OP is original poster. You.
No, my sister, my mom, nor I never had to pump the gas pedal prior to starting. Having to do it now is new.
The only thing we all remember was that we were told that once the car is started to let it warm up a minute or two before driving off.
My bigger problem now is the brakes. We’re going back to the shop today to discuss getting disk brakes or at least having them check the drum brakes they installed. Is it ok that the brake pedal needs to go down 1 inch from the floor in order to stop the car?
No, that would indicate problem(s) with the master cylinder, wheel cylinders, and/or the brake hoses. Or the brakes were not adjusted correctly after installation. I’d check that first.
Did the shop that fixed your brakes have several classic cars in the parking lot? Or is it a shop that works mostly on new cars? Getting drum brakes adjusted correctly takes some experience.
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This makes me think they are not properly adjusted. There’s no reason properly rebuilt and adjusted drum brakes should be worse off today than they were back in the day unless whoever set them up did something incorrectly. Could be the drums weren’t properly cleaned, the shoes got something on them during the handling or they are not properly adjusted and they are not all doing the job of braking…
edit- I just saw this comment after posting:
As texases said, take it back, something is not right. I suspect adjustment issue…
I suspect that your father warmed the Mustang up before letting anyone drive it . All vehicles of that era with carburetors had to have the accelerator depressed so the choke would activate .
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pardon me if this was already asked in here- but is the fuel in the car also 2 years old?
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No, he had left for work long before I left for school each day.
This was back in 1979 ish.
We’ve decided to get disk brakes on the front and booster. They are working on the estimate. What would a customary fee for the job be?
Make sure that all-new brake hoses are included, if they weren’t this last time.
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No. New gas, new fuel pump, rebuilt carburetor, and all new drum brakes. $3200.00 spent.
My primary problem is that the drum brakes are horrible. The car does not start the stopping process until the pedal is almost to the floor and it is not safe on California roads. I am leaning towards getting disk brakes on the front and a booster which is likely gonna be another $2k. I just hope it give significant improvement.
After what you spent they should be able to find and fix the cause of the low pedal at low or no cost.
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Customary fee? This isn’t a routine modification, perhaps $4,000.
If the new brakes have an obvious malfunction, why not have that corrected?
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+1
If the malfunction of those brakes cannot be rectified, then the OP might want to consider an upgrade to power-assisted discs, but until that time she has to realize that cars of the '60s and '70s did not–even under normal circumstances–have stopping ability equivalent to even the cheapest econobox from later model years, and her car has to be driven accordingly.
I don’t know that I would trust a shop that can’t fix the low pedal problem with a major rework of the brake system.
Is this a shop specializing in classic cars?
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+1
My question is why did the shop even release the vehicle back to the customer when the brakes did not stop as designed… Last time I did brakes on a 65 Mustang, I TEST DROVE it before I returned the keys (wow what a concept lol), and after the test drive I had to make a few adjustments… But I have always stood behind my work no matter what… I guess that thought process has long been lost on a lot of mechanics and shops these days…
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That car will turn into a money pit and it will never be as easy to operate and safe as a modern car.
Hi Stock66:
The above is definitely serious, and there’s a chance it’s not due to the drum brakes.
If it were me, I would get the full brake system checked out, including:
- The master cylinder,
- The fit of the brake shoes to brake drums,
- Whether the brake drum hardware was installed correctly,
- The hoses, and wheel cylinders.
It would be a shame to spend money on disk brakes when they’re not needed or the problem still exists once the disks are installed.
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Yes, Texases, me too.
Yes the firm has a classic car team for such cars.
Here is the plan:
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I mentioned I had to pump the brakes to get the pedal up, so they asked that I bring it in this week so they can bleed the brakes…maybe some air inside?
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They asked me to drive the car 80-100 miles and really use the brakes well, then they will do an adjustment.
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If I still want disk brakes they will credit me back the $$$ for the drum brake parts and some consideration on the labor so I am not starting all over.
Thanks for your info Joe, I am writing all those things down.
PS Everyone - This website only lets me reply a few times a day then it cuts me off. I am getting everyone’s great info but can’t respond once I am at my daily limit.
They tell me the brakes are ok but I don’t agree. The pedal has to go down to about an inch from the floor in order for the car to stop. The first 50% does little to nothing. The pedal is not hard to push, it just is ineffective until you get close to the floor.
Maybe after the adjustments and after I break in the brakes it will be better. We will see very soon. I plan on driving the car a lot in the next few days.
I recently replaced the front shoes on my similar era Ford truck, cleaned & sanded the rear shoes and drum surfaces, & replaced a couple of brake springs. After all this work it didn’t stop as quickly as before I did it! And the pedal went down too far. … But over the course of just a few miles driving, the braking performance became much better, as the brake shoes bedded to the drums. I adjusted all four brakes to minimize the distance from the shoes to the drums, which helped the pedal. Then just over time air seems to work itself out of the hydraulic system. I notice on my drive today the brakes are working like new, pedal firm & high, stops without much force on the pedal & without pulling.
If I compare my drum-equipped truck with my front disk/rear drum Corolla, the Corolla definitely has a better braking feel . But not THAT much better.
There’s an easy way to adjust your brakes btw. Back up slowly, then press on the brake pedal until car stops. All four will automatically adjust themselves. May take a few times to get them all correctly adjusted. This presumes they are close to being adjusted correctly already, which they likely are, as that is part what a mechanic does when replacing the shoes.