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When I bought my '54 F100 I thought things were further along than they were. As I dug into things I found all the mistakes made by the previous owner. I'm not perfect either, but some of these mistakes are really setting me back.
I'm currently working on the brakes. The rear drum brakes (on a newer 9" rearend) are done. I'm installing a new disc brake kit up front. This past weekend I was running new brake lines on the rearend and thought I was just going inspect the rest of the lines. It turns out the brake booster and master cylinder were installed in a pretty hokey way. It looks like a nice, new bracket was installed, but I can't tell the vintage of the brake booster and master cylinder. The way it's all mounted forces the master cylinder upward right into the floor of the cab. I also think there are issues with how it's all plumbed up. Overall I'm bummed with how the PO did this, so I've taken the setup out and am trying to figure out how to move forward.
Can anyone share their experience with either a below-floor power brake setup using the stock brake pedal, or a firewall-mounted setup? I'm considering both options. I like the idea of using my stock pedal, and I'm not opposed to cutting an access hole in the floor for the master cylinder, but I'm curious who's had good/bad experiences with different ways of doing it.
Well, from the pictures of the booster and the downward curved shape of the pushrod coming out of the front of it, I'd say you have a 1969 Bendix brake booster and master cylinder setup from a Mustang. Probably used on other models as well. But the curved pushrod is consistent with 1969. The distribution block also looks to be from the same year. Those are good boosters, a dual diaphragm type which provides more assist with a smaller diameter. I will say, if the booster doesn't work for some reason, it's best to have it rebuilt instead of replacing it with a parts store rebuild.
At least from the pictures, it looks like somebody did a decent job installing it. At least you have OEM U.S. made parts. The boosters in the kits available today are imported and not rebuildable because they use metric sized internal components.
I haven't had good luck with under-the-floor master cylinder installations since I did a 29 Ford years ago. I built two Bonus Built trucks, a 48 and a 49, and used firewall mounted master cylinders on both. No inline residual valves, no excessive brake pedal travel, no interference with exhaust, and no other problems. There's a reason they don't put them under the floor anymore.
There are plenty of folks running under the cab Masters, Original, Manual and Power. You didn’t say how the brakes are working. There are a few issues I see; don't see a brake light switch, no check valves in the lines and it looks like there are two brake lines running towards the rear??? As you will quickly learn there are a zillion ways people do things. My point being if it’s working leave well enough alone. There will be plenty of things that need fixing as life goes by.
Thanks for your thoughts. I do prefer to use original US made parts, but it's getting harder to find guys who can rebuild things like this.
The previous owner installed a nice, rugged bracket meant for this job, but the odd thing about it, which is hard to see in photos, is how the assembly runs at an uphill angle (relative to the frame rails) and drives the master cylinder right into the floor. I'm okay with cutting a new access hole, but I'm not sure if I want to keep this setup. Decisions, decisions...
GreatNorthWoods, good point about inline residual valves.
bjmayberry2, the truck hasn't been driven since the brakes were put on it 20 years ago. I'm not sure how they would do, but with two lines going to the back I'm sure I wouldn't like it!
Ok this is my two cents. On my 1955 ford f100 I put on the cop master cylinder booster kit. I have the under the cab setup. The only part that was hard was bending hard line for the rear drum distribution. I took a little longer brake line and copied the original bends. They hooked to my original pedal. All in all it is great. I have front disc brakes. But back to under cab the adding of fluid is the worst. But it works with minimal fuss.
jerry
There are pros and cons for each type of mount (under floor vs firewall). I went under the floor so I could use the stock pedals. You are correct that there is not much room under the floor but I added a translucent remote fill kit which works great. Just make sure that the reservoir is translucent so you can readily see if the fluid is low.
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