"The front one empty" could mean you just have air in there, and that could have caused the loss of braking. I would start by seeing if you can refill it and get some pressure back. I suspect you will. The leak you speak of, is typically caused by the scarred (external) piston. There is a seal at the front of the bore, which is solely to keep bypass fluid from exiting the MC. If that piston is not smooth, it'll never seal and will always leak, no matter what else you do. If that is damaged, and you have pitting, those need to be corrected. You can look into whether a Speedi-sleeve is available, which will restore that surface. I have also been able to polish up that surface, if it is not too deeply scarred. After that, I recommend you have the cylinder brass sleeved. I do ALL of my master cylinders that way and I never have a problem with them after that, no matter how long they sit. I even have new or new condition ones sleeved as they will be trouble free for a much longer period of time. Especially in Michigan! (I spent my early years in the Detroit area)
Some of the repro ones aren't great. Either they're not made correctly or won't last more than 6 months. So I personally prefer restoring an original Lockheed, than replacing with an reproduction. I can send you to the right guy for sleeving, should you decide to do that but he won't do one that's been badly handled, because you sometimes can just not make them right. YMMV
P.S. Fluid dripping down the pedal is really bad too, because your foot can slip, the end result being as bad as no brakes at all.