I’ve read a lot of the how-tos and discussions on here about brake bleeding and caliper rebuilds, but I’m looking for some more guidance with brakes on my ’74 before taking everything apart. I set out this weekend to bleed my brakes to try and stiffen up the pedal which has been very soft since I got the car. I assume all the calipers will need a rebuild, but I wanted to see where bleeding the system would get me first. Well after fussing with it for 2 days, I am worse off than I was before. Most of the pads were dragging, so I took the front pads off and pushed the pistons back in to see if would free them up. They moved back against the rotor after pumping the pedal a few times, but now I have almost no braking power even after bleeding several times. I’m about to order 2 rebuild kits for the fronts (with plans to move onto the rears after), but I want to be sure it isn’t something else? I didn’t see any leaks in the system, but I was definitely having trouble getting a steady flow of fluid out of a few of the calipers.

Also, the bleeder nipple on the driver side front is in at an angle. I had very little brake fluid coming out of the end of that bleeder and fluid was actually coming out of the threads. Is there something I can do about this when rebuilding the caliper or should I look for another core to rebuild?

"but I was definitely having trouble getting a steady flow of fluid out of a few of the calipers"

If you haven't replaced the rubber lines and don't know when they where last done, it's time to replace them. They do go bad.

The only rubber lines I've seen on my car are from the reservoir to the MC. Is that it? Elsewhere, there are hard lines or ss flex hoses.

Each caliper has an (approx) one foot rubber line feeding it.

Ok mine look like this (taken from pelican website) so it looks like they've been done before. The hard lines look very aged though.

Stainless lines look nice but the rubber inside can be swollen. I put stainless lines on my first 914 in the early 80's so who knows how old they might be. I would change them to tried and true rubber lines.

Here's a photo of the bleeder that was mostly just coming out of the threads when I cracked it. It still seems to hold tight when closed. Is it worth trying another bleeder or maybe rethread it? Or should I just look for a new caliper?

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The other bleeder appears to be plugged.

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The bleeder on the red caliper appears to be cross-threaded....doubt you can get one to seat properly there, probably need another caliper--check out PMB's service for that--they probably can ressurect it or replace it easily. The other one appears to me to possibly be a "Speed Bleeder" which has a check valve built in so you can flush/bleed the system quickly & easily--I really like them. Consider replacing all your bleeders with them....

The bleeder on the red caliper appears to be cross-threaded....doubt you can get one to seat properly there, probably need another caliper

That's what I was afraid of. Are the front calipers specific to Right or Left? Assuming the bottom bleeder were good on this driver side caliper, could I swap it with the other side? Then that cross threaded bleeder would now be on the bottom of the passenger side (which I really wouldn't need to bleed the system)?

The bleeder is not cross threaded. They are all set at an angle like that.

The bleeder is however, a SpeedBleeder, which explains why you're not getting anything out of it when you attempt the standard bleed.

Search the Interweb thingy for the SpeedBleeder site and check the method of operation and bleeding proc.

Well then....That would explain a lot! I guess the speed bleeders don't get enough pressure to open the check valve when just using a power bleeder? I had mine up to about 20psi. I'll give it a go with the speed bleeder pedal method. Thanks!