The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Brake Master Cylinder?

'53 with a 216..

excuse me if this has been covered, the search feature pulled up nothing for me and i'm pretty new to the stovebolt culture, so i'm still learning about this truck as i'm restoring it. i've been trying to locate the brake master cylinder and the closest thing i could find is a weird looking mechanism tucked under the cab on the driverside..it seems to have all the brake lines leading to it, but i don't see anywhere to check/refill the brake fluid.. i'm use to new-age cars that have the reservior right on top of the master cylinder.. unless i was looking with my eyes closed, this mechanism didn't have a reservior on top.


also looking for the oil filter location. there's a large canister on the driverside of the engine with lines leading to the block and it's full of oil; but there's no filter in there. is that not where the filter is supposed to be? it's also full of oil, does that canister drain when i remove the engine block drain plug for oil changes?

i know this is probably day one stuff

The brake reservoir is in the master cylinder. Pull back your floor mat and look for a rubber plug about 3" diameter. Pull the plug and you'll see the cap.

Yes, the oil filter should be in the canister. If it's genuine Chevy it will take a Wix 51100. Most of the oil should drain back into the engine when shut off. Sounds like yours needs a good cleaning.

Stick your fingers down in the cannister to see if the filter is there. No, the oil won't comepletely drain out when you pull the plug. Get yourself one of those little hand pumps or siphon pumps to get it out. I've even used paper towels to soak it all up.

Oh, you will be discovering some of the most bizarre engineering design features you have ever seen in your life....at least in comparison to modern vehicles.

found the master cylinder, thanks for the responses guys.
the bolt on the reservior is rusted on pretty well, so i'll probably end up removing it to get the top off and inspect it while it's out.

but as for the oil filter housing.. i siphoned all the oil out of it, removed it and found about an inch deep of sludge at the bottom of the housing (as seen in pictures below)

http://tinypic.com/r/25u4176/5
http://tinypic.com/r/w09s8/5
http://tinypic.com/r/34sj8ye/5

i ran some degreaser throughout and it's spotless now; i found ONE hole in the shaft that runs the length of the housing, but it's about 3/4 of the way up the shaft.. is ALL the oil supposed to drain through this single hole, or is there supposed to be another drain hole somewhere?

after finding so much gunk in the canister, i feel the need to flush the oil system. does anybody have any experience with "MOTOR FLUSH"? my auto tech teacher way back would warn us against using it, is there a better way to do this? i figure i'll drain the sump, maybe pull the pan and wipe it clean, then run some type of flushing agent.. and does anybody use SAE 20 in their stock 216s? the lowest i can find at the local stores is SAE 30.

i know, i have a lot of questions

All that goo in the bottom of the canister is sediment. Most likely, if you were to remove the pan, you would find the same thing. Personally I wouldn't try the flushing idea. I would clean out the pan and side cover and use a good oil to run through the engine.

The small hole in the oil filter central pipe is a restriction for the return oil. It is a bypass filter and it only allows a limited flow rate.

As recommended you should get the pan off and clean things out, make sure the troughs are good and clean and check to make sure the nozzles are open.

Engine questions should be asked in the Engine forum. That is why this post was moved.