New Users Power Brake Question

[crossland1962]

[B]PLEASE HELP!!!
I am new to the forum. I believe i have scrambled my brain reading post in the past two days! Will someone PLEASE point me in the right direction on the easiest most cost effective way to upgrade to power Drum/Drum brakes! That will have the capability to add disk when $$ allow. I have read so many different things i thought i had it under control now im so confused. i have written down tons of part #,s and dont know which way is up at this point!!!
Please and Thank you in advance

[mwipp]

Why not upgrade to disk/drum right away? All I did was find a donor truck 87 or older with the brake setup you are looking for (I took mine off an 85). The newer truck spindles bolt right up to our trucks. Then the booster and master cylinder with little modifications nearly bolts in. For the rear I just cut off the needed brackets from my original axel and welded them onto the newer axel. Part of the reason I did that aswell was to switch to 5 bolt wheels. Idk if that is anything like what you're looking for but I know there is a guide somewhere on this fourm to do that conversion.... Also if you wanted powering steering as well the steering gear box can be used from that generation truck as well

[crossland1962]

I have a 62 that has torsion bars up front. I was thinking about keeping them so the 73-87 swap wont work for me.

[mwipp]

Ahhh yeah that makes sense. Should have caught the 1962 in your username hahaha my bad

[Sharps40]

Read about John Lee's power drum brake conversion. Final posts going in it tonight. It's easy .

[Captainfab]

The quickest and easiest is to start with one of my brake booster brackets which bolts directly to your firewall. Then you bolt up one of the many compatable boosters, to which you bolt up a '70 Buick Estate wagon master cylinder (A1 Cardone #10-1363). Then it is just a matter of lengthening the booster pushrod to meet the brake pedal arm, and plumbing your new brake lines. I have the booster brackets for both auto trans and manual trans with the hydraulic clutch applications.

Check out Sharps40's excellent thread on his recent power brake upgrade.

[Sharps40]

Last nights check ride after the ratio reduction was Moi Fantastico!

Can't wait to fire it off and drive to work this morning.

Lovin the single toe power of power brakes.

[64shortbox]

As Captainfab suggested purchase one of his brake booster brackets get a vacuum booster from a junk yard and the Buick Master cylinder. I've purchased both his Power Steering Box Bracket and his Booster Bracket both excellent products and bolt right in. Also very good prices & fast shipping. It will make your job a piece of cake. Believe me!

[Sharps40]

Ride in this AM was awesomeness. Final tweaks of the ratio made all the difference tranforming the power drum drum brakes from effortless exceptional to solid feeling effortless exceptional.

I highly recommend the brake booster bracket to prevent drilling and/or other firewall butchery and the power drum drum conversion can also be highly recommended as one of the easiest and most satisfying upgrades I've made toward reliable and safe daily driver status.

[crossland1962]

I have found the original booster and MC combo that Sharps40 was going to use originally (A1 50-3715) at my local O'reillys for $111 so with that and a Captainfab bracket should be a piece of cake! Or should i use a different booster and the Buick MC that you recommend Captain??
Thanks for all the help! Glad i found this site!

[Sharps40]

Check further. I believe that particular master is drum drum only, whether power on not.

Since you want to eventually convert to disc.......the proper power master has one resevour of larger size than the equal sized drum/drum master resevours, consider talking with Captain fab first.

I don't know for sure but there are at least some additional differences between disc and drum masters that could cause problems if a disc master is used on drums, most notably weeping at the drum slave cylinders since the disc master is unlikely to have/or has differently rated residual pressure valves needed for prevention of weeping, etc., in drums.

If discs are way off in the future, I'd vote for drum drum power master set up for the time being and swap in a disc/drum master later. Besides, wiff drums, Get it adjusted right, check and adjust every second oil change and drums will serve ya in spades forever anyway.

[crossland1962]

I went ahead and got the A1 50-3715 and it is only drum/drum. Its not a daily driver i just drive it now and then!! So i think the drums will be fine for me for a while. Its and uprgrade either way with the dual resevoir and power!! With this master i dont have to have any proportioning valves it just goes from mc to wheel cylinders right?? How can an upgrade be bad?? Now i have to get a mounting bracket from Captain!!

[Captainfab]

Does your truck still have the manual trans with the hydraulic clutch, or does it have an auto trans? There are links to the for sale threads for most of my products in my signature line including both of those booster brackets. Let me know.

Originally Posted by crossland1962

I went ahead and got the A1 50-3715 and it is only drum/drum. Its not a daily driver i just drive it now and then!! So i think the drums will be fine for me for a while. Its and uprgrade either way with the dual resevoir and power!! With this master i dont have to have any proportioning valves it just goes from mc to wheel cylinders right?? How can an upgrade be bad??Now i have to get a mounting bracket from Captain!!

[Sharps40]

Find a buddy wif pressure bleeding ability. Pumpin fluid into a totally dry system as split brakes will be for ya is a bear. Its harder on a power system.....don't forget to bench bleed the master.

And don't buy a mightyvac...its not even good at suckin a squishy white bird turd out of a canary.

Plan to run 4 to 8 ounces of fluid out each corner after its full to chase out all the air.

Finally......have fun!

[Sharps40]

You are correct, dual drum/drum power does not use a proportioning valve. You will have to get good at brake adjustment and I'll recommend you mount the pedal push rod with under 1/4" free travel and 1" lower on the pedal than before. Other wise I suspect you'll have a soft pedal in the top half of the stroke and very sensitive lockey brakes.

[crossland1962]

Thanks for everyones help!!

[Sharps40]

Post pics.

[60ShortStepGMC]

Sounds like I'm a little late in this conversation, but I found a m/c and power booster combo from a drum/drum '71 sub on Craigslist....$25. If you're patient you can find the stuff you need at a cost you can afford.

I'm running a stock '60 (brake & clutch) m/c right now and will soon be upgrading. But take a close look at the space between your inner fender and your engine. When I size up that space against the diameter of the power booster, most of it gets eaten up. Hard to see there's enough room for a clutch m/c between it and the main power conduit in the firewall (I have the 305 v6 so maybe it's just me). But FYI nonetheless. That said, the more experienced fellas around here can speak to the specifics.

The images on CaptFab's posts are extremely helpful. Tho I have yet to pick up his bracket I study them often. Study Sharps' write up about his power booster upgrade too. It all helps.