anything bad like that. So I don't have that nice fancy tool that my shop manual says I need. I am assuming they want you to use this to make sure the shoes are on the same radius as the drums. As well as angle. So I used a string to check the radius of the shoes. They were all dead on! Within less then 1mm. Maybe not the correct thinking here, but I think I have shown that the adjustments are on. Please let me know.

Thanks. Don't think that will work with mine. My switch just takes one wire not two. Thanks for the link though. I will see what pops up. I was just hoping to find some places that made new replacement parts. I guess I was just spoiled on my GMC truck. You could get just about everything reproduced. Maybe I can retrofit one of the newer ones to fit into my metal panel and look close to stock.

Tod, yeah I don't want to spend that much on a brake bleeder. I got that harbor freight one for about half that price after the coupons... If anything this will save my poor wife in the future from operating the pedal all the time. She has been so great to help me out.

Yes the bolt that I adjusted was for the minor adjustment. I moved the shoes out as far as i can before the the shoes hit the drums and stop the wheel from turning. All that you have mentioned is possible as I haven't inspected the drums or shoes yet. I completely agree the next step should be to pull the drums! I wonder if my local parts place can measure them for me, as I don't have the tools to measure them. Thanks for the help. Oh one nice thing is I got the car titled and transfered to me now officially! Got my 1950 vintage KS license plate as well. It's nice that the state of KS lets me use that instead of the antique tag. Looks cool!

Thanks so much guys. Let me clarify what I have in my car. I have a 4 Door Windsor Sedan. 1950 I have 5 Switches. One on each door! And a manual switch on the pillar in between the drivers side doors. A manual switch on the dash. I have attached some pictures of my dome light wiring, I have 3 wires going to the dome light. So correct me if I'm wrong, but the back doors operate the dome light, the light above my head. The front doors operate the "map light" these lights are up under my dash. Also I believe the switch on the dash can operate the "map lights" correct? Right now I don't have any of these lights working. Is my understanding correct? Thanks guys!

I completely agree. What is strange is I have the brake adjustments out as far as they can go before they hit the drums. I will pull the drums this weekend to see what the condition of the brake shoes are. But for the minor adjustments they are as close as I can get them before they hit the drums. So a pressurized bleeder must pressurize the MC to bleed the brakes? Like this one? http://www.homedepot.com/p/GearWrench-4-Qt-Brake-Bleeder-Tank-with-10-1-2-in-Hose-2901D/204622152 Sorry I am new to bleeders, but not to brakes. I have done brakes on several vehicles. The only bleeders I have seen are the pump type similar to the one I got. Both create a vacuum effect, thus sucking the fluid out of the bleeder valve.

Thanks Tennis! I will check it out. What I am looking for is an original switch. The switch only has one wire going to it. My car is a 50 Windsor. Looks like I found Neil on Ebay at his store the old plym cafe. I believe that my car has the dual contact single element bulb. Not sure why you would ever need two element bulbs for a dome light. But there are 2 wires going to it and what looks to be 2 contacts. Anybody know the bulb number? It would be a 6volt.

Okay, thanks again for all the help here guys. I had about 5 min yesterday to work on the car. So I looked in the MC and checked the B travel per the manual. I was looking at the fluid coming back through the relief port. Everything checked good against the manual. Nothing looked strange. So I went and bought this brake bleeder yesterday afternoon. http://www.harborfreight.com/brake-fluid-bleeder-92924.html I am not sure what the difference between a pressure bleeder and a vacuum bleeder. Hopefully this will help. I am planning on pulling the drums and checking things out this weekend... I hope;) So the results of your test ptwothree is when I pump up the pedal, it stays nice and solid, high and tight. The thing is I cannot adjust the shoes out anymore, at least for the minor adjustment. I have went through it twice and they are all so close to the drums if I move them out any farther they will lock up. Right now there is no drag. That would be for the 6 total adjusters! Maybe some Major adjustments are needed?

1st Question: Where can I buy this door switch? Mine is busted. This is for my drivers door. So I looked in my parts book and I think this is the switch?... From mopar 1950 passenger car parts list D-13325 Plate dome lamp switch p 103 Part type code 8-05-20 part no. 901 846 Here are the pictures of the switch. I actually took it apart and there are several broken pieces. So time for a replacement. Where do I get this? The car is still 6 volt + ground. 2nd Question: Also what type of bulb do I need for the dome light itself? Right now there is a dual filament bulb. I don't think that is right. There are 2 wires going to the dome light bulb, I assume one is a ground. Thanks fellas!

Don, thank you so much. My manual does mention a special tool to do the major brake adjustment. See I thought that there is air in the system as well. But I did bleed them quite a bit but that was NOT with any vacuum bleeders. All done manually. I am going to the buy a bleeding tool soon to see if that helps. I bled out all that old fluid and not a bit of air was there. Bled out a full quart of fluid. That is what I was hoping for, just that the shoes needed adjusted. The minor adjustment is spot on. I turn the adjuster just a very very bit and the brakes engage. However I have NOT checked the Major adjustments yet. Maybe that is the issue? The car stops great, doesn't pull and does stop very very good. Thank you so much for the help! My gut tells me its the MC, but that is without pulling the drums yet. I hope to get to it this weekend. But from the outside everything looks good. The MC was dry. Not it has some fluid down it because I overfilled it. I agree. I will get to pulling the drums soon. I do not have any specialty brake gage tools. I will have to get buy without these unless I can get one fairly cheep. Thanks. My main concern is this. The MC was dry on the outside. What I was thinking that the fluid was going past the internal seals or they are worn. I have had a few vehicles in the past that did this but they were 1980 vintage. Replaced the MC and it was good. I will post back some results hopefully soon! Hopefully it is just some air, but after the manual bleeding not any change in the "pumping" action. Now when you get the brakes to grab, the pedal feel is better. Which I assume is from the fresh fluid. So if I need to get a MC is this the one? If I need a MC I found this site out. http://www.oldmopart...ice-brakes.aspx Looks like I need the G-152 correct?

So I got my new windsor and love it. Opened the master cylinder up to do my regular checks. The fluid was nice and dark like soda or tea... yuk! Some background on my brakes. The pedal is too low for my liking. On my 52 GMC, I had the old Huck style brakes, and I had those adjusted so the pedal was high and tight! Worked great every time. On that truck I replaced everything all the brakes, that was due to need. All the parts were beyond shot. One drum was split in half literally and welded back together. So on my windsor I want to get the pedal high and tight again. I have a factory service manual, and my pedal is too low! The free play is within spec. I still need to check "B" play. But I was just wanting some guidance from you experts. Here is my scenario. You can pump the brakes and the pedal gets nice and high, but you have to do this every time. The car stops great! no pulling noises or anything. The only problem is a "low" pedal. Oh and everything is stock as far as I can tell. What I have done so far: Bled the brakes. No air bubbles in there, just the nasty old fluid. Got the fluid nice and clean and clear. No air. Bled the passenger rear then drivers rear, then the front bottom passenger, then top, then the drivers bottom and top. Pedal felt better, still same problem with the pumping. But when the brakes engage, the feel is better. New fluid much better! So I checked the adjustments, minor adjustments only. All were what I would say is right on. Very close to dragging. I was disappointed this was the case. I was hoping something was off, not the case. I don't have any leaks that I can tell. I still have NOT pulled the wheels and drums yet. What are your thoughts as to check next. My gut tells me that my master cylinder needs to be replaced. Anything else you guys can think of? I will check to see what or how much fluid comes out of the relief port on the MC. Just curious what you guys think. Sorry I am new to these cars. But I am learning. If I need a MC I found this site out. http://www.oldmoparts.com/parts-service-brakes.aspx Looks like I need the G-152 correct? PS just a dumb quick question. My car is a C48 correct:) Also it has the 251 flat head 6 correct? Any nick names or slang terms for that, so I can at least sound like I know something...

Beautiful car! Got mine cleaned and polished. Boy its been a while since I have worked on single stage paint. Just did a quick hand seal with Zanio Z3 I believe.

Thanks, I like it too. I assume it is the factory bumper. I will have to defer to you all and ask if it is factory bumper.