Help with bleeding new brake setup!

Ok so the story goes, my brakes were pretty poor and my handbrake useless.

My car is a 1990 gti.

In the near future I plan on putting a 1.8t agu engine in it, hence why I've upgraded my brakes.

i have changed the servo and master cylinder to a mk2 16v setup as the guide on here. The rear brakes are also mk2 16v solid discs. The front brakes are Vauxhall 256mm discs and larger calipers.

I also replaced all the pipe work and hoses so the system was dry. I began bleeding them and after the 6th attempt I was baffled as I get clean fluid from the bleed nipples with no bubbles but the pedal refuses to firm up.

I have been using eezibleed and also tried it manually with the help of a friend. Checked for leaks not a drop.

am I being incredibly stupid by missing something?

I have taken all all the calipers off and raised them for bleeding in case any air is trapped.

I have also clamped off all the flexi hoses and I get a solid pedal.

So must be air trapped somewhere.

I have bought a sealey pressure bleeder so see what happens.

Hi mate, when I rebuilt mine I did the 9" servo and 22mm master cylinder change, I didn't have problems but whilst browsing the web on conversions I remember a post somewhere about rear calipers being interchangable and depending on which ones are used they can be configured upside down ie bleed nipple on bottom of caliper or vice versa which can trap air inside around the piston as the bleed outlet ends up on the bottom instead of top but you would still see fluid exiting, it's just a wild stab in the dark mate and you may have looked at this already, anyway let us know the outcome when you get it sorted.  
cheers
Simon

Thanks for your reply, the callipers are the right way up mate.

I've tried the pressure bleeder I have bought but still the same, I must have put 5 litres of brake fluid through by now still no air coming out.

Checked the system for leaks over and over. Master cylinder must be fine if I get a good pedal with hoses clamped off.

Only thing I can think of now is take all the callipers off and wind them back, clear the system and try again. Any suggestions before I do?

when doing my mk1 rear disc set up i remember having to cable tie open the rear brake valve thingy
only then did the pedal come right for me

agree with mcfudge, the rear load compensator valve needs to be held open when the rear beam is hanging
down, but if you are getting fluid at the caliper you've probably done this.

air could be trapped in valve and still getting fluid at calipers

Thanx for replays guts but my car does no have a rear brake compensator

I pushed brake the calipers emptied the system and tried again, pedal is a little better but still too much travel before I get the brakes.

   

being a 1990 gti i'm sure it would have brake compensator? its under left of rear axle if its there

Nope, I replaced all the pipework. Was not there originally otherwise I would have remembered removing it.

Thanx guys, I actually found the problem.

I clamped off the hoses individually to see if I got a good pedal. The osr was clamped and pedal came up. It was because there was trapped air in the caliper. I had to take it off wind the piston back again. Put something inbetween the pads the same width as the disc. Hold it up so the bleed nipple is facing upwards. Get a friend to pump the pedal a few times them hold it down to get enough pressure to get the air out of it. Was quite tricky so I thought I might have 2 left hand calipers as one seems to have the bleed nipple in the wrong place. I really don't know why but the caliper was a refurbished item. Or it's off another model or the bleed hole has been retapped.

You may have an early and a late caliper. They changed the handbrake from bottom to the top over the years and sound like you have fitted them as per the hand brake cable location rather than them being correct for the year of car. Probably a mix up by the people refurbishing them. Can you not get it replaced from who you bought them off?

check the casting marks on the caliper, early ones are 36, later ones 38. this refers to the piston size so you really  dont want a missmatched set!