Pinto Car Club of America

After installing new brakes, rotors, pads, drums, shoes, master cylinder. The brakes have been bled. The car stops great.

when I stop on the driveway (a slight hill) and pull the ebrake the brake pedal goes down about an inch.

I adjusted the rear brakes to where contact with the drum began.
Any thoughts?

Thanks

Both my 78 Sedan and my 73 Station Wagon (which has a less than a year old complete brake system on it) do that too. Never was sure if it was normal or not, but it has never really concerned me.

90 percent of braking is the front brakes & most of the volume of fluid that moves when you push the brake pedal goes to the front. When you put the E brake on its the equivalent of slamming the brakes to the floor out back but you really aren't pushing the pedal that hard so the wheel cylinder piston follows the brake shoe & your foot goes down on the pedal.

Try pushing hard on the brake pedal then pull the E brake handle. I'm betting your pedal barely moves, if it moves at all.

 That makes sense,if the return springs are pulling the shoes in and pressing on both ends of the wheel cylinder with the brakes off,it squeezes out some of  the fluid from the wheel cylinder bore. And then when you put on the e brake,it lets the spring in the wheel cylinder push the pistons out more on both ends,and lets more fluid into the wheel cylinder. And the pedal drops some.

If it seems excessive and you want to try to experiment maybe try changing the wheel cylinders? But I think its probably just normal.