73Fordguy--

Don't worry. My welds are good. It's when I'm laying under the truck, doing a half sit-up, holding my lid with one hand, and the other hand dangling out in space while trying to weld upside down, then I stink. I was a body man for years, so I know my way around the shop. Relax, have a margarita.

Thanks for the drawings. They were helpful.

 

Ok fair enough.
I'm the guy they get to weld the crap laying down, in a hole,wearing a leather hood style welding mask because a regular helmet won't fit in the space with your head, holding a mirror, welding with a stick rod on a gappy fit joint, with a smoke eater vacumm sucking out fumes. Holy crap hey I did that today but without a mirror this time!!! Good times... Not really

lol

 

Well, you're the pro, not me. I'm just your average Joe with a bit of training. My hat's off to you. I don't know how you do it. That must be how/why you earn the big bucks.

I like the idea with the angle iron on the rod, to get a lot of bead on both side of the splice of the brake rod.

 

haha it wasnt actually suppose to be angle iron on the rod it was actually a round tube cut in half and if needed trimmed to leave the gap for penetration. Looking back at my pic I can see why u though it was angle. You wouldnt find angle iron that small dont think....

 

Heres an example of when I put this in use. I did a tie rod over flip on my axle be reaming the holes from the top side with a new pressed in sleeve for better height for clearance in offroad situations. Now what happened was the tire rod has that stock bend in it to clear diff cover so on the one end I simply had to spin threads so tie rod end spun downwards but the other end was a fixed end. That end had to be cut and spun 180 degrees in the other direction for it to work there was no way around it and I needed it done for an offroad competion. So just like the pic on bottom I drew I cut it, flipped it, full pen welded it (with .045 flux core the good stuff) and then put the 2 halves of another pipe over the weld joint covering it (3/16 wall)with it about 2 feet long and welded the entire gap(5/16-3/8") penetrating into the tie rod itself with mulitple passes to complete. Took me about probably 30-40 minutes for all the welding and thats good size wire turned up hot and fast at my shop. Its not exactly A "street legal" thing your supposed to do but I am not only confident it is strong but think it is now even definetely stronger than it ever was!.

here is what it looks like



Gaps were at the top and bottom.The tie rod was pretty heavy when it was all done.

 

I can, if you don't mind, sum up what I've learned so far.



1. At the pull yourself yard the S.duty hbs are hard to find. However, since they are all made by Bendix, the fittings for a 1990 S.duty are drop in for out trucks. A pull-yourself Astro van unit should run about $40, and I found several in each yard I visited. Before you pay for it, measure the diameter of the opening where master attaches, and know the diameter of the one you want to install. I also took apart a second hb and took the mounting plate for use in fabbing my spacer/bracket.

2. Order your hoses at R.auto. They are half what the chains want.
3. Once all the old stuff is removed, measure the length of the pedal rod, from where it went through firewall to pedal. That will determine the thickness of bracket. Most A.van units have rods longer than the ford ones.

4. Enlarge hole where rod connects to pedal. Ford is 5/8". The one I pulled has a larger hole, so I have to splice on the old one from my vacuum booster.

4. Fab a bracket. In retrospect, it would have been very easy to cut the old oem ford brackets to the required thickness, and weld the hb plate to it, aligning the shaft to center on firewall hole. There is also some guy selling them for $40, but I have the info at my girlfriends place. Google it.

5. Either stay with the oem pump, or change to a Saginaw, which is much stronger and puts out great pressure. The one that will bolt right in is part # 20-6244. It is made by A1 Cardone, or was. Currently the only place I could find it was Kragen/O'reilley's. $78.

6. Choose a good master cylinder. Don't fab/cut/ream your master to get it to fit. One guy did and the new pressure pushed it right off the hb. I went with a 2000 S.duty master, designed for 4x disc, like I have, and with a huge 1 3/8" bore. I pulled the reservoir from the j.yard for $6, with cap and spare grommets. O'reilleys has them for $48.

7. Bolt and bleed and play system. Welcome your brakes to the new millennium!

Sorry, I assumed the S.duty mastr. would fit. It does not. I had to change to plan B, and that was to go with the Astro master.

There were too many modifications needed to use the S.duty master. I didn't want to be afraid every time I hit the brakes, wondering if the master was going to missile through my radiator. It is sure not as mean looking, but the Astro master has the same size piston as oem on my truck, so... off I go.

 

Been there, done that - except I had to TIG and no fume extractor. I don't do it often though so I don't get to gripe about it too much. Those leather welding hoods are cool. I need to get my own instead of borrowing a buddies, I just don't use one enough to justify the cost yet.

 

Important question: When you install a hydro system, the pressure it is exerting is strictly hydrolic, right? I mean the master itself is not being pushed harder away from booster, right?

 

I just thought I'd post a few pics of the hydro so far.

<a href="http://s659.photobucket.com/albums/uu316/bobbyrogue/?action=view&amp;current=P1010442.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i659.photobucket.com/albums/uu316/bobbyrogue/P1010442.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

In the photo below is saginaw p/s pump, part #20-6244. It was a bolt in operation, with the slight help of the grinder.

<a href="http://s659.photobucket.com/albums/uu316/bobbyrogue/?action=view&amp;current=P1010443.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i659.photobucket.com/albums/uu316/bobbyrogue/P1010443.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

I REALLY wanted to use the S.duty mastr! But to do so, I would of had to open mounting holes 1/16" on either side. Also, I would of needed to reduce the diameter of the bore flange (1/8"), where it enters the hydro. It also would have meant changing the hydro rod to one that is longer, or using a 2 piece. What do you guys think? Dangerous?

 

No the master cylinder is also under much higher pressure the force on the mounting studs is huge. It is about 1000-1600 psi stock and tops out at 2400-3000psi for a hydroboost unit. Just curious but why the astro master cylinder?? The specs I found show only 18cc of fluid movement to the rear drums and if you have the large wheel cylinders out back it may be soft or trip the proportioning valve.

 

I ordered a 2000 S.duty master, but took it back because it wouldn't fit. But now I see the 2000 S.d. had a vacuum/hydro option, and I'll bet the parts people gave me the vacuum master. The only option they ask is cruise control or w/o. I have the other option s.d. master coming tomorrow, and hopefully it will work. I really don't want to use the Astro mastr., but it was the only one I knew would fit.

I have disc rears.

 

I mentioned more than a few times the solution its the J8 GM master cylinder 100% fit and re use the stock brake lines I even put the part number up in a previous post. It is darn cheap at about 25.00 and with that large 1 5/16'' bore and massive mounting flanges it is also safe.

 

I'll look thru the old posts and get a part #. Thanks.

 

M1982 thats the FENCO number for it AutoZone has them for 24.99 and that part will cross to AC DELCO and Cardone.

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/par..._56045_0_14626

 

With that master you have to change the p.rod in the hydro, right?