IML: 1973 Brakes are "wrong"

[Kenyon Wills <imperialist1960@xxxxxxxxx>]

I replaced the entire brake system on the 1973.

Here's what I did"

Booster:  3 years ago - few miles since.

Brakes worked well and were aggressive when you
stomped on them. 

I replaced the following, mainly to get the 35 year
old rubber soft hoses and seals off of the car, and a
new, true rotor onto it:


New:

Calipers & Pads
Wheel cylinders & shoes
Master cylinder
Soft lines: 2F 1R
Turned both rotors
Turned both drums
NOS proportioning valve

=================
FYI, the 1970-73 Rotors are apparently NLA - I had to
source used ones.
=================

So:

The car now resists stoping.  It stops, but requires
almost double the pedal pressure and won't lock the
wheels unless both feet are on the pedal and really
jamming on it, and even then it's not that good a
response.

All 4 corners bleed OK, and none seem to be
restricted, as I'd suspect that a crimped line would
cause.

Also:  when the brake is applied, the pedal feels
better in the top 40% of the swing until it seems to
"hit" something and gets stiffer - the braking action
seems to have two stages.  I paid someone (I can't
believe that I did that) to bleed and check.  They
said that the rear brakes are coming on first and
that's what I'm feeling.  I like the place, but the
only mechanic that does work on older cars (and I like
him very much) is Vietnamese, and is consequently a
guy that is a little under 5 feet tall and he's
uncomfortable driving the car and does not seem to be
capable of testing it and providing a better answer
than that the rear brakes are engaging first and I'm
riding on the drums and not the discs.

Before I go hunting for a defective/incorrect part in
the system, which I did with the NOS, $300
proportioning valve, and start tracing every metal
line in the car's chassis, is there anything else that
I could be missing?  

I feel silly for asking, because every stinking part
is new besides the brake pedal, but maybe someone has
something in their past that might help?

Again - the brake booster is newer, worked great
before I laid a wrench to everything else, and when I
kill the engine, I can feel the vacuum disappear,
although it seems like perhaps the difference is less
than I get on the two 1970's that I drove for
comparison yesterday.


Thoughts?

I'm sorta thinking booster, but that's a guess and I'm
reluctant to blame it because it's relatively new and
has good lines to it.

Kenyon Wills
 
 






















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