Man I am so sorry to hear about your gall stones and impending surgery. Have you ever had anything like this before?

That lineaer actuator I showed was a simple one, 2 wires - hot and ground, and it's on full or it's off. They also have another style called "feedback linear actuators" which use 3 additional wires, and you use a hall effect sensor (I think they said) and so in that case, the more you push it senses that and increases the amount of pressure. But even still, how to get it to release? Now you mentioned how it would work without any electrical power, and I was going under the assumption that without any power it would go in and out easily. Now if I am wrong then for sure that would be terrible, lock itself into the closed position and no matter how hard you press, not being able to push the brakes.

Yes that brake picture is of my Studebaker, the m/c is on the outside of the frame rail. The clutch assembly went on the inside. I know that's bass-ackwards because the pedals are opposite, but the clutch pedal went through the hole where you see that large 5/8 bolt I installed after removing it. Whenever I hear old timers go on and on about the superiority of Studebaker engineering I have to shake my head.

I am not sure what size bore my current m/c has, but since I am going to upgrade from drum/drum to front disc I need to re-engineer it anyway. The larger the bore, the more fluid it moves, but the more difficult the pedal is to reach the same pressure. The smaller the bore, the easier it is to get the necessary pressure, but the farther you have to push the pedal. Now with the small car EV electric m/c, the question is going to be how much fluid do they push for the calipers. Or, even better, if I use the power assist system from one of them and then choose a different m/c based on something more similar sized, like an older Honda Accord that came with drum rears.

What do the Stude guys do for power brakes. You got 3 categories;
1. They use the Hydrovac unit and keep 4x drums.
2. They tell you that you don't need power brakes. (Studebaker people can be so fervently anti-technology to the point that you'd think it was a religious conviction).
3. They ditch the frame mount setup, reinforce the firewall, install normal type brake pedal assembly from a "hot rod - universal" type setup, and then a normal vacuum booster and m/c. To do this you may need to move the battery to another location.

That Wilwood m/c unit was master cylinder only, I would just fabricate a mount in the stock location that is the appropriate distance from the existing pedal assembly. And I will need to have my wife sit in the car and press the brake pedal while I am underneath with a tape measure, to see what the stroke is.

 

Nope never had anything like this before ... guess there is a first for everything

I just cant see the lineaer actuator working the way it needs to for brakes.
You know for drum / drum or disc / drum the "power brakes" dont care it is all in the master.

My drag car has Gremlin brakes, disc / drum, came from the factory non-power but my Javelin street car has factory disc (2 piston calipers) drum.
I also had a 86 K5 Blazer diesel that had hydro boost disc / drum.

I think I would look more into the hydro boost set up as it is pretty compact and might fit down in the factory area.
You would need to run hard lines & hoses to it, have a power steering pump with the fittings on it and be able to mount it to the motor.
I think the hydro came on Astro vans and they were disc / drum IIRC
I would still like to know the bore & stroke of the Stud master as I would match it with the new set up.

Just Googled Astro van brakes and it came up with the hydro boost for a 94 van. $100 - $250 less master.
Wonder what a junk yard gets for the setup, booster / master, hoses & pump if still there?
Might be worth it to find one just to look at and get measurements from to see if it may work?

Only issue I had with the Blazer was the booster seal let go and it pumped PS fluid inside the truck!
You know what its like trying to get oil out of a rug and padding
If you went with the hydro it would be mounted out side so if it ever did the same it would leak on the ground.
I still had brakes but was really hard to push the pedal to stop.
Dave ----

 

I was hoping to do a little something to the front yard where work was done but they already put seed and stuff down
Just going to make it harder to mow the grass as the tractor will not stay on the hill the way they made it.
Dave ----

 

The original master cylinder would be 1 inch bore, according to parts searches I found.

Turner Brakes makes the easily adaptable disc brake upgrade kit. Their kit uses Ford rotors and Chevy A body (Malibu or El Camino) calipers. According to parts search, these had a 0.94 inch bore (15/16).

I would probably just go with the 1 inch bore Wilwood.

I had thought about going hydroboost, but I don't have a way to mount a power steering pump. There are literally no holes on the front of the motor for any bracket! The alternator mounts to the passenger side exhaust manifold and the adjust arm goes to the intake manifold. Another one of those forward thinking genius engineering designs that I keep hearing about in the Studebaker groups.

I think after bouncing some ideas off of you, it seems my best realistic path forward is the remote reservoir Wilwood master cylinder, and the $500 vacuum brake line booster mounted somewhere on the firewall.

 

That Turner "kit" sounds like Scared Bird as it also uses different make parts to get disc brakes but more so parts you can get just about anywhere.
Do the spindles bolt onto the knuckles on the Stude? They do on the AMC's
Dose Wilwood make a hub / hat that a rotor bolts to and caliper / bracket that fit the car? I know they do for some AMC's but we have 3 different size spindles and it only fits 1 size.

AMC from 68 to 70 had a 2 piston caliper and thin rotor option, like GM & Ford but none of the parts interchanged between any of them.
My calipers leaked and way back when no one rebuilt or even had rebuild kit for them or the pads and thats what laid my street Javelin up for years.
Scared Bird was not around back then either. I was able to find a AMC Concord that I got the front disc from and the 2 piston set up is on a shelf as they now can be rebuilt and get pads dont think you can get rotors?
Is it fun owning a old orphan car

I did not know there was no way to bolted anything to the front of the motors
So they never had power steering if no pump.
Wait I think I remember seeing at a show a older GM that had the PS pump built on the back of the generator. I dont know if that could be an option for PS or hydro brakes? Then again might be big $$ to find a setup as I had never seen one before then.

Do I remember seeing the motor mounts on the front each side of the motor and the bell housing, transmission just hangs off the back of the motor?
I need to take a closer look at the car some day when over.

I am here all day to bounce things off of, just make sure they are soft ...... I bruise easy
Dave ----

 

Yes that Turner kit is exactly like something you would get from Scarebird. Scarebird unfortunately doesn't have anything for a Studebaker.

It involves me heating a sleeve to "red hot" and then sliding it over the bearing race of my spindle. Then everything else is bolt on.

Studebaker did make later engines with holes in the front to mount brackets and with dual slotted pulleys although those can be like hens teeth to find.

Hey I know where you might have seen that old GM alternator / power steering setup, my 55 Belair!

 

I know we mentioned earlier about doing some garage cleanup. I'm tackling the steps area which has gotten quite nasty, pitiful in fact.


Those are (or were) Mustang side window and vent windows wrapped in brown paper to protect them from the elements. It hasn't worked.


This ratty rusted old 289 under the steps has been here for 20 years. I'd like to do something with it. It's a 67 era motor out of a Fairlane or Falcon, I forget which. Ignore the 80's era dist. and CFI that I stuck on it just to keep stuffing from falling down inside.

I'm in the middle of pressure washing and other cleanup, and I'll probably need to do some paint repair as well in the next couple of days.

 

I only made it to the garage to open a box of e brake cables to make sure they would work, I think they will.
Otherwise no cleaning to lazy
Dave ----

 

Well I've been hitting it all week, I guess Spring is in the air, it always makes me want to get out there and tackle all the projects I didn't get to the year before

Started with quite a mess as you saw in the earlier pictures.

Both of these doors are metal, and painting over rust spots with latex paint doesn't work for very long. So I hit them with the sander and then sprayed some rustoleum primer over the bad spots.


While waiting for the primer on the doors to dry, I tackled the wall underneath the steps. I had sheetrock there for years, but last year the satellite installer guy insisted there HAD to be a splitter in the wall there, so I grabbed a crowbar and hammer and pulled it all out to prove him wrong. So, now I put plywood instead of sheetrock and used screws instead of nails, so if I ever need to remove it again it will be easy.


Quick spray of white over the rustoleum primer, so that it won't be visible or bleed through when I do the final coat of paint.


Took off the faceplate of the electrical panel and sprayed it with some rustoleum gray.


After pressure washing & scrubbing the landing and steps with detergent and a scrub brush (and allowing it to dry overnight), I put some fresh stain down. Looks great (in hindsight, I should have waited until I completed the painting before doing the step staining).


Working on the blue! I have to do something with those metal frame deer heads. I put them on craigslist but no one has expressed any interest


Voila! Finished project. If you divide the garage into quadrants, then I successfully cleaned and painted 1/4. But being this 1/4 contains 2 doors and steps, it is probably the hardest section. I put a plastic tub over the 289 to hopefully protect it better from moisture and crap. And the other tub contains my paint cans, so I won't have them sitting on every countertop / shelf in my workshop anyone.

Next up, I need to tackle this wall unit and repair it / paint it / move it / do something with it.

I don't even know where I could put all this stuff while cleaning and repainting it. It's more than I really want to take on right now.

 

That's looking good 👍
it's been a little to cold for me to hange out in the garage but I see today and tomorrow will be warmer so going to force myself to get out there and do something. Even if it is a little it's better than nothing. Good thing is I have no painting.
Dave ----

 

I did get out to my garage and cleaned/ organized the table in the work room.
I also got all the parts I have for the A pillar trims for my truck laid out to see what all needs to happen to make a left & right trim parts.

I think I can crazy glue it together then reinforce on the back sides with fiberglass. There is 1 little chunk missing that I will have to deal with but still thinking on how to do it.

I did not get a before picture but will of the clean table.
Dave. ----

 

Dave, if I have any interior trim pieces that I am not using, you are welcome to them. Although I think you already looked at one point and saw I was missing the same piece that you were looking for.

I haven't drained the water in this old tank since I got it (bought it used 3-4 years ago), and when I moved it in order to sweep and mop behind it, I could hear water sloshing around. Tried to release the drain but it was so rusted that it just spins on the rivet (or whatever is supposed to hold it). So I put a little heat in it and some WD40 then removed the whole plug. But when I set it back down, nothing came out. So I jammed a screwdriver in the hole and pulled out some nasty crud. After that when I set it down, at least a quart and disgusting black rusty water came out. I've ordered a new petcock drain so in a few days I will be back in business.


Very rusted tank, I might need to upgrade soon.


This gooey funk was blocking the drain.

 

On the tank I would take a hammer and tap all along the bottom to see if you hear a thin spot and if you do then I would think twice.
My dad had one blow the bottom out in our home garage when I was a kid. We were lucky that no one was in the garage at the time but a paint gun cup full of paint that was pretty far way made a mess then it got blown over.

What size is that tank?
Take it the compressor part and motor are good still?
If you find the tank is bad I may have a fix.

FYI I go in on the 18th for the Gallbladder.
Doctor was shocked I was not in pain now as I have a pretty good size stone and a few smaller ones.
Thing is I dont know how I will feel for the Cleveland show being the day after but we will see.
Going to try and keep the truck clean so I dont have to wash it before that show LOL
Dave ----

 

That is a 15 gallon horizontal tank with a 3hp compressor. I do have a 20 gallon upright tank, the compressor on it went bad a few years ago so I tossed it. Funny thing, I think it had a smaller compressor. I was thinking the same thing, maybe putting this compressor on that tank.

Man if you go in for surgery on the 18th I can't imagine that you'd be up for a car show on the 19th!

 

Well at least you have a back up tank with that 20 if the 15 is bad.
I have a 30 I think it is with a bad compressor 220 motor that if you need a tank you could have.

The surgery is outpatient so home the same day but we will see.
Dave ----