The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk questions on brakes

good morning to all, i am working on a 38 canopy, i bought this from a guy who was restoring it and had put a nissan pathfinder rear end on it and a 1985 chevrolet s10 master cylinder and the original front end. the master has dual reservoir for drums. my son and i installed the brake lines and got it ready for bleeding but when i pressed the brake pedal it went all the way down and i have no pressure
i bled the master still no pressure. what i find odd is that i can open the rubber hose that leads to the back of the front drivers side brake drum and brake fluid comes out, same for all other drums BUT no fluid when i open the wheel cylinders. it seems like i get no pressure at all

any ideas? im baffled? someone said to check the adjustment on the master rod, i moved it all the way up and all the way back, nothing, could it be the rod is not long enough?

Could be several things that would be making it act that way.
1st is what you already mentioned, Make sure the rod is long enough to actuate the master fully. Custom installations usually need you to make some custom parts. That may be a hardened rod , so don't just throw a piece of mild steel rod in there if needs a hardened one.
2nd does the master need a kit in it? Even if its new off the shelf, it could be bad or put together wrong. Fluid doesn't compress, so if you are getting full travel on a good master cylinder it has to come out of the lines at the wheel cylinders or leaking some place.
3rd would be a leak, but you probably checked that all ready.
4th: wheel cyl cups in backwards?
I have seen all of these.
Just start from the master and go through all the steps to the wheels and don't skip anything. Most generally everything will start working right. Make sure to keep that master full while bleeding.

thank you sir...1..i will check the rod and try an extension today
2. i will check the master
3. i checked the lines twice..but will recheck
4. i took them apart last night looks good

Hy oldmemoriescc, make sure the brakes are adjusted up properly, master cylinder should be bench bled before installing, adjust master cylinder linkage rod so that there is a slight clearance between the master cylinder piston and the linkage rod, bleed longest line first and then the progressively shorter lines, you may not achieve a pedal pressure until all the lines are bled. If there is a combination valve in your system, are you sure it is still centered to allow flow to both the primary and secondary systems? Hope this helps.