I quickly read through both pages of this saga and couldn't tell if you have a new master cylinder. Do you? 

STILL NOT WORKING

Installed the springs as pictured above, rebled the front brakes, readjusted front brakes.  Went for a drive, stop one was good, stop 2 was ok, stop 3 was eh, and stop for was basically nothing.  Could it have to do with me backing out of my garage on a hill?  My first applicatoin of brakes is going in reverse.

The last picture looks Correct !!

I always squeeze the hook end in a little tighter but at least its on and fitted correctly .

Should be good to go ..........

Mousy

That looks right except on mine I made sure the little bent section of the spring that presses up against the shoe pokes through the hole so the spring sits flat against the back of the shoe.  See pic.

Not sure if that's the proper way or not though.  Hopefully one of the wizards can respond.

Did I install these correctly?  They were truly a pain in the rear to get them seated.  Of course as soon as I was done, it started snowing, so i can't drive on them yet.  Either way, i am going to rebleed the fronts, adjust, and then hopefully drive.

Video Below

One small addition, I have seen "some" wheel cylinders which have a spring behind the piston to keep it pushed out . Your wheel cylinders have the hole in the side of the piston FOR the beehive spring , so I would definitely use them .

Mousy

Those beehive springs are very important!! What they do is keep the wheel cylinder Pistons tight against the shoes. Without them , the shoes retract and come to rest on the adjusters. With no beehive springs , the weel cylinder Pistons retact into the bore . Hence the low pedal . First pump or two is pushing the wheel cylinder Pistons out of the bore and up against the shoes . THEN the shoes start to move . When you fit the new springs , give the hook end a bit of a squeeze as when these open up ,it gives free play again between the piston and the shoes.

Mousy

THANK YOU.  I wonder why those springs were not included originally.  Either way i have 4 on order.  Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

A friend of mine had the same problem with his `75 spanish built (Authi) MK III and it seems to be the same reason for this.

I also reviewed your youtube video.

On your front brake setup, there are the 4 springclips missing that keep the pistons of the wheelcylinders attached to the brakeshoes. If they are missing, they allow the pistons to sink back into the cylinder causing free travel every time and needing double pump to get pressure.

Have a look at this picture:  //www.minispares.com/image.axd?type=product_alternative&picture=Image1/600/27H3753.jpg

There you can see the small springclips, painted red, that attach the pistons to the brakeshoes.

On this picture of 7ent.com, they are missing: //www.7ent.com/products/brake-assembly-set-twin-leading-shoe-sbr0075.html

Same as on your youtube video.

After my friend installed these springclips, the problem was history 

So, fit these 4 springs: //www.minispares.com/product/Classic/Brakes/Front/27H3753.aspx?0401&ReturnUrl=/shop/classic/Brakes/Front.aspx|Back%20to%20shop

Then adjust the rear brakes until fully locked. This forces the pistons fully in.

Back off the front adjusters as far as possible. This allows the return springs of the shoes to push the pistons fully in.

Pressure bleed the brakes.

Re-adjust the brakes.

At the front, it is most important the turn the adjusters in the correct direction: If viewed onto the backplate, direction of wheel rotation when driving forward. I.e. LH side clockwise, RH side counterclockwise.

The front adjusters should not be too loose as this will also allow them to unadjust themselfes...

Cheers, Diddi 

Re-bled the whole car last night.  Again, used the EZbleed to pressure bleed everything using about 15 PSI.  I did all 4 corners, re-adjusted the drums, and again i have the same problem.  First press is ok, and then it just gets worse.  This is becoming less and less fun.

7Ent suggested I squeeze the cylinders down with zip ties or a c-clamp to push all the fluid out of them.  Then I should re-try bleeding.  That could dislodge whatever is in there (if anything). 

New rubber hoses and new copper between the 2 cylinders.  The Cylinder that moves first in the video is the cylinder at the end of the line (has the bleeder).

I'm giong to see if 7ent will send me 2 new cylinders under warranty. Granted, i am not an expert, but i am at a loss.

Yeah i only ran about 1/2 a qt of fluid through that wheel, i think i counted one bubble and it was very very tiny.  The brakes were fully loosened and the drums where off.  I was bleed from the mastercylinder using an EZBleed system (uses a spare tire to push fluid through).  Tire was at 12-13 PSI.

Don't know if it has been mentioned... however, when bleeding drum brakes you need to "un"adjust them as much as possible to get maximum piston travel to help push the air out.  Once you get rid of the air then adjust the brakes to operational clearances....

IME its just a b$%^y frustrating process and you just have to stick with it... I once took my Daughter's car to a pro shop.  After a while they rang to say they'd wasted 3 litres of fluid, could not get a pedal and would I please come and take the car away..they did not want to ever see it again.

One small trick is to remove the bleeders, grease and re-insert them.  This may stop air leaking past the loosened bleeder (or it may not) but sometimes seems to help...

Cheers, Ian

I just went back and re read this post that Spank answered. The rear nipples face down but the front ones face up, i am not even sure they can be installed upside down but i just wanted to be clear on that.

I am running out of ideas but it seems like you have isolated it to that wheel. I don't know how much difference it makes with one wheel cylinder moving first as they should not move far at all if correctly adjusted, i am presuming the one moving first is the one that has the flex hose attached. If you restrict the movement of the first wheel cylinder does the other one move right away ? Have both of the front flex hoses been replaced ? I guess without wanting to throw any more money at it i would switch the wheel cylinders to the other side and see if that re locates the problem and while the wheel cylinders are dis connected check the flow of fluid through the hoses. I can only assume if all the parts are new there may be a manufacturing fault in one of them.

We decided take off the front left (driver side) wheel to watch the cylinder action.  (video below).  Then we clamped off that wheel at the rubber hose.  We got very good pedal feel and the passenger front wheel locked.  Removed it, back to the floor and the passenger side wheel spins free (with some minor drag).  Clamping the passenger wheel gives us no pedal feel and small motion (same as the video when nothing was clamped).  These leads us to think that the problem could be issolated to the dirver front brakes.  lus if you watch the video the second cylinder moves first and then the first cylinder moves.  If the system was full of hydrolic fluids then both cylinders should move in unison.

 

We are going to rebleed this corner to see what comes out, but any other ideas?

 

Update: We bled the wheel in question and let about 1/2 Qt of fluid go through at about 12PSI (thanks EZBleed).  Re-asembled, re-adjusted and once again, after 3 or 4 stops the pedal required 2 pumps to get pressure and stopping power.  Back at the garage i took of the rear wheels and clamp them off.  No change to brake pedal.  I am fairly certain that issolates the issue to the front left wheel cylinders, which are new.

 

Video Link (YouTube)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UbP2aAjnVA

I seriously doubt it, i can't think offhand of any way they could be. Compare them with your old ones if you still have them.

I will try that. I did I quick check of the front adjusters again and they are indeed loose and took a small turn to get to drag. Could they of been installed backwards? 

 

I will also try clamping off the rears

Start by clamping off the rear hoses.