spongy spider brakes

[Alan Lambert <gerard@domain.elided>]

A few weeks ago, I asked for advice regarding spongy brakes on a '74 
Spider. Thanks to all who gave me a list of things to look at that I 
hadn't already explored. 

One of the things I mentioned was that I had used a vaccum bleeder to 
completely change the brake fluid, front and rear, and that the absence 
of "pumping up" the brakes indicated no air entrapment.

Both I, and the mechanic who told me about this were dead wrong.

Scott Fisher e-mailed me that he had never had good result with a vaccuum
bleeder, and suggested we help each other pressure bleed 
(down--hold--bleed--tighten--release--) our '74s.

This we did--extensively, and my pedal is no longer spongy. There were 
bubbles in both rear lines.

Another interesting result of the bleeding was to learn why it has been 
recommended to bleed one side of the car at a time. When the brake pedal 
is depressed, and one caliper--front or rear--is bled, the pedal goes 
down half way. When the other end is bled, the pedal goes down the rest 
of the way. This probably does a more thourough job of getting good flow 
throught the master.

lesson learned!

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Regards,
Alan G. Lambert___________________________________<gerard@domain.elided>
           *******Los Altos, California (office)*******

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