[PPCC] Brake Fluid

[halpinem at comcast.net]

Hi John,


Glad to hear from you.  Great question!  Others can chime in, but I'll give you my two cents.


In my '60, I redid all of the brakes at the point of restoration (master cylinder, hoses, and wheel cylinders (did not need to do lines), and I went with toe good old DOT3 brake fluid.  Have not had any issues with water in the lines, or stiffness of pedal. The bleeding process went as normal, no issues.


In my '67 Sedan, I only had to replace the wheel cylinders (all lines, the dual master cylinder and hoses were all in good shape) and do a brake line flush.  For that one, I again used the DOT3 fluid, and I have never had an issue, nice stiff pedal and no issue bleeding the brakes.


In the '62 wagon I just completed, I wound up replacing both rear brake lines, hoses, and wheel cylinders, while I was in there doing the complete rear suspension upgrade (went to the '64 leaf spring set-up).  The car came to me with DOT5/silicone already in the lines, and I saw no need to replace it (if it aint broke, ...) so I bought a bottle of DOT5, bled the system as normal, and I've had a nice stiff pedal on the car.  No weird issues or problems bleeding the brakes.


As to the article you had read, I'm not sure either what it would mean for it to be hard to bleed.  Once set up, it's a closed system, and in our arid climate (even Denver is considered a high plains desert), I'm not sure how much of an issue it is.


Now, those are the three vehicles I can speak to.  Other folks in the Club, chime on in with your thoughts.


Ed Halpin, PPCC


> On September 13, 2018 at 5:02 PM John Kull via PPCC-list <ppcc-list at corvair.org> wrote:
> 
>     Greetings from Grand Junction! 
> 
>     Those of you that know me know that I am really new to Corvairs. I am working with my son on a 67 Monza and we plan to replace EVERYTHING in the braking system. I have acquired new lines, hoses, shoes, master cylinder and am rebuilding wheel cylinders. My question is about fluid. I keep hearing folks talk about DOT 5 or silicone brake fluid. The Clarks website seems to push it and I hear that many folks use it on older cars since it will not attract water. It all sounds good but the other day I ran across an article that gave a few downsides saying silicone fluid is hard to bleed and if you live in a dry climate (which I do) that you really can stick with DOT 3?
> 
>     So I am asking the club members - what do you ladies and gentlemen use on your cars, trucks and vans?
> 
>      DOT 3 or DOT 5 and what does it mean that silicone fluid is "hard to bleed?"
> 
>     Thanks in advance!
> 
>     JK
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