98 brake problem(non abs)=

months ago had a complete brake job at a place that only does brake work for 60+ years with a fine reputation .the pedal still seems to go to close to the floor. and the car still seems to take a long distance to stop. also the emergency pedal needs to be pushed all the way to the floor to engage. i thought it was just the character of this car. a few days ago a mechanic friend drove this car and told me he thinks the brakes are out of adjustment. he said if you apply the emergency brake slightly you will noticed the brake pedal does not go so far to the floor. i tried it and noticed very little change. what,s you guys thoughts about this?

What you describe usually comes from underadjusted shoes (too much travel before engaging the drum) or bellmouth-worn drums (shoes contact beveled friction surface and don't have a lot of bite)...

I found the adjusters on the back of my Lumina to be the cause...they were pretty well locked up. Seems to be a common theme on Luminas and other similar models...

I would guess the adjusters need to be disassembled and cleaned, lubed up and reinstalled and adjusted correctly. Made a huge difference in pedal height and e-brake bite on mine, plus helped keep the front brakes from running hot (they were doing too much of the work)