Brakes wont release

[Dodgerdallas]

Replaced all shoes,springs,etc on front drums,adjusted shoes out to where they just touched,they worked w/o getting hot but I could never get any pedal to speak of,the booster is getting good vacuum so I assume its ok,this time I drove it the brakes locked up and then released and then locked up tight agin w/o releasing.I barely got it in the driveway and the right front was smoking-fried the shoes and the hub was sizzling,the left front showed signs of getting hot but not anywhere near the other (probably not adj as tight)-rears were warm but not hot to the touch.Its like the brakes engaged and would not release,I loosened the brake line to get the hub off and it was under pressure,everythings new,even the lines,everything but the master cylinder,could this be the problem since I could never get any pedal to speak of? Someone a while back gave me a booster test where you press and start engine and the booster passed that so I dont think thats the problem.Master cyl?

[cdr]

probably the rod or pedal adjustment holding mastercyl pressure

[pandamarie]

Adjust the rod between your brake pedal and master cylinder, sounds like its a little to far forward keeping the fluid from returning back to the master cylinder. if you pull the cover off the master cyl and look into it with a good flash light you will probably see the edge of the piston inside covering the holes, back the rod off until it just clears the holes.
Just had this problem after putting disc brakes on a 48 Lincoln. pain in the but with the MC under the floor.

[Dodgerdallas]

I'll try it now thanks

[Cooter]

Did you replace the Brake HOSES on the front? I'd upgrade to disc brakes in the near future.

[Dodgerdallas]

I found the guy that actually owned the car before me and he's selling me his 4 wheel disk setup for a good price he bought for the car before he sold it-he got it from scarbird,as for my situation,I took the master cyl apart and there was some trash and rust,I cleaned it thoroughly and reassembled it,shoes are only 17.00 at Oreillys so I'm Goin the cheap route till I get the scarbird stuff,don't know if the drums are warped or not but I'm puttin her together regardless!

[Chryco Psycho]

if it was just one wheel that heated up it could be a bad hose , restricting the flow back to the master

[Dodgerdallas]

The other front got hot also,just not s much,the rear drums were hot but you could keep your hand on em,now that I cleaned up the MS and lubed the pedal assembly I have a lot of pedal-just gotta get the shoes tommorow and see for sure...