The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts 58 Spartan brakes

Hello again, haven't posted in a few years and would like your help: When I parked my 58 spartan 2 years ago, the brakes were working fine, altho the pedal was low and always had been since I rebuilt the entire system 10 years ago. Before pulling the truck out of the shed today I noticed the brake pedal went to the floor - I checked the master cyl and it was empty - yet there were no known prior leaks. Does brake fluid 'evaporate'?, as I can see no evidence of leakage anywhere in the lines or the wheel cylinders. Note that I rebuilt the system completely including resleeving the original 1-1/2" master cyl with new kit and NOS wheel cylinders with modern kits as well as all new lines and hoses....and a remote hydrovac, which was NOS from a 70s/80s era truck. Again, the brakes were functional when last driven. I did notice some possible dried residue on the bottom of the MC, altho not sure what it was, so I removed the MC today and disassembled it and it looks quite clean, just a little rust residue at the push rod end, but no pitting. So, I ask for your ideas, what happened to the brake fluid which was in the master cylinder 2 years ago?

Hy jaycoop, I take it by your description that you did not use the same type of Hydrovac that your truck was originally equipped with, so I am not sure if the booster you used has a drain plug that you could remove to see if any brake fluid has accumulated in the booster chamber(s).

Thanks for the reply..... no, it's a later type unit, but that is a good thought and you now have me thinking along those lines. I will see if I can figure a way to determine if any fluid was drawn into it.

I did find about a tablespoon of brake fluid in the bottom of the vac chamber, so the unit will be coming off for a rebuild.

Just want to post a sincere THANK YOU to all the experts on this site. After having the remote booster rebuilt by Rebuilders Enterprises in Illinois (recommended by several on this site), rebuilding/replacing the MC and wheel cylinders myself, and taking into consideration all the collective advice and pointers on this site regarding bleeding and adjusting, I now have excellent brakes. Note that this is the second time I went through the brakes (last time about 10-15 years ago) but this time I printed all the pointers from Stovebolt and put them together in a folder and took them out to the shop - and used them in combo with the 58 shop manual. Couldn't have done it without you!

Hy jaycoop, great news, thanks for letting us know!