Replacing my Brakes Options

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This weekend was step one of two of replacing the brakes on my '76. The previous owner upon selling to me told me that he had rebuilt the front calipers and the brake fluid looked very nice and fresh in the master cylinder. Looks like a nice fresh tank of ATE super blue..... I will find out later that what's in that tank doesnt look like what's in the brake lines....

I started this project because when turning the wheels in the rear to set timing, I can hear the left rear brake dragging, and loudly. I feared it was a bearing, but it wasnt. The brake was dragging. I lift the car and put it on 4 jackstands, the evil kind (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) I need some proper pin-thru stands. I have all 4 tires under the car in case the car decides it wants to smoosh me.

I'm using 4 new rebuilt calipers from Eric Shea. With these calipers are 4 new rotors, new front bearings, new seals, 4 new softlines, all new pads. A total of $1038 in parts from Eric.

From the pic...the parts are gorgeous!

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I hate this car.

I want it out of my life. It drives like shit, and most importantly...doesnt stop.

I opened the MC fittings, they dripped right away, closed them back up. Opened the prop valve fittings up, they dripped right away, let them drip for a while, closed them back up.



I bled the brakes with the fiance like so:

I made sure the reservoir was full, I went to the right rear brake, had a tube over the bleeder down into the bucket of flushed brake fluid. opened the valve with the 7mm wrench while saying push! she's push the pedal and i would close the valve before she'd let the pedal back up. i had her stomp a few times and this worked nicely for getting lots of bubbles out. i didnt leave a corner until the bubbles stopped. always closing right after the pedal was to the floor.

I worked my way closer to the MC so the next one was the left rear, then the right front, then the left front. the right front had a ton of bubbles, so it took a while. I then went around all 4 corners again, no more bubbles at all.

i then try the pedal...it's worthless. it goes to the floor, no hard pedal.

i try to drive the car, and it runs like shit, for whatever reasons. I made that worse of course, i went from a weber progressive and 009 to a mallory unilite and dual weber 40's and it runs WORSE, but i digress.

Now I have 1000 dollars in brakes on this heap of shit and i can barely stop the stupid thing rolling backwards out of the garage. i drive it 100 feet and it just wont slow down unless the pedal is on the floor. i remember this car used to have a pretty hard pedal, this is rediculous. i drive it right back into the garage and am thankful i have a manual transmission car or it would have never stopped at all.

I seem to have the shit finger with this car. everything I touch...turns to shit. I change the carbs, i get backfires through them and small fires. I change the ignition and the thing still overheats. i clean the gas tank and now it leaks, i change the brakes and now it doesnt stop. I ask myself...why do I bother?

WTF can I do? is there anyone in houston who knows what they are doing when it comes to this car, not just the brakes, the whole car. I just cant seem to do ANY work right.