I've been working on a 66 vert for a friend/former co-worker whose husband just passed away on memorial day after a battle with cancer. They bought the car off Ebay out of W. Va. It definitely was worked on by a redneck or two. Lots of wrong fasteners, some missing parts like the center floor pan brace, tranny kick-down cable, etc. Was a 6 converted to a V8 with what looks to be a 68 or later engine by the valve covers.
He asked me to start on it about a week before he passed, get it safer for her to drive where ever she might want to. Right now I'm fighting with getting the brakes right. He bought all new front and rear suspension form M+, that was easy. New front disc brake kit from CSRP, was drum, that was easy. I checked the rear brakes, good thing, and it had 2 left side adjusters and other problems. Got all new rear brake parts including the hose. Can lock of the front brakes but the pedal seems way too low. After a LOT of bleeding, plugging the master to check it, I think it is a rear wheel cylinder problem. Watching the wheel cylinders and shoes with the drum off they finally move really late in the pedal travel. I'm thinking they are too narrow thus requiring too much pedal travel to move the shoes. The axle tag is REALLY rusty and near impossible to read so I took my best guess that it was a 66 rear end when getting the new cylinders. From looking at the Centic web-site it looks like the only difference between a 65 and 66 WC is a minor bore size difference (65 is 29/32 or 7.25/8 and 66 is 7/8). Could not find any detail specs for WC widths. Couldn't be a '67 or later rear end could it, because aren't those too wide for a '66.
Any thoughts.
He asked me to start on it about a week before he passed, get it safer for her to drive where ever she might want to. Right now I'm fighting with getting the brakes right. He bought all new front and rear suspension form M+, that was easy. New front disc brake kit from CSRP, was drum, that was easy. I checked the rear brakes, good thing, and it had 2 left side adjusters and other problems. Got all new rear brake parts including the hose. Can lock of the front brakes but the pedal seems way too low. After a LOT of bleeding, plugging the master to check it, I think it is a rear wheel cylinder problem. Watching the wheel cylinders and shoes with the drum off they finally move really late in the pedal travel. I'm thinking they are too narrow thus requiring too much pedal travel to move the shoes. The axle tag is REALLY rusty and near impossible to read so I took my best guess that it was a 66 rear end when getting the new cylinders. From looking at the Centic web-site it looks like the only difference between a 65 and 66 WC is a minor bore size difference (65 is 29/32 or 7.25/8 and 66 is 7/8). Could not find any detail specs for WC widths. Couldn't be a '67 or later rear end could it, because aren't those too wide for a '66.
Any thoughts.
