51 B3B brake hell or help!

[jonkmahl]

Hey folks.

I started this truck being told "Oh it only needs to have the brakes bled." And as so many others theys and Maury would say, "that was a lie."

master cylinder and wheel cylinders were rusted stuck. 

I have replaced MC and WCs and decided to try using the CU-NI brake lines but could not get any good flare fittings on these with my Lisle flare tool. I decided to get ready made lines but I have had a leak from this one also. It is leaking out of the fitting up the line, not at the tee. Its making me crazy.

I decided to just get the front and rear end tee and replace them anyway.

Could have gone with a brake line premade kit but didnt, kicking myself now.

As an aside, the premade line has one short fitting and one long fitting which goes into the tee. From what I read this is only to allow the fitting to be accessable from recessed wheel cylinders but of course I am caustious new with the leaks.

Any help or thoughts would be appreciated.

Cheers yall.

Edited July 30, 2020 by jonkmahl

[dodgemex53]

my tool for lines is perfect

[JBNeal]

additional information - 2 modes of brake line leaks

[jonkmahl]

After finding that the brake tee blocks were worn, I ran into another problem.

The replacement parts were different. First the rear one I received was for the 51 while my rear end is a 56 Chrysler, The 51 has 1/4" brake lines while the 56 has 3/16". I had to find 1/4"F to 3/16"F flared reducers, found them at NAPA. Odd thing about that was when I went in and asked I drew a blank stare and he said come back and look through my stiock and see if you can find what you are looking for.

The next problem is the front tee where the MC line, front brakes and line to the rear end is different. The original tee which mounts on the frame, has the MC line coming out parallel to the ground, the new one it exits at the bottom perpendicular to the gournd. My first concern was having a brake line going down then turning and perhaps being in danger of getting snagged and damaged. Then I realized that because the original tee mounts in the frame with the bottom of it against the frame lll now have to cut a notch in the frame to allow the MC line to be accessable. Ill post some pictures when i get up to the truck and get back online.

Anyone run into this problem and figured out a fix?

Thanks yall.

John

[JBNeal]

I would advise against notching the frame to accommodate your brake lines...if anything, make your brake lines fit inside the frame however possible, especially if you've already deviated from the factory setup...

[1949 Wraith]

When i did the brakes on my '51 I could not get a good seal on the front 4 way splitter  by the MC as one port had been cross threaded. The 4 way splitters are not common, but I found 2 3 way splitters. One had a male port  and 2 female and the other had 3 female ports. i joined the 2 T's together and they were close enough to the original lines, I made a new line to the MC as that was the line that was cross threading.

 

These parts are generally used for trailer brakes and were readily available.

[jonkmahl]

Thanks for the info. I am going to use a piece of angle iron and mount it where the original went then mount the new tee horizontal, should work but dang I just hate working on a big chunk gravel floor with the truck on floor jacks. I do become envious when I see folks with nice garages with concrete floors, sigh.

I like the idea of using 2 to make one, didnt occur to me. I got the 4 line one from dcmclassics for $20, found one similar drawing on the other baum site, dang cant remember the name, Andy...

Anyone know why your hair turns gray?
I found out that its because the gray matter of my brain is oozing out!