i put the car back on the ground. i have no leaks that i can find. there is pressure at the pedal, and the brakes hold the wheels, but i am able to easily push the pedal to the floor.
my dad said the brakes have always been crappy, and has sat since i think 80 or so a little before i was born.
he couldn't remember what the brakes felt like except that they were not that great.

i used to have a 69 mach 1 with a similar setup: manual brakes with 4 drums. mine had a really hard pedal and just seemed hard to stop.
i know a pedal will go to the floor without much resistance if the master cylinder is bad, but most of my experience is with power brakes, the pressure slowly seems to bleed off.
i think a rebuild kit is less than $20 for manual brakes, but is this the way it normally feels? should i just rebuild?
can i work solely from the engine bay to get the master cylinder out? maybe just a clip on the top of the pedal inside the compartment?

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1959 ford galaxie 332, 1985 porsche 944, 1985 mustang gt, 2003 mustang cobra