"74 Gremlin test drive...it moves, it stops...but some problems still...

[Gremlingts@xxxx]

 Well, with the help of my friend John Young, we got my '74 Gremlin brake 
job completed this Sunday afternoon. After extensive bleeding, we got most of 
the air out. We then proceeded to drive it out of the driveway, but noticed 
it was dragging in drive, or stopping in neutral. We adjusted the rear brakes 
down, freed them up some, then proceeded with the test drive. Took it around 
the block, up to the main street, then down the main 4-lane road to a gas 
station to put some high-$ petrol in the tank. Got about 10 gallons in it, 
and drove off (after paying, of course) and headed towards the commuter 
parking lot for some slalom exercises. Heard a few clicking noises, but 
couldn't find out what it was, thought it was the rear brakes. We did some 
tight slow donuts, some S curves, she ran good! Alas, we did notice the brake 
pedal intermittently heading towards the floor. After a few more circles in 
the lot, I let John drive it back to my home, as he's never driven a Gremlin 
before, and really wants one, and was amazed at how tight the turn radius 
was! Pretty incredible. The brakes did ok, we got home safely and slowly, 
only a mile from the house. We proceeded to jack the car up again, took the 
rear wheels off, and that's when the set-backs started happening. Sheared off 
a rear wheel stud, the nut wouldn't budge after getting it on the car, and 
had to get it off again. Damn! Then we bled the brakes again, all 4 wheels, 
getting some air from the left rear cylinder again ( I had originally had 
only started to do the front calipers, but the rear cylinders were bad 
enough, I decided to do those today as well ) and after several trips to the 
Trak Auto store, where I found out my 4 / 74 Gremlin had '75 small 13/16th 
brake cylinders. The earlier ones were at least 1". But, they were only $7 
and $8 apiece respectively, so since I have 5 other Gremlins, decided to keep 
the earlier wheel cylinders as well. We also noticed the rear drums were HOT, 
especially the right side . So, we took the drums back off, got out the book. 
Nothing put back wrong, the adjuster was all the way closed, and the shoes 
still rub the drum. Could be the ridge, the shoes looked "new" ( thick ), but 
they had been greased from leakage. We had cleaned them with brake cleaner 
spray, as well. So, maybe the shoes weren't an exact replacement, having been 
done by the former? owner possibly. Who knows? I decided to drive it as is, 
try to wear some of the brake shoes off, as I only have a mile to drive to 
work every day, so if I break down, I'm close to home or work. :) 
Then, John and I discovered it was the Master Cylinder causing the pedal 
fade, if you hit the pedal hard, it was good, if you pushed in gently, it 
faded but finally caught near the bottom end. So, the MC needs replacement as 
well. I rather expected I'd have to go thru the whole dang system anyway, and 
at least the MC is about $17 usually. No biggy deal. This coming weeks 
project, most likely. So, at least I got a few miles logged on the bronze 
beast, and got some fresh gas in her. She's almost ready for the road, 
anyway. All the lights worked, engine sounded great, smoked a little during 
warmup, then cleared up, no more smoke. Had gobs of power, too. Well, that's 
the Test and Tune report today from the Gremlin Garage, stay tuned for more 
updates. Woohoo! Almost can drive a Gremlin! :) 

Jerry Casper
Woodbridge, VA