Steering/Brakes issue?

[HampshireCapri]

Hi guys

I'm still driving my 1981 1.6 L Ford Capri however have recently developed an issue. A while ago I was driving down the dual carriageway when the steering started to pull very heavily to the left, I had to put a lot of strength into turning the steering wheel right to keep it straight, shortly after this on the same day I was getting very little response from the brakes, almost near enough putting my foot right to floor before it started braking even a little bit.

After being parked up for a few hours it drove perfectly fine and got me home again, since then I've only used it occasionally around the local area before I can get it to a garage. Since then there's been one other time where the steering has become very heavy pulling to the left side again, although the brakes were unaffected this time.

Any ideas? It's probably worth mentioning it has had periods recently where I haven't driven it for 4-5 weeks on and off.

Any advice/help appreciated !

[Caprigear]

Sounds like a sticking brake caliper to me, if not that then possibly the flexi brake line is failing internally and causing a fluid blockage.

[stevemarl]

ossibly the flexi brake line is failing internally and causing a fluid blockage.

they can even collapse internally and form a sort of non-returrn valve so the brakes when applied will stay on, causing similar symptoms to yours

[Caprigear]

I always get rid of the rubber flexi pipes on the cars I build and replace them with braided ones in order to eliminate this problem, also, braided pipes give a better feel to the brake pedal.