Removing the old gummed up master cylinder, then reassembling check valve and compensating valve with the new parts into the new master cylinder.

 

Mine was just like that and it had been driven shortly before.Just Cleaned everything up ,smoothed out any pits, rubbed the seal with Neatsfoot oil ,then dried the seal with dry rags(because if you leave the seal wet with Neatsfoot oil,it will swell it up so much,that the cylinder will lock up. Mine has worked like a champ every since (about 3 years) . Best of luck. Just make sure you can push the cylinder in and out. Larry

 

By the sticker, it looks like yours was rebuilt before.

 

Well spotted...no idea when though, maybe it had been done badly causing it to get into this mess.
Some evidence of sanding on the plunger too, the gasket between the vacuum can and the master cylinder look to have been glued, and had been applied over older decayed gasket.

 

Larry, you mean the brown leather seal in the first pic?
The old seal was fine but like everything else has been sitting soaked in brake fluid for who knows how long.
And what do you think about the diaphragm (second pic) its dripping with fluid too, should I try and clean it or leave well alone?

 

We cleaned everything as far as the old gummy fluid was concerned,and yes especially the leather seal,then rubbed the leather seal with Neatsfoot oil ,then soaked the excess Neatsfoot oil off with clean rags.When putting the part (with the leather seal) back into the cylinder, make sure that it will push in by hand ,because the first time we did not rub the seal dry enough (it swelled the leather seal so much ) that it wouldn't fit back into the cylinder. The Neatsfoot oil was recommended by the local Oldsmobile mechanic.He said that they had fixed many TreadleVac problems, buy just adding a tablespoon of Neatsfoot oil through the vent on the top of the unit,and it elimated a complete rebuild on many.He recommended that you do that every couple of years even if they were not giving trouble. I am sure neither of ours could have been helped this way ,because of the massive amount of crud that had accumulated in them over the years. Larry

 

A few things are concerning me with the Fusick kit, it's not as complete as I would have liked, but I would say that the best part of their kit was the new Master cylinder because mine is unusable.
So I've found a far more comprehensive kit on Ebay, it also has a very important gasket that's also not included in the Fusick kit which is the one for the diaphragm.
I'm wondering also which seal is for the dipstick if any, thinking of keeping the old one as it stays on when the DS is removed, unlike the paper one in the kit which is too loose, so that cant be it, or what about the O ring? and if neither of those were designed to go on the DS, then where the heck do they go?? because they fit nothing else.

 

Hi Nigel,

I don't know if it will help answer some questions or not, but attached is an exploded view I found in an Olds chassis parts book. It might help tell what was intended anyway.

The dipstick "gasket" is shown as group 4.651, part 563714; 1953-55 with power brake (Bendix). If what they supplied is not correct, you can probably find something better. Just get a correct I.D. and O.D. and begin a search. There are a lot of "O" rings and gaskets out there. Sometime an oil drain plug gasket can be substituted.

If your restoration/rebuilding talents are as good as your photo documentation, you should do well.

 

Cheers for that Ozzie, it is odd that there such a comprehensive kit out there but Fusicks doesn't carry it.

 

The Kit hat you received (shown in post#47) has many more parts than the kit I bought from EBay,but I just cleaned everything up, put it all back together using new parts that I had ,and it' s all worked well for three years now. Larry

 

And probably everything that i've done with the new parts fitted and some old stuff cleaned and reused would work too....but I'm just wanting to cover my *** on this Larry.
The good thing is the those guys sell separately the bits that I need that weren't in Fusicks kit, so I don't have to buy that whole kit and end up with two of everything.

 

Some other concerns...
The replacement rubber cup for the check valve isn't cone shaped as the original and therefore doesn't sit in the end of the outlet fitting as it should, so perhaps it would shift out of position while in operation...i'm tempted to re-use the old cone shaped cup.

Then the vacumn seal is different too, the original is solid but the replacement is hollow at the back.

 

Nigel, with the kit you have in Picture 10 of your last post you should not have much trouble being back on the road with good brakes .It took bleeding the brakes several times just after we reinstalled the unit, but it was smooth sailing after we bleed all the air out. After a couple of bleedings be sure to refill the reservoir ,to keep from pumping more air in.Keep us posted,but I feel like everything will go smoothly. Larry

 

Well I do hope so Larry, Im going to need to do a few bleeds myself to make sure all that messed up fluid is out of the lines, I bought this off Ebay to help with the job.

 

I've not used one of those,but everyone that I've heard talk about them were very impressed. Best of luck, Larry

 

Well here we are, before and after pics of my first ever Bendix Treadle rebuild...and not very difficult either.

I even bought some of your recommended oil Larry...

 

bleeding can be done when you have no helper, fill master cylinder up and open all 4 bleeders over night, then next day refill master cyl and close the bleeders, it works and with a small loss of fluid, a street rodder taught me this when I was building a street rod and had no help, I thought he was nuts but it worked
Frank Allen

 

I also usually do it this way, but be careful regarding the time involved. Some systems drain much faster than others. On some, leaving all the bleeders open overnight can completely drain the master cylinder's reservoir(s) and re-introduce air into the system's lines.

 

Good luck,you should be trouble free for years.That Neatsfoot oil sure softens up the leather seal. If it works as well as it looks, you are all set. Larry

 

Thats a handy tip Frank, and one I would like to try, but i've already gone and bought that air operated vac pump...

Cheers guys..