Hello,

Haven't been on here for a while. I've been after working on friends restoration of a 56 Crown Vic. It's time I resume working on Effie, my 50 F-1. I have some brake questions.

Let me tell you about the truck

1988 Mustang 302 V-8
T-5 Transmission
1998 Explorer 8.8 Rear End (3.27)
Gibbons front end (1970 Chrysler tortion bar system)
Disc brakes front and rear.
I plan on using a IDIDIT or Flaming river Steering column


Questions

Do I need a booster or will a non booster MC do the job.

Do you recommend Underfloor or firewall Master Cylinder (I doubt a booster version would clear the tortion bars and I question the available room under the hood with the headers, AC etc.)

Is there such a thing as a under floor MC that does not have a hydraulic clutch?

Recommendations as to which unit to buy.


Any pictures of your installation would help.

Thanks a lot,

Dick in Southwick, MA

 

I think if it was me, I'd look for a set of Mustang hanging pedals and utilize the firewall mount booster and m/c from the Mustang, along with the cable clutch set up they come with. That would make life much simpler in the long run to make everything work. Torsion bar suspension definitely has its drawbacks, and room for underfloor stuff is one of them.

Most of us are used to driving modern cars with power brakes, so going backwards might take some getting used to whenever you drove it with manual brakes needing the extra pedal effort. The booster and m/c would be high enough on the firewall so there shouldn't be any clearance issues with the engine. It all depends on how you set everything up, I suppose.

 

This looks like a good unit. It moves the booster back, looks like 5". Front of bracket bolts to old master cylinder location so it is further from the narrow point between the transmission and frame. It's what I'm planning on using on my 52.



CPP 1948 52 Ford F100 Pickup Power Brake Booster Kit for 4 Wheel Disc 4852BB4 | eBay

 

I'm using something very similar in my 51. Bought the booster/mc combo from Speedway, Wilwood prop valve, and residual pressure valves. I fabricated the mounting bracket rather than buy one. If you have any fabrication skills the bracket will be pretty easy, and you can build it to fit your frame/suspension setup.