Well true to form what I think I might be able to do and can do are always different. I planned on replacing all four wheel cylinders, brakes and hoses in a single Saturday. Last weekend was to be BRAKE Saturday. By the end of Saturday only a single front wheel was mostly complete. Its amazing the amount of grease, dirt, clay, etc that builds up over time. Several hours of scraping, wiping, brushing later I have a fairly clean environment and a good looking front brake area. Dad has a grinding wheel with a wire wheel attached which I use a lot to remove rust and other dirt off various components, this has allowed me to clean quickly.
Much of the time was spent removing something called a banjo bolt. It attaches to a brass block, similar to a tee junction. The banjo bolt screws into the brake hose and allows the hydraulic fluid to pass to the wheel cylinder. Needless to say it was bear to remove because of gunk and corrosion.
The drums are fairly clean and don't appear to need turning or additional work. Don't get me wrong there are some rust deposits and rough patches but not enough to stress about. Bearings and other components also appear to be in good shape. I repacked the bearings and cleaned all the components. After inspecting the rims I am confident that a quick bead blast will remove all the rust sites and a nice layer of dover white paint could restore the look. Even the hubcaps are so far reasonable for cleaning and painting. The after pictures show the clean brakes all ready to roll. Well it took another weekend to get two more brakes mostly done. I have the system down enough to know mostly what I'm doing. Kinda like being mostly dead.
This Saturday I worked from 9 in the morning till about 7 at night. A few things were redone and a few more hurdles were presented. First, I discovered that the manual is a bit vague. The image shows that the shorter brake shoe is to be placed to the right of the adjuster wheel. This "primary" or short shoe when working on the left side or drivers side of the truck would be facing toward the rear. However when you work on the passenger or right side of the truck the "primary" shoe would be facing the front of the truck. Is this right? Might need to change them. The last problem this weekend was the parking brake. Seems as though it is frozen. It took forever to get it off the truck. I cleaned, sprayed and soaked it over night in fuel. It still will not budge. I will try a few more things prior to buying a new one. The downside to all this is that I can't put the rear brake together until this is resolved.
Also in the back of my head is the thought that when I am all ready to fill the master cylinder with fluid it might be leaking at some of the connectors. That would be a hassle at that point because of the fluid now in the lines. So when will the brakes be done? Hopefully in 1-2 more weeks. In the mean time I'll work on the visors and other odds and ends.
I can't wait to drive this truck!
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