The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Bleeding brakes & Choke/Carb Question /Parking Brake

Is there a correct order in which to bleed brakes, I have just installed new drums and brake wheel cylinders? And just a question the drums are very hard to turn even with the cylinders turned all the way in, is this the way they are supposed to be when new? Another question how do you connect the choke cable to the carb in a 50 Chevy 1/2 ton...either I am missing linkage or I just don't know where to connect it to? And how do you adjust the parking brake so the parking brake pedal stays engaged...mine slowing slips back up to disengaged position, what is my problem?

Ask five guys and you will get five answers on the brake bleeding. I like to start at the right rear, then left rear, right front, and finally left front..

Your drums should not drag with the adjusters all the way in. Remember on those Hucks that you need to turn the adjusting wheel clockwise to adjust the shoes outward. That is clockwise as you face the end of the wheel cylinder you are working on. You may want to pull the drums that are dragging and check to be sure the adjuster is turned all the way in. Also be sure that the shoes are seated on the pins and that the brake springs are installed properly to return the shoes away from the drums..

Another source of drag for the front drums could be wheel bearings that are too tight..In the rear check to be sure your emergency brake linkage is hooked up properly.

As for your choke, there are a few different carbs that would fit your motor. In general, there should be a round strap with a screw that holds the braided section of the choke cable in place. The wire that comes out of the braided section connects directly to the choke plate to pivot it to the open or closed position...

Keep at it, it sounds like you are making progress...

What do you mean when you say that wheel bearings in the front may be too tight...I just put in new bearings ...just curious....

If you torque them too tight they will be hard to turn. The torque on the bolt adjusts the side and end play in the bearings.

You torque them and then back them off enough to install the pin.

Usually all I do is get them hand tight and put the pin in ....is this not sufficient?

It doesn't seat the bearings and might lead to side to side runout.

i just did my front bearings and the manual says 22 ft lbs i think? it's not in front of me and can't remember

citypat, 98% of the time when I had drum brakes dragging when they were adjusted in all the way, I found out that the shoes were mixed up (trailing-leading). If you look at the shoes from the side one may have shorter pad material than the other. The shorter pad (leading) should go on the front. If you have one side hard and one easy you may have both leading on one side and both trailing on the other side. Hope this helps.

I never knew that... I will have to check that leading/trailing shoe thing out...I hope that isn't the problem...as they would have to come all apart aagain!! But at least I could put them on easier...they are very hard to put on both sides...one is not easier than the other so this baffles me!! But I will check that out tonite, thanks for the tip!! I guess I will have to buy a torque wrench to torque the nut that holds those drums in place as well.

A '50 has Huck brakes and the shoes are identical front-back; it is not a self-energizing design.

So the lead/trail thing is wrong then? I thought both were the same in length...

Citypat, do you have a way to take a picture of the front brakes as you have them installed on the truck?
I am suspecting they are either not seated in place properly or they MAY have the wrong thickness of lining on the shoes themselves.

Let us know.

Re: The Choke -- There should be an aparatus on the passenger side of the carb to pull the butterflies shut.

Re: The Parking Brake -- It's a pretty lousy setup that works by friction alone! The pedal-shaft goes through a hole in a second piece of metal and when you press the pedal down, it's suppose to jam up in the hole ... when you pull the release knob, it realigns the metal with the hole in it so the friction is released.

I removed mine and installed a [b]Gennie Shifter with Side-Mounted Hand Brake[/b]

Here's a picture of the outfit I removed (it's up for sale at my site):

[img]http://AlanHorvath.com/54chevy/chevypics/oldEbrake.jpg[/img]

Actually the apparatus Alan mentions holds the housings for the choke and throttle cables. The cables do the pulling.

I took a look and see no apparatus like that...I am guessing I must not have the original carb on the 235...anyojne ahave a link to one? I will take a pic of my front brake apparatus tonite and try and figure out how to post it on here ...any tips on how to post a digital camera picture on here? Got it running last nite but the front brakes are still dragging slightly...I am beginning to think that the brake pads might be too thick...

citypat, You need to put the pic on the internet, on a hosting site. Sometimes your internet provider will have space for you to use. After you host it, you copy the URL and use the image button below.

If you would like to E mail the pic to me, I will post it here for you..

[email protected]

I took pictures when we did the brake work on the Kook's truck. They can be found here on his page..

They were scanned photos, not digital, so they are not the best. There is a front and rear shot, they may help a bit..

Sorry about misleading you Citypat on the trailing, leading thing. I just got finished rebuilding the wheel cylinders on my 54 and it had that kind, but they may not be the right brakes. Good luck, this forum is great for info like this. :rolleyes:

The choke apparatus.........

[img]http://www.jbhardin-gallery.com/trucks/brkt.jpg[/img]

What you need is the bracket that shows in Cletis' picture. It mounts on the corner screw on the carb, with the choke cable running from right to left, looking towards the front of the engine. The throttle cable runs top to bottom. Here's a shot from a distance, should help put it in perspective. Put an ad in the swap meet if you need one.
[img]http://www.thriftauto.com/fredsengine.jpg[/img]

Thanks for the pic...I will have to look tonite...I think my carb is missing that plate to attach the cable to...

I had the same problem when I bought a choke cable to install on my 54. I think what happens a lot is that people send in their carbs as cores and don't realize the replacement might not come with this stuff.

I got the bracket from Mothertrucker who threw it in when I was ordering some other nicnacs.

What I did though as a temporary measure is to take a metal bracket that is meant to hold down 1/2 inch metal electrical conduit. This looks like a little saddle with two screw holes. Bend the screw holes so they touch and you now have something that will capture the choke cable. Put the screw through the hole to tighten.

I ended up getting the real bracket from MT because it also is supposed to hold the throttle cable.

Thanks for the tip...now that you mention it I don't have a throttle cable hooked up either....sorry to bother all u again....where does it attach?

Look at the detailed picture again. The throttle cable attaches to the same original bracket. The throttle is vertical and the choke is horizontal.

Got ya, thanks!!Now all I have to do is figure out how to set my parking brake so it works...I am using the exact setup that is posted on here...the brake will not stay in engaged though it slowly creeps back out to the start position.

Did you figure out the drums hard to turn problem yet? I run into the same problem when I either put new shoes or had the originals relined on my 37 which are the same style as a 50 (its been over twenty years) the parts store that I dealt with rearched the shoes so they would fit the drums better. I dont know if there is anyone now who could do that and after drving the truck I realized that if I turned the drums as they are out of round that the shoes would of probably fit better. I would check the drums and have them turned if the problem still exists.