Update: I heard back from the brake shop - after adding the new hardline and taking it for a drive it is somehow still leaking but instead of a torrent of brake fluid now it’s wet/a couple of small drops.

They are still working on it so it doesn’t leak at all but they are confused why this is still happening.

This is with the original master now back in.

13 hours ago, chaseincats said:

Update: I heard back from the brake shop - after adding the new hardline and taking it for a drive it is somehow still leaking but instead of a torrent of brake fluid now it’s wet/a couple of small drops.

They are still working on it so it doesn’t leak at all but they are confused why this is still happening.

This is with the original master now back in.

FIXED; final update: The car is fixed and stops even better than before. Here is what was done: new hard line coming out of the master cylinder and tightened down within an inch of its life, new drums in the back since they were worn past Datsun's 'do not exceed' wear amount of 230mm. Mine were apparently 230.5 - the new drums have considerably more material on them at 227mm and adjusted well.

The car stops on a dime, and the e-brake now only comes up a quarter of the way like @Zed Head noted.

Like I said before, this is the first time I've been at a loss of ideas and given up on something which sucks, but I'm glad they were able to fix it and ended up being money well spent.

Excellent. Glad you got it working!

Well it looks like we have more fun coming my way. Granted I'm just going to take it back to the brake place, but I'm curious what you guys think:

The right rear wheel's e-brake is locked and the wheel won't spin which I confirmed when I jacked it up tonight after a drive. Pulling the e-brake handle up brings it up around 2-ish clicks. I put my phone under the car and pulled the e-brake handle up and down and you can see the e-brake arm that goes into the drum barely moves if at all.

I thought the e-brake adjusts itself, how could it have adjusted itself so tight automatically? The left wheel spins perfectly fine with the e-brake handle down btw.

Edited February 27Feb 27 by chaseincats

Update and a question

Update: the auto-adjuster somehow seized. They removed it, soaked it in PB Blaster, cleaned it, and we're all good.

Question: One thing I noticed is when going at freeway speed and pressing the brake pedal with a bit of force (not slamming on the brakes, but not a light touch) the pedal bumps forward and back (like how ABS feels on modern cars). The steering wheel does not wobble, so it shouldn't be warped rotors/pads. I'll bring it back to the shop, but I'm curious if anyone has encountered this before?

Haven’t of that before. Interesting

A warped drum meaning it’s out of round. I’m not entirely sure how that would happen on these cars, as the drums are quite robust in design. It will be interesting to see if that turns out to be the issue, especially if it’s the same side with the seized adjuster.

That seized adjuster doesn’t quite make sense either. In my experience, seized adjusters are usually caused by the car sitting for a long time, they rust up and stop adjusting, which typically results in a long brake pedal.

But how would it over-adjust and then seize? One possibility is that it was installed incorrectly, they switched the adjusters, left adjuster in the right side and visa versa. I don't know if this is even possible, sinse I never tries it. If it over-adjusted, it could have caused the brakes to drag, leading to overheating. That heat could potentially warp the drum especially when the brakes shoes keep pressure when it is standing still and very hot. It could also cause the adjuster to seize. It’s just a theory, but it could explain the symptoms.

5 hours ago, EuroDat said:

A warped drum meaning it’s out of round. I’m not entirely sure how that would happen on these cars, as the drums are quite robust in design. It will be interesting to see if that turns out to be the issue, especially if it’s the same side with the seized adjuster.

That seized adjuster doesn’t quite make sense either. In my experience, seized adjusters are usually caused by the car sitting for a long time, they rust up and stop adjusting, which typically results in a long brake pedal.

But how would it over-adjust and then seize? One possibility is that it was installed incorrectly, they switched the adjusters, left adjuster in the right side and visa versa. I don't know if this is even possible, sinse I never tries it. If it over-adjusted, it could have caused the brakes to drag, leading to overheating. That heat could potentially warp the drum especially when the brakes shoes keep pressure when it is standing still and very hot. It could also cause the adjuster to seize. It’s just a theory, but it could explain the symptoms.

Everything you said is 100% what was the case - that's pretty incredible.

I got the car back yesterday (3/21) and here is the update:

The right side (only) adjuster did seize after few uses due to the car sitting for 6 months (driven monthly between 5/25 - 8/25) but in reality sitting since 10/24 due to a variety of issues that needed to be fixed one after the next. Since the adjuster was seized, it did apparently warp the drum. The brake shop ended up grinding off a bit of material on both drums for some reason and then changed the shoes yesterday - and the car stops very well.

Honestly, I'm fairly annoyed they didn't just replace the warped brake drum because now the e-brake pulls up about half-way instead of a quarter like it had been with the brand-new drums...but I'm just being picky at that point.

Edited Sunday at 04:19 PM1 day by chaseincats

I don't like the really short brake pull. I prefer about halfway. That way I know the shoes are fully released and don't drag...

Seems like a lot of extra tension on the cable. Gives you more flexibility on how tight you want it.

45 minutes ago, Yarb said:

Seems like a lot of extra tension on the cable. Gives you more flexibility on how tight you want it.

fair point