Thread: Rebuilding Sid

That will stuff ur day up then, turning snails.

It only takes a tiny bit of air in the system to give you spongy brakes. If the master cyl has been off it should be bled in a level position to get all the air out of it. Then u fit it. Then u fill the res up and pump fluid through to the rest of the system. But before u bleed the brakes they need to be adjusted up tightish. So u will need to fix thd snails first. If the serations are worn away u can file them a bit deeper. If its not working u can replace the snails but its a big PITA.

Originally Posted by 67hardtop

That will stuff ur day up then, turning snails.

It only takes a tiny bit of air in the system to give you spongy brakes. If the master cyl has been off it should be bled in a level position to get all the air out of it. Then u fit it. Then u fill the res up and pump fluid through to the rest of the system. But before u bleed the brakes they need to be adjusted up tightish. So u will need to fix thd snails first. If the serations are worn away u can file them a bit deeper. If its not working u can replace the snails but its a big PITA.

The problem is that aftermarket snails are made of a substance that's about as hard as cheese. Filing or using a Dremel to get the cutouts deeper on the original snails might be a better option.

As for bleeding....I've always just topped up the master cylinder and bled. No pre-filling etc.
The only vehicle that was an issue was the Series I and one of the many tricks (I now know) is when installing the piston in the master cylinder make sure one of the tiny holes is at the top (stops air getting trapped). We tried a couple of tricks 1. Pump up the pressure in the brake system before opening the bleed nipple (can be messy). 2. open the nipple and jump on the brake pedal. Both these options seem to surprise the air bubbles and they come out of the system.


Colin

Originally Posted by 67hardtop

Did you bleed all the air out of the master cyl on the bench first? You need to do that first then adjust all the brakes up till they are just dragging then bleed brakes starting from lhr, rhr, lhf, rhf. Its really easy. I dont know why so many ppl on here have so many dramas with bleeding brakes.

Oh and regards to the holes behind the plate, my s2a was butchered this way as well to replace the water plug on the back of the engine. The plate covered up the butchery.

Cheers Rod

Water plug.... that makes sense.

Yes bench bled system, etc. but obvious that there’s an air leak somewhere in the system as it won’t pressure up. Tried a vacuum line and wouldn’t hold a vacuum.

Took off the old pipes last night and couldn’t see anything but out of curiosity I took off a couple of the new lines I’d bought. They don’t seem to be bedding properly. These had a bubble flare that doesn’t seem to be working properly. Took all new lines off and found several that aren’t seating. Will sit and reflare them all tonight..... so much for new pipes making it easy.

They sometimes need a gentle twist as u tighten them to make them seat properly but it one of those "feel" jobs. You have to have a sortof feel for it as you gently tighten the pipe up you sort of "lap" the pipe in to seat it. Undo it turn it a little bit, then do it up again, repeat a couple times then tighten and test. At least thats how ive done mine, tho i am a mechanic and ive done it lots of times over the decades. Those bubble fittings are the worst with new pipes. They seldom need re-doing unless there is damage.
Cheers

Originally Posted by 67hardtop

They sometimes need a gentle twist as u tighten them to make them seat properly but it one of those "feel" jobs. You have to have a sortof feel for it as you gently tighten the pipe up you sort of "lap" the pipe in to seat it. Undo it turn it a little bit, then do it up again, repeat a couple times then tighten and test. At least thats how ive done mine, tho i am a mechanic and ive done it lots of times over the decades. Those bubble fittings are the worst with new pipes. They seldom need re-doing unless there is damage.
Cheers

thanks for that, I had a play with some old pipe and fittings in the garage and understand what you mean. Got better seating. I also realised there was a fair amount of user error. I have never used steel pipe before. on the previous cars I have restored in Europe, I only ever used copper or copper nickel. I was taught then to just 'nip up' the brake lines and not over tighten. I don't think I have been doing the steel lines up tight enough.... practising on the bench has given me a better idea.....thanks everyone.
Paul

Yeah gotta be tight. Not snap off tight but tight

Well plans have changed and with us moving on to the next phase.

After a second weekend attempting to bleed the brakes I've given up. Cannot get brake fluid past the master cylinder without having a vacuum line attached. No idea! Wondering if the cylinder is faulty, correct, etc.

As the plan was just too get it moving to test the gearbox, I've decided to move on so Sid will begin getting dismantled today for a chassis up rebuild.

On the upside, went parts hunting yesterday and collected a new immaculate rear axle and seat box.

Also found a chap in Adelaide with 6 or 7 S2's and 3's in various stages of disassembly, he seems to be wrecking then all for mechanicals but has the bodies and chassis. Several perfect chassis and bulkheads for sale. He knows what they are worth though.

Pleasant afternoon working outside. Adelaide weather is glorious today.

Rear tub and cab now separated. Easier than I had feared, nothing needed grinding off. Not sure if stock, but the bolts to the outriggers behind the seats had been converted to captive nuts by welding two nuts to a 4” strip of steel. Neat.

Couple of bolts were stuck but old fashioned method of using a long breaker bar to tighten them up rather than undoing them and they snapped off easily.