Well guys I need some help!   The brakes on my retractable refuse to work. The car is done except for the brakes, it starts, runs great, trans sifts great steers great but just will not stop.  I have it at a friend of mine and his business is stricktly old cars and he is the best around here.   I left it all original [brakes that is].  It has the power assist brake package.  Everything is new, new lines, all drums have been turned all new shoes, no air in system.  He has adjusted the power assist according to Ford specks, as set up it shouldn't be a problem to stop but it is.  The specks call for a  1 1/8 master, cylinder 1 1/8 front cylinders and 15/16 on the rear, and that is the way I have it.  We can't find much info for the power assist system, what we do find is not very informative. We  are starting to think the master cylinder should maybe be 1 1/4.  Also we think there is to much travel in the pedal  it stops about 1in. off the floor.  We have no idea why this isn't working.   Thanks in advance, Alvin

The rod between the pedal and the master cylinder is adjustable on many cars. If the adjustment is off then you would either stop too soon or not hardly at all. Also if the rod is the wrong length then that can affect the ability to brake correctly.

I do not however know the specs for either the adjustment or the length of the rod. Or if that is applicable to your situation...just tossing out an idea or two. Perhaps someone else here knows all those juicy details?   

Most any info you will need is found in the 57 SHOP MANUAL (for original braking system).

The PB option is only a pedal assist and the car should stop if it is defective, same as the PS System. It should still steer if you lose power assist.

Did you put an aftermarket MC on it and who was the vendor? It sounds initially like incorrect push-rod length adjustment. You left the single reservoir MC on the system?

1 1/8th" master is correct bore, is it the correct one?  Did you rebuild the booster?  Did it stop before you rebuilt it? Those P/B's don't have a lot of pedal.

Good luck Alvin.

Ron.

Ok here is what I  have.  The rod is what I took out of the car when  disassembed. I got the master cylinder from Kantet parts, they assured me it was right for this car. The booster  was rebuilt also.  It dosen't matter if the booster is hooked up or not there still isn't any brakes, 

Quote from: alvin stadel on 2021-03-19 09:21

Ok here is what I  have.  The rod is what I took out of the car when  disassembed. I got the master cylinder from Kantet parts, they assured me it was right for this car. The booster  was rebuilt also.  It dosen't matter if the booster is hooked up or not there still isn't any brakes, 

All the jobber can say for certain regarding the MC is that the cataloging and marking on the box is correct, not actually the MC. Remember, most stuff these days is off-shore junk.

QuoteAlso we think there is to much travel in the pedal  it stops about 1in. off the floor.

OK, the problem will be in either the MC (assuming it was bench bled) or the push-rod adjustment. There is an eccentric @ the brake pedal/rod mount that can give you some more stroke possibly. You do not have to change MC bore size.

KANTER PARTS?

Alvin, did you mean to post pic's?  A 1 1/8" MC for 57 is very rare I'd like to see a pic of what you have.

Did you bench bleed it first?

Ron.

Ron, yes it was bench bleed,  the new mc looked exatly like the original as I never sent the core back until I got the new one.   As far as pictures I don't know how to send them and I don't intend to learn.  I hope the problem is about to be solved as we are getting ride of all original type parts and starting over replacement set up, this will give a dual mc which I like. Really didn't want to do this, this car has been a money pit since day one.

Alvin,

This type of problem is very frustrating for sure. Think the first thing to do would be to unhook the brake line at the m/c, hook up a clear line into a container and have someone pump the brakes and see what happens. If and how fluid comes out will tell you a lot.

You can check m/c size by measuring the bore on the firewall side of the m/c where the snap ring is. If they sent you a 1" bore m/c instead of the correct 1.125" that could be the problem. The 1.125" m/c is rare to find

The factory set-up is pretty trouble free. Did your old one have any problem or did you just want all new stuff ?    I'd maybe buy a m/c kit and do quickie rebuild on your old one and try it. I'm guessing 80% the m/c is the problem.

Call me if you want, i'll try to help.

Good luck,

Ron.

The light finally went on for me.  In the late 60's and early 70's, I had the same problem with a RHT.  I never did get the brakes to work.  Now I know why.  Someone had put the wrong mc in it.