It was a bad m/c and a hole in the brake line that connected the front driver's side wheel to the front passenger side wheel - i.e. under the engine. Because the m/c was bad, there wasn't enough pressure to really spray the brake fluid through the hole. Once a good one was in, the whole made itself known.
For how hard those bolts on that brake line were to get off, I'd say they hadn't been touched since 1963.
Total cost of the job was about 50 bucks. Nice. Still have to go back and rebuild the drums, but it feels good to know where the failure in the system was.
Thanks for all that gave advice.
