power booster pedal travel

-
R

R3dplanet

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2008
Messages
283
Reaction score
50
I have a '65 Barracuda originally shipped with manual brakes. They worked well, especially with the front disc conversion. The problem is that my legs are full of metal rods and pins and I find the manual brakes painful to use.

To this end, I've bought a power booster from Wildcat and had it rebuild by Booster Dewey. Tonight I bolted in the booster and found that I have a problem.

Inside the car, with the new linkage connected, the pedal rests pretty close to the floor and moves only about five inches before it hits the carpet. I cannot force it backward no matter how hard I pull (which isn't very hard) on the pedal.

Have I missed something? It seems like something is really out of whack here - a bigger hole the firewall? A different brake pedal?

Maybe there's something that those with power brakes know about this that I don't. Any help would be appreciated.

I don't believe the booster is incorrect for the car.

Thanks,
mark
 
It don't think that really fits what I have going on in my car. The rod that connects the booster to the master cylinder is an instantly removable unit - a short piston with a heavy circular base at the end of it. Its held into the booster just by friction. The brake rod from the pedal to the booster (that goes through the firewall) looks like a simple flat iron bar with two holes drilled on either side to accept mounting bolts.
 
Okay, I know what you mean. If the brake rod from peddle to booster was longer, would that raise your brake peddle up? Or if it was shorter, would that raise it up? The length of that rod should determine the height if your brake peddle.
 
I remember trying to add a power booster to my car over 30 years ago. Had the same problem. I never figured it out & took the booster back off. I'll be interested in seeing what the solution is if you get it figured out.
 
The brake pedal sits lower on cars with factory power brakes than manual brakes. Probably by an inch or so. If the brakes stop the car like they should, you should be ok.
 
spankmeister7: Probably a stupid question, but was the engine running when you pressed on the brake peddle? The booster needs vacuum to work properly.
 
Thanks for all the replies.

Yes, it seems exactly right that if the brake rod were longer the pedal would rest exactly where it should.

All I can think is that there is either a different brake rod or brake pedal that needs to be in there.

The pedal right now sits much too close to the floor for it to feel at all normal. I can see an inch or so closer to the floor, but its almost already at the floor as it is now.

I've re-read the Conrad book and it makes no mention of this, but it doesn't really touch on power brake setups.
 
I have to relook at mine, I have factory brakes with a bendix booster. Is your booster haves bolted (bendix) or banded (I don't remember this one). I believe mine has an adjuster that goes into the booster where the round piece in the booster goes to the rod. Kindo of like the one that the other guy suggested except in the booster is just a round disk with threads in it that rests in a cutout on the booster diagram. I will look in the manual and see if there are any picutres.
 
Okay. Turns out that for some early A-bodies (still coming up with which models) the flat steel "rod" that connects the brake pedal to the power booster is too short from the factory. This is as suspected, but I haven't found any mention of it here or elsewhere. I was a little surprised that no one I consulted had ever heard of this problem. I only figured it by running out of all other possibilities. I even examined other brake pedals from cars that had power brakes and automatic transmissions to see if the pedals had a different bend.

I stopped by the very clean shop of Booster Dewey (http://boosterdeweyexchange.com) and he knew all about the problem. If the factory brake rod is too short, they also make their own longer brake rods in a medium and long length. The shortest is the factory rod. Mine ended up being the medium-length rod. He even pressed in a collar for me right on the spot. He's a super nice guy and a real treat to deal with.

I'm still trying to identify which of the models of power booster I have. I own a Plymouth service manual, but mine doesn't look like anything in the manual. I witnessed the pulling of the booster from another A-body at Wildcat, and Booster Dewey clearly identified it as an A-body booster.

Hopefully this will help others.

-m
 
[QUOTE=spankmeister7;471472
I'm still trying to identify which of the models of power booster I have. I own a Plymouth service manual, but mine doesn't look like anything in the manual.
-m[/QUOTE]

There were a few different types of boosters made in the early to mid to late
60's. Two that I'm familiar with are the Midland-Ross (finished in gold cadmium) and Bendix (usually finished in black) The Midland-Ross as I remember had a flat push rod. The Bendix had a round shaft. If you can post a photo of yours, maybe a member here can help identify the one you have.
 
Demon416 said:
[QUOTE=spankmeister7;471472
I'm still trying to identify which of the models of power booster I have. I own a Plymouth service manual, but mine doesn't look like anything in the manual.
-m
Click to expand...


There were a few different types of boosters made in the early to mid to late
60's. Two that I'm familiar with are the Midland-Ross (finished in gold cadmium) and Bendix (usually finished in black) The Midland-Ross as I remember had a flat push rod. The Bendix had a round shaft. If you can post a photo of yours, maybe a member here can help identify the one you have.[/QUOTE]

Old age sucks!! Thanks for the Midland-Ross thats the one I was thinking of my Bendix has the round shaft as you state with plenty of adjustment to it, maybe its just a midland-ross problem with pedal travel?
 
Why not pull the booster and fabricate a flat rod to the length you want the pedal to sit? By changing the length, I can't see how that would change the geometry of the design.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top