I've owned my car for about 7 years and this year it is no longer the daily driver so im doing work to it. One issue is that my brakes have always been pretty spongey so I've bled them quite a few times and replaced all the hardware (rear drums which I think is the problem) and even the ebrake I can pull all the way up without a problem. When I step on the brake at a stop light I can easily push it to the floor. The brakes have all new parts and there are no leaks anywhere as the reservoir stays the same level too. Anyone have any advice to help on this issue? The star wheel doesn't seem to adjust the brakes at all either. Any advice (minus the "go out and buy a rear end.off a vette to upgrade advice) is helpful. Thanks!

 

I would start with the rear brakes just because you said you can pull the E-brake handle all the way up. When you slide the drum on, there should be a slight amount if drag. I would get that adjusted first. Have you replaced the rubber lines up front and the one out back? If they are old they may be swelling.

Oh, and vettes use an independent rear so just swapping it in isn't an option anyways

 

I've done the brakes several times and yes I always make sure they are adjusted in that way so there us slight drag. I will look into the rubber line and make sure that its ok. Although that wouldn't explain the e brake issue though.

 

Simple question: When you bled, did you bleed from back right, then back left, then front right, then front left?
Bit harder question: Did you bench bleed your master cylinder?

I had problems with my brakes for a long time too. With the drums, it was decent, not great. Swapped to the 4th gen rear, it got worse. Had a lot of leaks and air. Fixed the leaks and properly bled (thankfully didn't need bench bleed) and all was good.

 

Don't think I did a bench bleed cuz I don't know what that is. And yes that's his I bled them, im kinda questioning myself if I bled them through enough because its such a long car im sure I could have spent longer bleedng them but the person who was helping was a bit antsy to be done so maybe it wasn't bled enough.....but it still raises the question of the ebrake handle being decently soft too

 

E-brake cable being soft could be the adjustment too. I think if you look above driveshaft in the tunnel, you'll see where the ebrake cable splits to two. There's adjustment nuts on there to tighten it. I don't really know how to adjust it as my mounts were broken and caused it to be really loose, though it should be easy to figure out. Good luck.

 

i was also going to mention the rubber lines - if you've got the money, upgrade em to braided ss; will make a noticeable difference in feel due to less flexing. drums have always been a bit on the weak side for these cars, not too much you can do there. I know you probably don't want to hear it, but there are (reasonably priced) kits out there to upgrade your drums to discs without needing to replace the whole rear. food for thought

 

I agree - the rubber lines make a hell of alot of difference. Even just replacing with stock rubber again makes a huge huge difference. Plus, it gives you an excuse to rebleed everything again.

 

i appreciate the info on the rear disk set ups. last time i looked them up it was about 1k which is out of my price range lol, hell i was b*tching about paying 350 3.73 gears and an install kit.
as for the brake hoses i will definately have to look into that. i will probably inquire about them when i get the paint done on my car (hopefully end of next week) and get the 3.73s in. how much about are the braided lines?

 

you have to bench bleed the master if you replace it, or it you lot it run dry, or bleed the reservoir dry.

you have to remove the master form the car, put if it a level vise on the bench (hence the name). To bleed it, you have to plug the outlets, i use spare fittings and folded crimped pieces of old brake lines to plug the holes. Then fill the reservoir, and put the piston in with a non metallic rod of some sort, i usually use the handle end of a screwdriver. keep pushing the piston in and releasing until the bubbles in the reservoir stop. it may take a few minutes. then bolt i back into the car without letting it run dry. then bleed all the brakes again.

I always have better luck bleeding the brakes with a vacuum type bleeder, not gravity bleeding or pumping the pedal type bleeding.

if you get air in the master, you cannot bleed it out without bench bleeding it.

 

you can swap the 98-02 4th gen rear discs onto a drum axle pretty easily, and parts are usually under 200bux. Something to look into. you will need to modify the brake lines and get different parking brake cables though.

 

You can get disc setups for way less than that. Heck, my Wilwood 4 piston setup was only mid $600's