I have always dreamed about the idea of a power booster/dual chamber master in my '65. Obviously, seeing all the bolt-ons advertised in magazines and such makes it look like I just take the old one off, and put the new one on. I was wondering if anyone could enlighten me about the reality of the swap. Do these kits really help out a drum/drum pedal? Do you need a certain amount of "vacuum" (which I do not understand at all...and is not mentioned by the advertisers)? Do you just put it in, bleed it, and go on with your life?? I couldn't find much information in old threads.

Thanks.

SKY

 

wanted to add that I have the 240....so if some sort of vacuum is required, how do you attach it to the engine? Just really curious

 

There should be a fitting or plug on the intake manifold for vacume as for the booster you're best off finding an original setup the bolt ons are a little more involved than just bolt on. fitting to your existing pedal and special brakets to bolt to the firewall. Someone else will chime in with particulars. Good luck they can be found if you look hard enough some one on another thread mentioned that napa carried one but i can't remember the part number off the top of my head.
RCC

 

You have two options to put a brake booster and master cylinder with two resivors.

Option 1. Install disk brakes on your pickup off of a 1973-1979 F-series pickup. This requires more than a booster and master cylinder and your best bet is to buy a donor truck to get all the parts you need to complete the swap. I completed the swap on my 65 last fall and it took a weekend to complete. I purchased a 73 F-100 and took a whole lot of parts off for myself and then sold the rest off piece by piece and got all of my money back. I highly recommend this swap as my truck and others on here who have completed the swap rave about how well the trucks stop.

Option 2. Install a booster and master cylinder off of a 1967-72 F-series truck as they had drum brakes all the way around and dual resivors on the master cylinder. There is less plumbing of lines involved with this swap but swapping parts would be fairly easy. I can not go into the details as I have never competed the swap, but I would not think it would be that bad.

If you go front disk, I can provide more info and I have pictures of my swap in my gallery on that. In my opinion there is no need to purchase a kit from a magazine, as you can complete your swap using all factor Ford parts and I would think for a whole lot cheaper. Either swap require a little more work than just bolting on a new booster and master cylinder and bleeding brakes.

The more vacuum you have the better, if you engine will not maintain enough vacuum you can always had a vacuum canister which stores additional vacuum to be used by the booster. Unless you have a radical camshaft on the engine or a very worn out engine a stock engine will provide enough vacuum to run the booster.

Jeff

 

i installed the boosterand all hardware from a 76 f-100 and the only problem i ran into was the connection from the portioning valve to existing brake lines. they are two different breeds altogether, i did find the right changeover parts at the auto parts store. so if this particular part does not come with the kit be prepared for that. i dont know if the 67--72 have the different sized connections as i have never done those years. i'm sure someone on this site will know that, Dutch

 

Thanks everybody for your input. That helped clear up some questions I had. I am planning on doing the disc brake conversion, and that is why this question came up. I'm just trying to get it straight it my head and on paper before I dive in. I've read the article on the disc conversion, and would LOVE to grab a donor off craigslist and go at it. Problem is the truck is in TN in my parents garage. I've been livin with my parents for the last six weeks and will for one more month before I go back to UT to finish my last semester of college. I'm applying to law schools right now for next fall, and planning on getting married in April or May....needless to say, I don't know how my truck will fit in during the next 3 to 4 years of my life. I could end up at a law school in southern cali or Vermont! Figuring out life at my age is HARD, and it's nice to retreat to the world of classic trucks for a little bit of peace and quiet. Dreaming and planning my build is an escape from the real world for me. I didn't get to escape too far though as my girldfriend (not fiance yet ) helped me install my T/S switch a few weeks ago..haha.

Don't know where that tangent came from, but I just think it's funny that all the time I spend studying and preparing for my "future" is really just so I can have a decent salary to be able to have the truck of my dreams. I know a hunk of metal isn't the most imp. thing in life...but it helps motivate me

Am I the only one?

SKY

 

I Agree with you Whole-hartedly it's my escape too. Early Congrats & Good Luck!
RCC

 

I have a 66 f250 that I took the spindles,discs, proportioning valve and master and booster from a 70 f250 and everything was a bolt on except for 3 exceptions. I had to make to spacers to go between the booster brackets and the firewall because the rod from the booster to the pedal was an 1" to long and I had to fabricate a small bracket to mount a brake lite switch to the pedal support. I also had to replumb the front brakes because when you remove the junction block fron inside the frame the fittings are a different size on the proportioning valve. I put the proportioning valve up on the fender well where it wwas easy to get to. There are brackets that will mount prop valve off master. It's really simple once you start doing it.

I think a 67 booster has the same length booster rod as the 66 and would elinate the 1" spacers and will in the future try that.

You can not imagine the difference in braking. No more pumping the brakes and hoping you don't have to make a panic stop

ED

 

There are a number of variations to the upgrade, FTE member ddavidv has a very good article on the subject, posting a link to his web site, hopefully it will help. I used a 76 donor truck, direct hookup. Usually find a vacuum plug on the aft part of the intake manifold. Purchased 1/2" square alum stock for spacer between the firewall and booster bracket. Cut the length of the alum stock to cover both sides approx. 2 1/2" long, and drilled the holes for the mounting bolts. Found the alum stock easy to work with. I also used the original brake assembly and pressure stop switch, purchased an adaptor and modifying an adaptor by taping the threads to mount on the proportion valve. Believe majority of FTE members suggest hooking up an elect. stop switch for safety reasons. Also recommend not bothering with salvaged master cylinder, purchased a new master cylinder from Napa parts store for $45, no exchange necessary and did not have to worry about it going out any time soon.


f100discs

 

I did the donor truck also. I used every thing of the front of a 77? (not sure of the year) and the only thing i had to fab was a bit of hard line to connect the propvalve to the rear brake line. I had to drill 5 holes in the frame/cross member: 2 for the prop valve (my donor had it on the cross) and 3 for the brakets that hold the joint where the hard line meets the rubber line at the wheels (one side had an existing hole). I rebuild the calipurs and the master cylinder just for the experiance.