i think the brakes on my 78 camaro need looking at,,,
when i press the pedal it only goes down about 1 1/2 inch but it does not seem to stop the car the way it should,, from what i know the brake are new so i was wondering could it be just a case of bleeding them???

 

is there no one on here who can help with this!!!!
seems like a big enough problem that someone could tell me where to start,,,,
Please

 

Going down 1.5" on the pedal seems about right. Not stoppping is another issue. You mentioned they are new; are they new all 4 corners? Did you put on new shoes, and pads, and were the calipers and wheel cylinders replaced/rebuilt?
I'd start by looking at the inside of each wheel to see if you have any leaks. Then put it up on jack stands and pull each wheel to spin the wheel and listen to what's going on. The fronts should drag with discs, but rears should just barely rub on the shoes and make a couple revolutions when spun.
If you had the brakes done by someone else, then I'd be heading right back there and tell them what's happening.

 

You are right, brakes are a big problem when they are not working correctly. It's hard to tell you what's wrong without being able to feel how it stops or to pull a wheel and see what they look like.
Since they are what keeps you from running over the kid next door or slamming into my rear bumper YOU need to do something like take the wheels off and see if the front calipers may have jammed on their slides or the rear shoes being new may need to be adjusted. Bleeding wouldn't hurt and if that's all you can think of and know how to do it correctly you definitely should give it a try.
If you have no clue you should get a friend who does who can do some hands on help or take it in. If you want to try to tackle it yourself get a repair manual, take it apart to inspect what you have and then post questions about anything that you don't understand or doesn't seem to look, feel or work the way it's supposed to. Pictures might be helpful too.
People are willing to help, you just need to give them something to work with.

 

thanks,, its hard to get someone over here who can work on yank motors so i usualy have to go at it myself

 

Dear Keato, where is it you are located?
Who did the brakes?
Did the brakes get worse recently or have they been this way since you purchased the vehicle?
Have you ever done a brake job yourself?
Do you have a repair manual for the vehicle?
This will help us, help you.

 

i am in ireland,, the brakes where like it when i got it,, its been raining solid here fro 2 days so aint been able to get a look at it yet,, have done brakes before but just wanted to see if there was anything that in particulrthat goes wrong with camaros befoe i start at it

 

Lines get clogged, if it sat for awhile maybe they got all gummed up? lots of pressure but only front or back is working? just a thought.

 

Assuming that it has power brakes, it may be that the power booster part is not working so that the brakes are working but take a LOT of foot pressure to stop the car. In fact, it would be much more difficult than a car without power brakes, i.e., the brake equivalent of losing power steering - the system still works but is not easy to use.

This would explain why the brake pedal does not go down very far, which is as it should be and seems to indicate that the system probably does NOT need to be bled. Also, you should be able to check for leaks at each wheel, and check the master cylinder to see that they are full. If it had air, the pedal would go a lot further down, at least the first time or two that it was pushed. Unfortunately, I don't know an easy way to check this.

 

Ok then. First thing I would do is check the amount of fluid in the master and the quality. If it clean and clear?
Are your brakes power and if so does it feel like the booster is helping apply assist?
Is it disc / drum ?
When you say it only goes down about 1 1/2 inch do you have a hard stop to the pedal travel or if you really muscle the pedal will it go further down (engine running)?
Bleed them just to check if there is any air even though it should cause a soft pedal and that doesn't sound like your problem. It just eliminates air as a possible problem, it's fairly easy and it's maintenance.
Please try to explain the "doesn't stop the car the way it should" that's a bit more descriptive.
Any chance you have a "brake" or "parking brake" idiot light on?
The more descriptive you are about the problem the more chance you run of someone possibly knowing what it is from their experience or being able to point you in a more likely direction to diagnose it.
If you need to can you lock them up, have you tried?