The Master Cylinder - I Know It Was You, Fredo

One of the great things about Godfather II, which I've always believed to be the superior of the first two Godfather films, is that there's so much room for interpretation. For instance, I  believe that Michael Corleone had to have had a feeling all along that it was Fredo who tried to have him killed. When he confirmed it, it made for one of the most memorable scenes in one of the most memorable movies of the 1970's if not of all time.

 

 

Back in November when the rear brakes failed on our 1977 Corvette, I had a feeling it was the master cylinder that had gone bad. I filled up the empty rear reservoir but it quickly bled out  because of a cracked brake line. Although I remained skeptical of the master cylinder's viability given the amount of fozzilized brake fluid around the booster, with the rear cross over line cracked and the rear lines in general being in atrocious shape, I put thoughts of a bad master cylinder in the back of my mind. Way. Back.

 

 

After literally months of work to replace every rear brake part on our car, with the exception of the left rear caliper, I am proud to say that the brakes work beautifully. Best is I saved thousands of dollars doing the work myself.

 

 

My only issue now is that after a drive, there's a large glob of fresh brake fluid on the ground under the car right below were the proportioning valve is along with my freshly installed front to rear brake line. Thing is, the proportioning valve and new line is not leaking but the master cylinder is down a little after every drive. This picture, for illustrative purposes, is of the proportioning valve with the old front to rear brake line still attached.

 

 

Frustrated and heartbroken at the same time, late this past Sunday afternoon I laid down under our car for a good half hour or so attempting to track were that brake fluid was coming from.  

 

 

 

You'd be surprised how difficult a process that is but sure as sh!t, there it was. A small, almost innocuous drip coming down from the steering column which is directly underneath the, yes, you guessed, leaking master cylinder.

 

 

I know it was you, master cylinder. You broke my heart.