jeepwm69 7,606 Posted August 20, 2020 Yesterday afternoon I got the front fender and floorboards attached, and replaced the fan (grounded the old one and it barely moved). Need to get a front bumper cleaned up, painted an installed, and the tank covers put on, and then all that will be left is the brakes. Going to start a separate thread on the rear brake. Something's iffy with it. Might just be worn out LOL 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeepwm69 7,606 Posted August 21, 2020 Tried just tightening up the rear brakes. No dice. Going to have to pull it back apart and do some digging. I did get the rest of the plastics on, and got a front bumper painted which I'll put on over the weekend. Here it is as it sits now. Needs a good cleaning and then either some SC1 or Wipe New to shine the plastics up. @shadetree those rear tires are the ones I got off of Powerstroke's 450 you rebuilt. The other two are on the back of my kid's 300 that you rebuilt. I bought new 9" wides for front tires on both machines. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fishfiles 20,145 Posted August 21, 2020 re-index the arm with taking anything apart Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oh400ex 629 Posted August 21, 2020 If you were closer I'd come detail it for you 🤣 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeepwm69 7,606 Posted August 24, 2020 Zerks came yesterday. Perfect fit into the caliper, but haven't pumped the piston out of any of them yet. I got the front bumper, rack, and skid painted black (gloss black implement paint) and ran a tap through all of the holes yesterday, and got all of that mounted. Only thing left to do now is get the brakes working, and shine it up. Ordered some SC1 over the weekend, so the end is hopefully in sight for this one. I have an 07 Footshift (non PS) on deck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeepwm69 7,606 Posted September 3, 2020 Got the new calipers put on yesterday. Still not working. If I clamp the line below the MC I get a super firm lever. If I take it off and bleed them, lever goes almost all the way back to the handlebar and brakes barely slow the thing down. Pumping doesn't help either. The calipers I put on moved fine. I hooked them up to an extra MC I had in the shop and made sure they moved freely. I don't get it. Guess I'll try bleeding again when I get time. For now I have the brake lever zip tied back. That's worked for me on some machines that had air in the system. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fishfiles 20,145 Posted September 3, 2020 Force pinch bleed > pinch and pump , hold lever in and let go the pinch , pinch again and pump to hard , let pinch go , so you are forcing fluid down the hose , then continue to pinch pump and bleed the bleeder ----use a second pinch pliers and isolate one side at a time at the splitter tee Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeepwm69 7,606 Posted September 3, 2020 18 minutes ago, Fishfiles said: Force pinch bleed > pinch and pump , hold lever in and let go the pinch , pinch again and pump to hard , let pinch go , so you are forcing fluid down the hose , then continue to pinch pump and bleed the bleeder ----use a second pinch pliers and isolate one side at a time at the splitter tee Yeah, I thought about that. Was trying to beat the rain yesterday that was moving in. I have a Mightyvac vacuum pump around here somewhere. Need to find it. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shadetree 5,867 Posted September 3, 2020 as fish ^^^ explained, the pinch system works , but you must not let the vise grips open much as you are opening them up, and pulling brake lever. the trick is to just barely open the vise grips as you are pulling the brake lever, and just barelyyyyy..opening the vise grips to just a hair to allow a very small amount of brake fluid pressure ease by the pinch point. been doing it this way for years, i've yet to have a brake system beat me !. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wheeler 2,525 Posted September 3, 2020 You've put a lot of work into this one from what I've read. Are you flipping it? I don't think I could spend that much time fixing one up to do so... I know Shade has done it a lot. But I just don't think I could do it.. lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeepwm69 7,606 Posted September 3, 2020 Yeah, this one is a flip bike. I think a friend of mine has a neighbor who will want it. I enjoy fixing them up. Gives me a lot of satisfaction. I probably make $3-4 an hour for my labor too! 2 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fishfiles 20,145 Posted September 3, 2020 28 minutes ago, jeepwm69 said: I probably make $3-4 an hour for my labor too! Don’t count them 3 or 4 chickens before they hatch. You still might have some warranty come backs to add in to got to the bottom line. Lol 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeepwm69 7,606 Posted September 3, 2020 56 minutes ago, Fishfiles said: Don’t count them 3 or 4 chickens before they hatch. You still might have some warranty come backs to add in to got to the bottom line. Lol Yeah, that's the thing with selling to friends or friends of friends! 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeepwm69 7,606 Posted September 3, 2020 Just tried it again. Overnight with a zip tie on the lever didnt help. Bled one side with the other side clamped off with vice grips, and another set up by the MC clamping down and barely loosening to let fluid by. Then clamped other side and did the same. Brake lever is still mushy. Guess I’ll have to look for the Mightyvac and try that next Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oh400ex 629 Posted September 3, 2020 (edited) 12 minutes ago, jeepwm69 said: Just tried it again. Overnight with a zip tie on the lever didnt help. Bled one side with the other side clamped off with vice grips, and another set up by the MC clamping down and barely loosening to let fluid by. Then clamped other side and did the same. Brake lever is still mushy. Guess I’ll have to look for the Mightyvac and try that next How does it stop? I know the lever is mushy but does it now stop when pumped a few times and get weaker over time? Edit: I know you have redone a lot and am curious if stopping performance may be already good but handle just feels much different? Edit 2: I read above where you said brakes "barely slow the thing down" Have you checked for a bubble in the hose? With the pressure off visually inspect and then get it to max pressure and clamp the handle. Look for a bulging hose? Just shooting, sorry if you already tried! Edited September 3, 2020 by oh400ex 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeepwm69 7,606 Posted September 4, 2020 2 hours ago, oh400ex said: How does it stop? I know the lever is mushy but does it now stop when pumped a few times and get weaker over time? Edit: I know you have redone a lot and am curious if stopping performance may be already good but handle just feels much different? Edit 2: I read above where you said brakes "barely slow the thing down" Have you checked for a bubble in the hose? With the pressure off visually inspect and then get it to max pressure and clamp the handle. Look for a bulging hose? Just shooting, sorry if you already tried! Doesn’t stop worth a crap. The idea of a hose ballooning occured to me, which was why I started clamping off different areas trying to figure out if that might be the case 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
_Wilson_™ 6,566 Posted September 4, 2020 22 hours ago, jeepwm69 said: Got the new calipers put on yesterday. Still not working. If I clamp the line below the MC I get a super firm lever. If I take it off and bleed them, lever goes almost all the way back to the handlebar and brakes barely slow the thing down. Pumping doesn't help either. just to clarify .... where are you clamping the MC line ? the closer to just above the t-fitting .. the better ... but try this ... pump the MC up, tie off the MC handle (like you've been doing) clamp the line just above the t-fitting (leave it clamped) . ... then un tie the MC handle pump it, (leave MC cap off) ... and lightly tap the MC and see if any bubbles appear ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeepwm69 7,606 Posted September 4, 2020 I've been clamping the line right where the rubber protective sleeve starts where it goes in the headlight pod covers. So you're saying clamp up under the front fender? That's the other weird thing. Normally when these things have air in the line, you can still pump up pressure with the lever. This one is rock hard with the line clamped up close to the MC, but if the line isn't clamped it doesn't get firm if I pump the lever. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oh400ex 629 Posted September 4, 2020 4 minutes ago, jeepwm69 said: I've been clamping the line right where the rubber protective sleeve starts where it goes in the headlight pod covers. So you're saying clamp up under the front fender? That's the other weird thing. Normally when these things have air in the line, you can still pump up pressure with the lever. This one is rock hard with the line clamped up close to the MC, but if the line isn't clamped it doesn't get firm if I pump the lever. Sounds to me like you are pushing a giant air bubble around. I'm sure you don't usually have these problems and it just bleeds up normally. I have had similar problems before and ended up solving it with a giant syringe. If you have an extra large syringe and a rubber tip you can fill from the bottom up and eliminate any potential issues once and for all. I take off the main line from the caliper and master to force brake fluid up through the system. Fill using the syringe in the caliper line until it comes out the other caliper line then close the bleeder on the other side and wait for it to come out of the master's line. You can even tilt the bike slightly to ensure your fill point is the lowest in the system. Sorry if I'm just telling you to "check if there is gas in it" and this is something you have already done. Looking forward to seeing it finished! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
_Wilson_™ 6,566 Posted September 4, 2020 1 hour ago, jeepwm69 said: So you're saying clamp up under the front fender? yes ... i would clamp further down stream... see if there's any defrence in the MC lever pressure. i agree with 400ex ... sounds to me like your pushing air around. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeepwm69 7,606 Posted September 4, 2020 2 hours ago, oh400ex said: Sounds to me like you are pushing a giant air bubble around. I'm sure you don't usually have these problems and it just bleeds up normally. I have had similar problems before and ended up solving it with a giant syringe. If you have an extra large syringe and a rubber tip you can fill from the bottom up and eliminate any potential issues once and for all. I take off the main line from the caliper and master to force brake fluid up through the system. Fill using the syringe in the caliper line until it comes out the other caliper line then close the bleeder on the other side and wait for it to come out of the master's line. You can even tilt the bike slightly to ensure your fill point is the lowest in the system. Sorry if I'm just telling you to "check if there is gas in it" and this is something you have already done. Looking forward to seeing it finished! Heck no you're. I normally don't have these issues, and thus don't have any tricks to fix it. I've been watching youtube videos on using a mightyvac, but don't really see how that would help much. I've thought about taking the calipers look and hanging them as high as the lines will allow to see if I can get air in the system to move up to the bleeders that way. How big of a syringe are you talking? Seems like it would have to hold enough to completely fill the system or you'd let air in when you pull it out to refill the syringe. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
_Wilson_™ 6,566 Posted September 4, 2020 (edited) he's talking about reveres bleeding the lines ? I've done that on just once .... but just like he described .... i did one on a 300 with drum brakes at Johnny's ... the bike was bone dry... with bad wheel cylinders ... (which we rebuilt ) i got MC to pressurize .... but pushing the air out was a road block... so... i took a syringe .... (i couldn't say what size it was) , loosen the joint at the MC ... and hooked onto the bleeder (right side 1st) pushed the fluid / air up to the MC joint, closed of that bleeder, then swopped to the left ... did the same ... worked like a charm, but it's kind of a headache to do it like that. you did get some fluid out of each bleeder .. both the left and right hand sides ? Edited September 4, 2020 by _Wilson_™ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeepwm69 7,606 Posted September 4, 2020 Oh yeah, it's pumping fluid out of both bleeders no problem, and no air bubbles coming out either. I use an old RC cola bottle and some clear tubing. Put the bottom of the tubing in the bottle and submerge it (start off with some brake fluid in the bottle). Put the other end of the clear tubing over the bleeder, crack bleeder open, and start pumping. The tubing goes up, then back down, so air bubbles will go to the top of the arch in the tubing rather than be sucked back in the bleeder. When I bleed now clear fluid is coming out, no air bubbles. I'd think the MC was bad if it didn't get rock hard when i clamp the line. I pumped the pistons out on both calipers (not all the way out, just fully extended them), cleaned up the boots and end of the piston, and then pushed them back with a C clamp. They went in and out like they should. Don't see any leaks anywhere in the connections on the lines. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shadetree 5,867 Posted September 4, 2020 6 minutes ago, jeepwm69 said: Oh yeah, it's pumping fluid out of both bleeders no problem, and no air bubbles coming out either. I use an old RC cola bottle and some clear tubing. Put the bottom of the tubing in the bottle and submerge it (start off with some brake fluid in the bottle). Put the other end of the clear tubing over the bleeder, crack bleeder open, and start pumping. The tubing goes up, then back down, so air bubbles will go to the top of the arch in the tubing rather than be sucked back in the bleeder. When I bleed now clear fluid is coming out, no air bubbles. I'd think the MC was bad if it didn't get rock hard when i clamp the line. I pumped the pistons out on both calipers (not all the way out, just fully extended them), cleaned up the boots and end of the piston, and then pushed them back with a C clamp. They went in and out like they should. Don't see any leaks anywhere in the connections on the lines. 20 bucks say's you got an air bubble trapped some where in the brake lines !. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fishfiles 20,145 Posted September 4, 2020 I think that $20 air bubble mentioned above ^^^ occurs at the split , since air bubbles naturally float up , hence ----- pinch off one side and work one side at a time -----Hey Shade , if I pitch in for some gas money and a Popeye's 6 piece tender , will you ride over to Jeep's and get him straight , LOL Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
