1960 Series 62 Vacuum pipe question.

[Muppet_Man]

Hi chaps,
happy to be a member of forum.

I'm currently restoring a 1960 series 62 Freelease bodied Cadillac. On the back of the intake manifold behind the carburettor is a vacuum take off point with two outlets/inlets. One has a restricted drilling and the other a larger hole. When we got it in, it had a piece of hose on each with a screw stuffed in the end. Could anyone tell me what they should be joint to? Photo attached.

Greatly appreciated.

[quadfins]

Top opening should have a hose that loops up and back to the throttle check valve mounted on the firewall. That weird device that the throttle rods connect to between gas pedal and carb.

The side opening should have a hose that connects to the junction box on the firewall, below the drivers side hood hinge area. There is a box with a bunch of wires and a port for the vacuum hose. That port connects to the inside of the firewall, where another hose connects to a check valve (usually silver pot metal or white plastic), and then splits off to the parking brake release valve on the base of the steering column, and up to the heater/AC switches, to provide vacuum for the actuators.

The pic below shows my double fitting, which has an additional side outlet for the vacuum door lock canister, as well as an additional check valve that I installed to prevent leak-down from the vacuum storage tank.

Jim

[quadfins]

pic 1 (CC wiring) the white thing with the vacuum hoses, center left, is the interior check valve.

pic 2 (firewall above brake booster) you can see the junction box & wiring at bottom left

pic 3 (left valve cover) shows the throttle check valve device under the wiper motor. The round disk is the vacuum cylinder for it.

[Muppet_Man]

Thank you most kindly for those in depth answers. I need to check the one I'm doing on Monday as I'm pretty sure the one I'm working on is not set up anything like that. I may do a chart and ask you if it works out the same as yours if you don't mind.

Thanks again.

[quadfins]

I will be glad to help.

BTW! The pics are from my '61, but should be similar to your '60.

Jim

[Muppet_Man]

I've had a good look now, and there only seems to be two items that I'm not sure are correct. On this one, the top outlet/inlet on the two nozzle take off point I photo'd originally has the top one going to the valve for the A/C throttle compensator valve. On the front of the manifold there is another inlet/outlet which goes to the advance/retard capsule on the distributer. This leave the one that sticks out the side of the original two nozzle one with nowhere to go. All of the heater control ones seem to be correctly in position and I have a diagram for that, so it all seems okay.

Do you have the one at the front of the manifold as well, and if so, where does yours go.

Many thanks again and sorry for the all the questions.

[quadfins]

Ah, yes, this reminds me now. I had forgotten that a few things changed from 1960 to 1961.

The small vacuum source at the front of the manifold, in your picture # 1, from which you have a black hose running under the intake manifold, is the source for the heater/AC system. That is the one that should connect through the firewall, and into to heater switch and levers. I think that one goes through the firewall in about the middle, in line with the carburetor. there is a rubber grommet that it goes into, and another hose comes out of to feed into the vacuum actuator of the heater box.

That one is not the source for the distributor vacuum advance. The vacuum advance is the bright metal tube that connects to the bottom front of the carb, near the idle and mixture screws. That one is seen also in your picture # 1. The metal tube loops back, to connect with the advance mechanism at the distributor.

Your picture 2 shows the correct installation of the hose from the top of fitting at the drivers side rear of the manifold, connecting with the throttle relay check valve. You have it correct, attached to the top, and looping back to the device, as shown in pic # 3.

Back to pic #2, the vacuum outlet coming off the side of that fitting is, I believe, the source for the parking brake release. Now, the question is, how does it connect through the firewall? Check for that wiring junction box on the firewall, over by the drivers side hood hinge on the firewall. Maybe it is not right there on a '60, or maybe not at all, if my mind is fuzzy. It must connect through somewhere. refer to that earlier pic of my firewall and see if there is something similar.

1960 was the first year for the automatic brake release, so they may have retained the old source for the heater/AC, while adding an additional source for the "new" brake system. It may show in the shop manual if there is a diagram for the system.

One year later, in '61, they eliminated the fitting at the front of the manifold, and combined the source for heater/AC and parking brake, to come off the rear fitting, through the junction box on the firewall, then splitting inside the cabin, with one hose going to heater/AC, and one to parking brake.

In my '61 shop manual, there is a diagram of the vacuum system that shows the split. I wonder if the '60 manual has a similar diagram, showing the sources. This is in the chapter on Brakes.

I don't have a '60 shop manual to refer to.

I am hoping we can clarify this.

Jim

[Muppet_Man]

Hi again,
thank you for your invaluable advise so far. It's been a great help. I now have pretty much everything in place except what you referred to as the parking brake release valve. I didn't even know it had one of these and as such I have no idea how it works. I noticed the tiny little handbrake release lever seemed a bit awkward, but just assumed that's how it was meant to be. There is two foot switches on the floor, one is for the main/dipped headlights, the other, I have no idea what it does, but it is wired to a small three pin plug that used to go into the radio. I don't suppose this is related to the brake release is it - it seems rather unlikely.

Thanks as always.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

That will be the pedal to enable you to change radio stations with the press of the foot.

Bruce.

[Cadman-iac]

Yes that second switch is to activate the search feature on your Wonderbar radio. I was amazed to find that on mine too. I have never had a vehicle with the Wonderbar in it, so it never occurred to me it would have another way of changing stations. It's literally the very first hands free option for your radio. Even beats a steering wheel controller.

Rick

[Muppet_Man]

Wow! 😲 Just when you think you've seen it all.

[Cadman-iac]

What's more,  you can really surprise and confuse your passengers by tapping the button with your foot discreetly while you seemingly are preoccupied with the task of driving. And if the radio is not on and they are not paying attention, you reach over and turn it on and turn it up a little.  When the tubes warm up the sound will come out of the speaker(s) out of the blue as if by magic.
Or you can tell them that your car is haunted, then to prove it you tap the button with your foot unnoticed and really give them a scare. Just tell them that the previous owner called the car "Christine".  Works well with kids.

Rick

[Roger Zimmermann]

Rick, that play is no more possible: AM radios are now useless, there are almost no broadcasting stations anymore.

[Cadman-iac]

Rick, that play is no more possible: AM radios are now useless, there are almost no broadcasting stations anymore.

What a shame!!!
   Here in the states they still use AM radio,  although the choices in music, at least here in my area, are not as plentiful as they once were.

Rick

[quadfins]

So lets work on the parking brake release, as todays project...

1960 saw a new convenience innovation, the automatic parking brake release. The brake is actuated by the foot lever, as had been the case for some years. For 1960, a new innovation added a convenience. The brake will automatically release when the transmission is shifted from Park or Neutral into any movement gear.

The release mechanism now has a vacuum operated diaphragm that is controlled by a new Neutral Safety Switch, which is located on the top of the steering column shaft, in the passenger compartment, way down near where it goes through the firewall. See NSS pics.

Vacuum source comes from the intake manifold, is routed through the firewall, and to the neutral safety switch. In Park or Neutral, this switch blocks vacuum from activating the diaphragm. When you shift into any driving gear, the internal vacuum switch in the NSS draws engine vacuum and directs it to the brake release diaphragm. The diaphragm pulls the release lever (see pic) and the brake is released.

The brake can also be manually released using the small lever, also seen in the pic.

So, in order for the automatic release to operate, the diaphragm must be in good, non-leaking condition, and the vacuum tubing and source must be properly routed and available (and the engine running, of course). See the attached diagram, although it is from the 1961 shop manual.

[Muppet_Man]

What an incredibly helpful post. I'm in your debt and will report back to you when I'm back on that vehicle later next week.

Many thanks for all of your time and trouble.


👍👍

[quadfins]

Glad to help.

Jim