I have been working on my brakes for some time now but can't get a hard pedal on my 69 coupe. The brakes seem ok as long as I stay under 35 mph. But I can't lock them up. Is this normal on an all drum brake system? Thanks for your help.
Im assuming you have manual, not power brakes. But yes you should be able to lock them up but it does take a good hard stomp on the pedal to do so.
This may sound stupid but have you tried to lock them up on wet pavement?
Can you give us more info? Did you do a brake job? What did you replace?
If you didn't do a brake job then it could be the condition of your shoes and drums, Air in the lines, Old gummed up brake fluid, Old brake hoses that could expand when you apply the brakes.
If you give more info we can go from there.
Yes they are manual brakes. Everything on the brakes has been updated. M/C, all brake lines, brake pads and some of the Hardware inside the drum, 4 brake cylinders were replaced. Drums are still original. And haven't update the emergency brake yet but it still can be used just the cable is in rough shape. System bleed multiple times. I just adjusted the brakes so I have more drag on the drum and they seem to be better. But I don't have a hard pedal and they don't seem to lock up it I hit them hard. Thanks.
I don't know exactly what you mean by fade but it doesn't feel spongy or anything, I just feel it should be higher from the floor when it starts grabbing. Peddle kinda feels like it's half way down before I feel it is grabbing and at a stop it is pretty close to the floor.