mk2 cortina - brake problems

[SandyRS16i]

I have a mk2 cortina but seem to struggle to get decent brakes - soft pedal, lots of travel and generally utter poop.

Standard Girling m/c
standard servo
rear drums - 7 or 8in

I got the car with M16 calipers on the front with vented discs and they were'nt great, so 'upgraded' to new princess 4 pots but its even worse. I have bled the brakes many times both manually and by vacuum system - obviously the m/c is small so needs topped up almost every pedal stroke etc so I'm sure there is no air being drawn into the system.

I'm looking to get a firm pedal with a bit of feel and bite before it hits the floor - any ideas?

[HonkyWhiteTrash]

If the total surface area of the princess 4 pots is more than the M16's had (which is more than likely hence that being a supposed upgrade) then your master cylinder will struggle to move enough fluid.

There's nothing wrong with M16 calipers if you get the right master cylinder and drum slave cylinder set-up. A lot of mk2 cortina's came with smaller calipers than M16 so M16 is definitely enough.

Have a look through a Haynes manual for mk2 cortina to see which sizes are used with what set-up.