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[Jim Grammer <jimg@domain.elided>]

General brake advice from paranoid uncle Jim....;)

PLEASE replace any cracked rubber hoses ASAP. They are not special IH 
parts, any parts store willing to look in the book that shows pictures and 
dimensions of the hoses will be able to find the correct ones. You will 
need to pull all 3 of them off(2 front, 1 rear) and take them in to be sure 
you're getting the right thing. Don't even think about undoing the hoses 
without a set of good flare nut wrenches! You'll trash the fittings in 
short order. Inspecting all hard lines for damage is also a great idea. I 
had an original rear axle hard line split open on my '64 T-all. The last 
pump of fluid out of the m/c was the one that stopped me outside my 
house....

Single circuit brakes have a bad reputation mostly because of lack of 
maintenance. There's no backup as in a dual circuit system, so you can't 
put off doing the work and wait for something to break.

You should also consider rebuilding the master cylinder and wheel 
cylinders. There's no real reason other than heavy corrosion in the bores 
to buy rebuilt units, and the kits are cheap. Don't buy the cylinder hones 
with the seperate stones at the auto parts stores. Get a Flex-Hone(Brush 
Research Manufacturing, http://www.brushresearch.com/fh1.html   ), they 
last much longer and do a better job. If you get a 1 1/8" Flex Hone you 
should be able to do both the master and wheel cylinders with the same one. 
Follow the directions for use carefully, especially the lubrication 
instructions. Proper lube is critical to Flex Hone performance. Greatest 
thing since sliced bread ;)

Also, brake fluid needs to be replaced and the entire brake system flushed 
on a fairly regular basis 'cause brake fluid(DOT3 especially) is 
hygroscopic - it picks up water from the atmosphere and condensation inside 
those big chunks of cast iron. Water in brake fluid is bad - makes for 
spongy pedal and poor modulation.

Jim