I went on a field trip with my son Friday to Joe Gibbs Racing. What a facility (all that space is necessary to keep the Chevy's running )! Sure does make me jealous. But, it also lit a fire in me to get something done. So, I finished off the front brake conversion, got the e-brakes hooked back up and all the steering in place. I added new pic's to my slowly progressing gallery.

I'm having a little trouble with the brake booster. The area where the master cylinder used to bolt up had a bracket that runs down, kind of supporting the firewall where the steering column goes through. In order to bolt up a power booster, it will have to have some narrow depth right there to fit between the rails of the bracket. The booster I got from the donor (I didn't actually take it off, so I am just guessing it actually came from the '76 the rest came from) doesn't fit. Does anyone know what power booster and master cylinder will bolt directly up to my 66 w/o power originally? The local hot rod shop wants to sell me a generic booster and master from a Corvette for about $230.

Once I have the proper master and power booster, I can plumb the rest of the brakes and move on from that part of the project. I can see a dim flicker of a light at the end of the tunnel.

 

You don't mention what year F-Series you're working on. I have a 66 and It works OK.

Does your booster have a "standoff" bracket with a bellcrank mechanism that lifts the vacuum chamber out and up from the center line of the swing pedal hole in the firewall?

Or does it appear to want to bolt up inline without any bracket or offset ?

I'm using a 77 Booster, it fits fine & clears my 460 Engine also. The offset/"Standoff "
bracket is why. Or atleast it appears to allow it to all clear & fit /work fine.

FBp

 

mjunk1

I took a look at your profile an I see you have a 66, is this the truck your working on, maybe a little more info, as stated above. Are you working with
the stand off brackets, and the candle lever set up, and have you looked at
the articals/specs at the top of the page. There are lots of good info there
about the swap you are doing!



Wally Womack

 

mjunk1, 76 with all parts will directly bolt up back to 65. I have a 76 setup in my 66. The issue that I had was with the peddle, and that was addressed by making a new hole in the rod from the booster. There has been some talk recently about a spacer on the firewall that I have not seen in real time.

Give us some more imput and we will help you work through this.

John

 

G'day Mjunk1,

This is what I'm doing with a '75 F250 Master/Booster into a '66 F350.

link: https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...133212&width=0

Might be an option for you. Although my setup is for Righthand Drive it's pretty much the same for a Lefthand drive. Also the US '65-'66 inner guards will give you much more clearance than the Aussie inner guards of the same years.

The more options and info. you've got the more informed you decision will be.

Cheers............Barry.

 

Thanks for the replies. I suppose my reference to year and type was a bit hidden - my apologies. I'm pretty convinced that the booster and master cylinder I was given is off of something else and pretty much worthless. The truck didn't have power to begin with, so the master cylinder simply bolted up to the firewall and fit in between the support brackets that are there. I'm guessing a correct booster - from what everyone says - is made with the clearance necessary in the design. Rather than buy something brand new, i'll take a look at the local junk yard and see if I can get one off a donor.

Is there any way to tell if you are pulling a completely shot booster from the donor? I would guess you would just replace the master since they are cheap, but not sure how you guage the booster.

 

You need the mechanical bracket FBp was talking about and then any booster will fit and clear the valve cover. I look for these in the junk yard and also grab the pedal arm with the wide pedal and the flat rod that goes between the pedal arm and mechanical booster bracket. Shorten the flat rod and drill a new hole just ahead of where the original hole was. This step will re-establish the correct brake pedal ratio for a boosted system.

 

You can take a hand vacuum pump/brake bleeder with you to check them. You don't need a lot of vacuum just a few Hg to check for leaks. Most parts stores have them for less the $30. Remember to bring the fittings for plugging the vacuum port on the booster. These sometimes disappear from random acts of people.

 

Fordboypete

I have a 66 f250 that I just took all the parts from a 1970 f250 power disc
and bolted them on. I had to make one inch square tube spacers to go between the booster brackets and the firewall so the push rod would hook up correctly for the right amount of travel, The 68 to 72 pushrod length between firewall and pushrod hole on pedal is 5". On the 66 it is 3 7/8 thus the 1" spacers.
The 67 power drum booster has the same firewall to pedal distance as the 66 3 7/8
So I am going to try and see if the 67 power drum booster will hook up to my power disc master and work properly eliminating the use of spacers.

Presently the brakes work perfectly. You will need brackets as you have discovered to clear the two vertical pieces of firewall reinforcement. Do not cut those!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you just want the factory power drum for 66 the booster and single bowl master are still available but I would rather have a dual bowl disc setup.

 

i also used a 76 donor truck on my 66 cc. i converted mine from a 4 speed to an automatic so when i had it apart i also took out the whole bracket that held the foot peddles and the 76 bolted right up. the only change was i had to make to 3/8 inch spacers for where it bolted upto the dash .i didn't drill any holes for the pushrods or anything. used the whole thing from the donor. i also put the i-beams and stearing column from the donor as i wanted disc brakes. took two days to put it all in, a week to figure out the wiring and another two weeks to dismantle it and clean it and paint it. dutch

 

I bought mine several years ago from Auto Krafters. Took it into a brake shop they said I had a Bronco Booster on it and could replace it with a better one. I didn't replace it because it is smaller and makes working on the motor that much easier. I am going with disc up front next to improve stopping.

 

Unfortunately don't know how to use gallery or would show 76 setup on the 65 F100. As other members have noted, the 76 is a direct swapp. However, as FBp indicated you will need the offset bracket. Once the MC is installed the brake peddle may be off slightly. Members have noted making correction by drilling another hole where the MC actuating arm joins the brake peddle assembly. On my 65, i used spacer by cutting 2 pieces of 1/2" alum. square stock approx. 2" to 2 1/2" long then drilled the 2 holes in each for the bolts. Used alum. square stock because it's strong, easy to cut and drill. Installed the spacers between the firewall and offset bracket, may need slightly longer bolts, been so long ago can't remember. Anyhow, another option to consider. Also, if you have to pic at the donor again may want to take brake switch bracket if you have not already done so.

dave

 

The 1" spacer is a relative new idea to this forum. Many of us drilled a new hole in the arm under the dash to makeup the difference.

Remember the firewall/floorpan (mount points) are unchanged from 65 to 79.

John