Now that idiot season is over, I can start the engine swap process. Since the 502" big block I built only makes 13" of vacuum, I knew I'd need hydroboost brakes. And I wanted to get it in and working while the old engine is still powering the truck. And since the brake booster would be out of the way, I installed a Borgeson steering shaft, and a DRB lower steering column bearing.

With hood and booster removed, it made valve cover access easy. So I removed them, inspected the valve train, cleaned up the valve covers, and replaced the gaskets. I also cleaned up / gutted some of the unused wiring in the engine bay. Since I have HEI and a one wire alternator, a lot of the factory engine bay wiring and gadgets are no longer used. When I install the new engine I'll totally rewire the engine bay and spiff it up with some paint.

The old setup worked ok with the 20" of vacuum the current engine makes. It's a F350 dual diaphragm booster, 1997 Explorer master cylinder, and a Wilwood adjustable proportioning valve on rear brake line.



There's the old steering shaft and busted lower column bearing. I knew the bearing was bad, but I didn't realize how worn out the rag joint and U-joint were until I removed everything.



DRB bearing and Borgeson shaft in place. Much gooder! The upper steering column bearing also needs replacing. Once I'm done with all this, I'll replace it while I'm replacing the bad turn signal switch.




Everything looks good. No loose rockers, broken springs, bent pushrods, sludge, or sticky valves. And it's obvious that all the pushrods are oiling the rockers well.



Now for the main event. I don't bend so well anymore, so I removed the seat to make it a little more tolerable to work under the dash. And I removed the hood for the same reason. I had to take a few thousandths off the pushrod pivot so it'd fit the new booster's pushrod. I especially like that this kit puts the accumulator on the driver's side. That'll give me enough clearance to easily remove valve cover on the big block.



the kit came with a 1.125" bore, Corvette master cylinder. It has outlets on both sides. It's cast iron, I painted it with Rustoleum suspended aluminum paint.



The kit came with all the pressure lines, return line, and hardware needed to finish the installation. The pressure lines only have one end installed, so you can route them how you want, then cut to desired length and install the other ends. That stainless steel braid is a bear! I bled and cussed quite a bit making up those two lines. It took some planning to get the 90 degree ends clocked correctly. I wish kit had come with swivel ends. Oh well. The included aluminum clamps are nice.



I'll make a bracket for the adjustable proportioning valve later. For now it's ok with that short piece of steel brake line. Once the bracket is installed, I'll probably use one of the flexible brake lines that came with the kit. You can see that I'll have lots of clearance for the big block. It probably would have cleared the old vacuum brake booster, but unlike the hydrobooster, the big vacuum booster would have to be removed in order to pull the driver's side valve cover.



I followed the instructions for system bleeding. I actually did it several times. The brake pedal was slow to return. I checked the instructions, and it plainly says that for the first 500 miles, pedal return will be slow and stiff. That didn't make me happy. I've probably put ten miles on it so far, and pedal return is already improving. I'll repeat the bleeding process daily for a few days. Once that works itself out, I'll readjust the pushrod and brake light switch. Also, the low pressure return line fitting on the hydroboost unit is seeping. It was a little loose so I removed it to inspect it. The O-ring looks ok. I reinstalled it and it seeps less, but still unacceptable. I'll replace the O-ring later. If that doesn't work, I'll replace the fitting.

As for braking performance, it's better than I hoped for. I had to back off on the adjustable proportioning valve quite a bit to keep the rear tires from locking up. Like the guy in the video said, the truck stops on a dime and gives you two nickels in change.

 

Can I get a ride and get a few dimes worth of change? Nice job, nice write up, can you post up some part # 's of the old (but good set up) and the new set up please?

 

Thanks Rich. Do you mean part numbers?

 

And a few dimes...and Yes...part #'s.

 

Rich, I don't have part numbers for the old system I cobbled together. But again, the booster was for a Dentside F350, and the master cylinder was for a '97 Explorer I believe. I do remember having to widen the mounting holes in the master cylinder.

I ordered the hydroboost kit from Wild Horses. Part # 793073.

Well there's some crappy news. I was suspecting that the return line is what's causing slow pedal return and constant slight pressure on the brakes. After doing some more research I've found that the optimum way to do this is to have a power steering pump with two return lines, instead of T'ing into the existing return line. The T can, and obviously is putting back pressure on the booster, causing it to engage the brakes slightly, and preventing the pedal from returning to full up position. It's probably also the reason why the return line fitting at the booster is seeping. I just looked at the Saginaw pump on my Dodge Cummins truck, and sure enough, it has two return lines. One for the gearbox, one for the hydroboost. So, it looks like I'll be removing my Saginaw pump and installing a bulkhead fitting for a second return line. That's gonna be a tricky job trying to keep metal chips out of the reservoir, and then I'll have to bleed the system again. Crap!

 

Ask and ye shall receive. Our good friend Flowney has already done this......
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ydroboost.html

 

How do you have it teed? Try running the booster line straight through with ps line teed into it.Never had any problems this way.Just to be sure,pressure to booster,then to steering?If you do end up going with 2 returns,don't mess with drilling a hole in your rez,just get one with 2 returns, assuming you have a Saginaw pump.

 

Hey Headloct! It's T'd the way the instructions say. Gearbox straight, booster 90 degrees. They are very adamant about not T'ing in the other direction, so I'm not gonna do that. If I was only dealing with one power steering pump, I'd get a new one with two return lines. But I've got two pumps. One on the truck's current engine, and one on the newly built 502" engine. The new engine that's on the test stand already has a Saginaw pump on it. It'll have to get modified too.

I've already got fittings and an O-ring kits on order. It shouldn't be too much trouble to add bulkhead fittings to the reservoirs.

And last night I confirmed that it is return line back pressure that's preventing the pedal from returning all the way. With the engine running, the pedal won't return completely. With the engine not running, the pedal returns immediately.

 

you probably don't want to hear this but...that braided line looks good but let's look at -6 an braided line and fittings which are compared to 3/8 steel line and fittings.The ID of the braided is less and corresponding fittings are way more restrictive than comparable 3/8 steel-rubber hoses,inverted flare fittings.Just throwing this out there.I'm sure you will get yours working right.

 

Sorry, but that's just not true. I thought the same thing when I first compared the lines to the old ones I had just swapped out on my Dodge Cummins truck. In fact, I initially planned to use the supplied lines only for length and clocking the ends. Then take them to one of the local farm supply places to have them duplicated with traditional hydraulic lines. When I spoke to the owner of the store, he told me that the supplied line is just as strong, and the inside diameter is actually a few thousandths larger.

Below is a comparison of the supplied line vs the old pressure line from my 2001 Dodge 2500. The Dodge has the same hydroboost unit and Saginaw pump.

 

More fun and games. My bulkhead fittings and nipples for the second return line came today. I have an old Saginaw pump, so I used it as a cadaver for learning how to disassemble and reassemble. No big issues with that. But after looking at the magnet in my fairly new pump, and the one in the old pump, I ordered magnetic inline filters for both return lines. The magnet in the old pump was caked over with about 5/8" of metal powder! Looked like a mouse crawled in there and died.



Installing the AN bulkhead fitting was a no brainer.







Reinstallation was straight forward. I jacked up the front end to repeat the bleeding process, and found a leak at the high pressure outlet. I'm not sure if it was the pressure fitting O-ring, or the hose end that was loose. I tightened both and the leak stopped. It bled fine. The second return fitting obviously helped, because the drip I had at the return outlet on the booster is now gone. However, I won't be able to test the brakes for a while....I heard a noise on the passenger side of the Dana 44 while bleeding the system. Wheel bearings are shot. Crap! More $$$. New spindle, rotor, bearings nut & lock ring set, etc. Crap! I'll replace the selectors too I guess.

 

Looks good to me. I also used Hydratech because of anticipated low engine vacuum and valve cover clearance. I haven't been able to test it because my project was put on an involuntary 2.5 year hiatus due to a family emergency so I'll be keen to hear how yours performs. Perhaps I missed it but what sort of PS oil cooler are you using? It never occurred to me that a magnet should be employed but after reading about your experience I think that I now should. Just dropping a magnet into the reservoir might be all that is needed.

 

Flowney, I hope that emergency works out to everyone's favor.

The Saginaw pump magnets are on the pump motor, which is inside to the reservoir. It wouldn't hurt to add another one, but that metal would remain inside the pump. With filters, the metal is taken away when the filter is replaced or cleaned.

I did not add a cooler. I still have the long U-turn cooler line on the front of the K member. I was going to replace it with a cooler, but when I started looking hard, I realized that any cooler that would fit on the K member, actually has less tubing / surface area than the stock unit. But it's still on my mind. I'm not opposed to adding a large cooler w/ fan on the front of the radiator if needed.

 

Good to know. I probably didn't notice it on my new unit without all that accumulated metallic sludge

The stock zig-zag cooler should work fine as it does not restrict flow as some aftermarket finned coolers with "turbulators" inside them do. Maybe the fins can make up for lesser length even in flow through models, I really don't know.

 

Good to know. I probably didn't notice it on my new unit without all that accumulated metallic sludge

The stock zig-zag cooler should work fine as it does not restrict flow as some aftermarket finned coolers with "turbulators" inside them do. Maybe the fins can make up for lesser length even in flow through models, I really don't know.