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So, the brakes work better if you pump them once before use. I figured; "Fine, I'll give bleeding the brakes a shot. Maybe that'll straighten this out." Now I have no brakes at all.. I'm pretty sure I ran the master cylinder dry and sucked in some air. Does the master cylinder have a bleeder? Or, do I need to pump everything out the wheel cylinders?

I did a search and found the idea about using the water bottle and a clear tube.. I think I'll try that method.

-jim lee

Some have a bleeder, some do not (like mine). The best recommendation is to use a power bleeder, although I did mine using the old "pump and hold" method, starting with the farthest wheel cylinder and working my way back to the master. I'll need to do it again since I'm replacing the armored rubber lines (hopefully this week).
Gary

I borrowed my buddies vacuum bleeder. One of the slickest things I ever seen. Put it on the bleeder nipple, pump it up crack the bleeder, close the bleeder. Check reservoir and move to the next wheel. Would have been done in about 15 minutes if I hadn't forgotten to tighten one and pump all the fluid back out over the floor.

Pump pump pump.. "I wonder what's going on now? I's like there's a big leak somewhere.. I wonder if I.. Oh lord what a mess!"

Anyway I"m back to where I started. The brakes seem to work fine, but they really would like a quick pre-press on the petal to make them feel better.

Reading through the threads there's talk about the master cylinder causing something like this with a worn check valve? This and possibly in need of brake shoe adjustment?

NOTE : NAPA'n new number on the master cylinder is now M544 The guy I talked to said they showed 50 of them on the east coast.

-jim lee

Brake shoe adjustments are spelled out in the 9-8030 manual, minor and major. Also, please be advised that the master cylinder rod is also adjustable, and if you adjust your shoes properly and still don't have the quick pedal, you can lengthen the MC rod a bit to provide a quicker response.
Gary

Jim Lee:
Cal Gary is right. Not only adjust the shoes but also adjust the MC rod if necessary.
Your brake pedal "should" be hard as a rock with only an inch or two of travel before
engaging the master cylinder pressure.

Do a search on this site about brake adjusting. While the manual is always a good source,
other knowledgable people on this site have some suggestions too.

Like most of the brake drums on our 60+ year old M37's, the drums may be out of round
and, after many previous cuttings, are to thin to be re-cut again. If that's the case, you're
stuck with making brake shoe adjustments the best you can. New drums are non-existent
and good used are rare.

M37 brakes are notorious for poor and less than adequate stopping power. So you may
be limited to doing the best you can with available parts and $$$. Disk brake conversions
are "the fix" but they're a pricey solution.

As said many times: " Anyone can make 'em go...but stopping 'em is still the most important."

Good luck and report back to us on this site with what you finally came up with.
JB