Recently I swapped my leaking single pot master cylinder for a 7/8" bore unit from a Fairmont. The swap was pretty straight forward, but my brakes seem to be very touchy now. It doesn't pull to either side when stopping, but squeaks the tires when braking at slow speed. . Thinking that I may have the brake pushrod set a little long. Adjusting the front brakes, the wheels both were set to spin for about 7 seconds when given a good pull. I didn't adjust the rear at all. It's been a long time since I've done any drum brake work. I have yet figure out whether it's front, rear, or both. The brakes seem to be bled well. Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated before I start looking at it again.

 

I did this swap on my 62 wagon in 2019 and have not had this problem. I set the pushrod by adjusting it to match the hole on the pedal arm with the pedal in the up position. Are you sure the shoes are in good shape and there is not contamination on the pads from leaking grease seals or wheel cylinders?

 

I have only checked the front passenger side so far, but will get out and do the rest. I saw no contamination, linings like new. Some light scoring in the drum. I bought the car some years back. The brakes were very weak then and got worse. After the new master cylinder install, it stops much better, just real sensitive moving at slow speeds. Need to take my time on this one, I think.

 

I finally got out to look at the brakes again. The front brakes had tightened up so they would hardly turn. Strange, I had them set to spin freely before. No test drive yet, but soon. Set them up quite a bit looser than the last time.