Re: OT: Breeze / Stratus / Cirrus

From: JAMES KNOX (knox.james@sympatico.ca)
Date: Mon Oct 24 2005 - 14:06:33 EDT


Money Pit ! Unless One has the facilities to bring this vehicle to the
qualifications of passing a safety check.
With the Ontario Climate, corosion, rust, It's a loosing investment. :-(

Jim Knox, 91 Dak

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rick Barnes" <rascal@scrtc.com>
To: <dakota-truck@dakota-truck.net>
Sent: Monday, October 24, 2005 10:57 AM
Subject: RE: DML: OT: Breeze / Stratus / Cirrus

>
> I would guess that brake lines are not as much a problem as brake
> cylinders.
> Don't assume it the lines, that just does not sound right that it would
> need
> those unless they were damaged in some way. It may just need a master
> cylinder.
>
> Rascal
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-dakota-truck@bent.twistedbits.net
> [mailto:owner-dakota-truck@bent.twistedbits.net] On Behalf Of
> jon@dakota-truck.net
> Sent: Monday, October 24, 2005 10:03 AM
> To: dakota-truck-moderator@bent.twistedbits.net
> Subject: Re: DML: OT: Breeze / Stratus / Cirrus
>
>
> "Jason Bleazard" <dml@bleazard.net> wrote:
>
> : Just wondering if anyone on the list has any experience with any of
> these
> : cars. One of our friends has a '98 Plymouth Breeze sitting in his
> driveway
> : not currently in driveable condition. He's moving in a week, so he's in
> "get
> : it outta my driveway" mode and willing to let me have it for next to
> nothing.
> : I'm going to take him up on it and use it as a daily commuter to save
> the
> : miles and fuel expense on my '95 Dakota.
>
>
> Sounds good! :-)
>
>
> : He says the biggest thing it needs is brake lines. He said the pads are
> new
> : this year, but the lines have gone bad and it doesn't have any pressure
> at
> all
> : in the pedal. How big a job is this? Is it something I can do in my
> : driveway, or should I try to get some time on Jon's lift? Of course,
> I'll
> : have to trailer it down there, so I'd rather fix it at home if it's
> fairly
> : easy.
>
> : Any other common issues with these cars that I should check out before I
> start
> : driving it? He said it's the four banger, and I'm guessing that it
> would
> be
> : an automatic. Other than the brakes, it sounds like it'll need a new
> driver's
> : seat farily soon, plus a few other pretty minor things. I'm not sure
> how
> long
> : it's been sitting, but I know he was still driving it as of July this
> year.
>
>
> I don't know anything about those particular cars, but in general, what
> I would probably do is to change all the fluids and filters, unless I had
> records on them which show it has been done recently.
>
>
> As far as the brake lines go, it sure won't be a fun job, laying on
> your back in the cold driveway, but it is probably doable. The first step
> would be to get under the car and see if you can determine what the
> problem
> is. Chances are a brake line has split somewhere, so you won't need to
> replace all of them, just repair the damaged section, then bleed the
> brakes. If you're just looking to get the car driveable to be able to
> move it back to your place, or down here or whatever, a relatively common
> technique is to just pinch the brake line off. That means you don't have
> the use of one or two brakes, but if you're careful it can get you to
> where you need to go. I don't know if preformed brake lines are
> available
> or not, if they are it is probably a dealer only item; you might want to
> check on that. If they aren't or if you want to go cheaper, you can make
> your own with a relatively inexpensive bender, plus you will also need
> a double flare tool (which can be had relatively inexpensively, but the
> cheap ones tend to really suck). What I have been able to get away with
> so far is buying a preassembled line at an auto parts store. With some
> careful measuring, you just get the closest length you can (too long is
> better than too short obviously) and bend it to a routing that will
> work. Of course, you also need to get one with the correct fittings
> on the end, or use adapters, if available. You can practice on a coat
> hanger or something similar to get the proper bends and routing before
> bending the actual tube. (If you need to "un-bend" a steel brake line,
> chances are pretty good that it will break, so you want to get it right
> the first time if possible.) :-) For bending the tubing, you will want
> to use a tubing bender, as opposed to trying to bend it by hand.
> Fortunately
> they are pretty cheap, and I expect can be found in any decent auto parts
> store. I have one like this:
>
> http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=3755
>
> Anyhoo, you are of course welcome to bring it down to work on it if
> you want to go that route. With a front wheel drive car like that, a
> U-haul dolly could be used which should be fairly readlily available and
> relatively low-hassle as compared to using a trailer.
>
> Good luck! :-)
>
> --
> -Jon-
>
> .-- Jon Steiger ---- jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com --.
> | 67 Coronet, 70 Cuda, 90 Dakota 'vert, 92 Ram 4x4, 96 Dakota |
> | 96 Intruder 1400, 96 Kolb FireFly, 99 Cherokee, 01 Ram 3500 CTD |
> `------------------------------------ http://www.jonsteiger.com --'
>
>
>
>



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