Car seized up

[tubman]

The '39-'48 Fords seem to be prone to this problem. When I put hydraulic brakes in my first '36 Ford, I got them from a neighbor who had a '46-'48 in his back yard. The brakes on the car still worked, so being 15 years old, I lifted the whole setup and installed it in my car without changing anything but the fluid. When I got them in, they wouldn't bleed. A perusal of the Old man's Motor manual revealed a diagram of flow through the system. It was pretty obvious to me where the problem was. I tried opening up the hole between the reservoir and the cylinder with a piece of wire, but it was blocked pretty good. I distinctly remember running a drill through it, which made everything operational.

I look back at those days and some of the things I did and marvel that I am still alive.