New Beginning --(Yannick)

[old forum]

Hi all,
Im a 17 male from Canberra. Recently for Christmas i recieved a Holden Gemini TX 75' for my first car. Iam glad to say that i think Gemini's are cool little cars and now i have started restoring my gemini and fixing all the little bits that are broken. I was wondering if you more experienced guys or gals can give me a few tips that could help and some other info if u want.
I have one problem for the moment and that is the Gemini's brakes, they hardly work and i was wondering if i had to change the pads or if bleading the brakes would help or any other solution.
Thanks and feel free to email me.
New Gemini Fan,
Yannick

[old forum]

Brakes, it could be a number of problems.

The brake booster could be failing to work which means the brakes would still work but they would be incredibly heavy, or the master cylinder could be tired, which would mean they brakes just wouldn't work at all, check for fluid leaks around where the master cylinder bolts onto the brake booster.

You could be out of fluid, which means the reservoir would be empty. The fluid in the brake system could have air bubbles and large amounts of dissolved water, the former would mean the brakes would be soft and spongy, the latter means they would go soft and spongy once they got warm.

You could have a split brake line somewhere, which would mean the pedal would be firm but you could push it all the way down as fluid leaked out, check all your brake lines for leaks. You could have a ballooning flexible line which would make the brakes firm yet squishy, check the three flexible lines (front stub axles and the middle of the diff). You could have leaking slave cylinders/calipers, check for fluid leaks.

Your drums could be worn and the self adjusters aren't working, take off the drums and wind the self adjusters up manually. Your pads/shoes could be worn down to the backing plate, check the wear markers.

My suggestions for the brakes, decide how long you want to own the car and then work through the list in order as funds become available;

1 day - Completely drain then flush then fill then bleed the fluid.

1 month - New pads and shoes

6 months - New slave cylinders for your drums

1 year - Have the brake booster and master cylinder rekitted ($300)

3 years - Fit 10.5 inch ventilated front disks ($780)

5 years - Fit a disk brake LSD rear end. (under $1000)

20 years - Contact bosch australia and get the required documentation to research retrofitting ABS.

Since you sound like you plan on owning your gemini for a while it would be worthwhile in economic terms to fit the slave cylinders, new shoes, new pads and replace the fluid in one go.

[old forum]

Could be a number of minor problems, but does your model have a brake booster? Most tx geminis didnt come with boosted brakes. If it doesnt it will help enormously to fit a booster.
Most poor brake pedals result from the rear brakes. Either poorly adjusted shoes or leaking wheel cylinders. You should check that the shoes are not worn, and that the wheel cylinders arent leaking. If they are, you will need to replace shoes and cylinders, because you can NEVER replace rear shoes without replacing the cylinders. If you do the cylinders will be gauranteed to leak almost immediatelt afterwards, thereby damaging you new shoes.
You should then adjust the rear brakes so you can feel the shoes just touching the drums, because they do not self adjust.
A brake fluid bleed will always help, even if only to increase the lifespan of you master and wheel cylinders.
Front pads rarely effect brake pedal feel, but if they are low they will need replacing.
Check to make sure your master cylinder has no sign of leaks, and that brake hoses are all in good condition. Listen for audible sounds of booster vacuum leaks (if applicable) while brake pedal is depressed while engine is idling to indicate a ruptured diaphragm.
Lastly, look for pulling left or right when you apply the brake pedal to make sure you dont have a sticky or seized calipier.