I have a 72 dodge charger with out power brakes, i have never driven a car without power brakes so i was wondering if my brakes should feel like a power braking car? My pedal goes to the floor and i stop very slowly from anywhere beyond 10 mph. Is this normal or could this be a bad master cylinder?

 

also there are no leaks in the system

 

sounds like a bad master. With manual brakes the peddle should be very high and solid ...

 

okay thanks, that's what i was leaning towards. Is there anyway it could be self adjusters? or would it not stop if the self adjusters were wrong? i installed new rear brake hardware but i'm almost completely positive i installed the hardware correctly.

 

There should be a slight drag on drum brakes when adjusted correctly. If they are not adjusted correctly it would also go to the floor. If you pump the brakes does the pedal come up when brakeing?? If so they are out of adjustment..

 

My fury does not have power brakes either. Mine had a bad master, so it would not hold pressure. The car would stop and I would hold the brake pedal down and it would slowly just sink to the floor. I agree that the brakes could be out of adjustment if the master is able to hold pressure without losing it but the pedal is soft and pumpable.

 

It is NOT CLEAR to me what you mean by "go to the floor."

If the pedal goes nearly to the floor immediately, this is shoes worn/ out of adjustment or air in the system, or if it "uses" fluid, even a leak

If the pedal, rather, stops the car WITHOUT first going to the floor, but as you hold the pedal "slips slowly down" to the floor, then this is almost always problems internal to the master cylinder.

You need a shop manual

Here is a 72 Plymouth shop manual. For most "Charger" stuff, the Belvedere / Satellite reference is the same

http://www.abodyjoe.com/pictures/Mis...Serv%20Man.pdf

 

Regardless of you problem... A 35-40 year old brake system should be completely rebuilt