Power Brake Conversion question

[JWheeler331]

I have read over most everything I could find in the FAQ but still have a question.

I bought the Early Classic conversion kit a while back and here soon I want to install it.

Here is what the kit says;

http://www.earlyclassic.com/catalog.aspx

There are no federal standards for replacement automotive friction materials. When you buy brakes, you’re buying the standards of a company along with the good will and respect earned by a brand name manufacturer.

Raybestos has stood for quality in braking since 1902 and they are the exclusive supplier to Early Classic for calipers, friction and master cylinders in every kit we sell. While others in the industry choose foreign suppliers for their parts, our company philosophy has always been American-Made quality and dependability over foreign-made cost savings, insuring our customers trouble free braking for years to come.

Raybestos is so sure of their commitment to quality that they extend a limited lifetime warranty on their brake products. Ask your Early Classic salesperson for complete details.

One word of caution when shopping for brakes: Half-ton trucks require Half-ton brakes! General Motors engineered the '71 and newer C-10 trucks with a much larger disc brake spindle that utilizes a 12" brake rotor, along with much larger diameter wheel bearings. Although it’s possible to adapt smaller passenger car parts to fit onto the stock drum brake spindle, you will never achieve the proper stopping power using these types of components on a C-10 truck. We’ve designed every Early Classic Spindle to accept standard GM ½ ton brake components, so replacement parts are readily available at your local auto parts store.

Every Kit Comes Complete With Master Cylinder, Proportioning Valve, Brake Lines, Brake Hoses, Calipers, Pads, Rotors, Bearings, Seals, Dust Shields, Dust Caps, Castle Nuts, Slotted Washers, Banjo Bolts, and All necessary Hardware and Brackets.(MAY NOT WORK WITH ORIGINAL '60-'70 STOCK WHEELS)


I am also wanting to make it power brakes and the kit did not come with the power brake booster. I have Captian Fab's bracket but I need to get the booster.

My questions are as follows;

What booster do I get? Can I just get one from somewhere like Auto Zone?

The one from Early Classic is like 249.00.

If I can get one from a local parts store do I just go in and tell them I need a brake booster from whatever year I need?


Sorry if this is in the FAQ and I missed it or didn't understand it.




PS, my truck is a 1965 with stock brakes.

[Sharps40]

Doing this conversion in Jan....power drum drum.....using Captainfab booster adapter.

We intend to use the attached 1967 booster/master assembly on my already split brakes of my 65 C10 SBSS.

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...+brake+booster

Will post up the results.

[60-66]

The booster I used was from a 1965 1966 Impala. As long as your Master Cyl bolts up and the rod sticking out is the correct length your basically good to go. Im interested in opinions on this. All three that Ive used this on work fantastic. The booster is very close to the factory booster in size and appearance, that was my main goal.

[JWheeler331]

Originally Posted by Sharps40

Doing this conversion in Jan....power drum drum.....using Captainfab booster adapter.

We intend to use the attached 1967 booster/master assembly on my already split brakes of my 65 C10 SBSS.

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...+brake+booster

Will post up the results.

Will that work with Disk Brakes also?

I don't know much about the brakes and I have a friend who is somewhat familiar with them who said he would help me out if I need it but I would like to have all the parts when I start.

[Sharps40]

I'm going to use the booster adapter from CaptainFab, saves drilling some holes in the fire wall I believe. Does require adapting the booster input shaft to my adjustable push rod....easily enough with a sleeve.

I believe the Drum Drum master cylinder bores are all 1" and the difference between 67 C10 booster and the 67 Impala booster is......10.75" for the truck, 10.5" for the car.

Lookin forward to bein able to dog John Lee down from speed now that that T5 has significantly boosted acceleration and top speed!!

[JWheeler331]

Originally Posted by Sharps40

I'm going to use the booster adapter from CaptainFab, saves drilling some holes in the fire wall I believe. Does require adapting the booster input shaft to my adjustable push rod....easily enough with a sleeve.

I believe the Drum Drum master cylinder bores are all 1" and the difference between 67 C10 booster and the 67 Impala booster is......10.75" for the truck, 10.5" for the car.

Lookin forward to bein able to dog John Lee down from speed now that that T5 has significantly boosted acceleration and top speed!!

I have one of Capitan Fab's booster brackets also.

[Sharps40]

Originally Posted by JWheeler331

Will that work with Disk Brakes also?

I don't know much about the brakes and I have a friend who is somewhat familiar with them who said he would help me out if I need it but I would like to have all the parts when I start.

Naturally you have to split front from rear for either conversion. But Disc/Drum should be pretty much the same but with the addition of the Disc/Drum master and a proportioning valve....perhaps pressure valves too to prevent weep at the cylinders.

PM CaptainFab.....he has this down to a science.

[JWheeler331]

Originally Posted by Sharps40

Naturally you have to split front from rear for either conversion. But Disc/Drum should be pretty much the same but with the addition of the Disc/Drum master and a proportioning valve....perhaps pressure valves too to prevent weep at the cylinders.

PM CaptainFab.....he has this down to a science.

Ok. My truck will keep the drums in the back but I am changing the front over to disk. The kit came with I guess everything but the booster.

[Sharps40]

All the recommendations are to purchase (regardless of drum/drum or disc/drum) the master and booster as a unit. This ensures the intermediate pushrod is adjusted to the proper length.

Several folks on here had problems with the length of the intermediate pushrod when they bought the booster and master as separate components.

For my drum/drum set up the masters are the same for manual and power....but I'm going to get a matched set even though the current master is good. No fiddling or frustration due to the wrong length intermediate shaft. Besides, the master for drum/drum is only $15 so no real loss. I can use the old one else where or keep it back for a spare.

[JWheeler331]

Originally Posted by Sharps40

All the recommendations are to purchase (regardless of drum/drum or disc/drum) the master and booster as a unit. This ensures the intermediate pushrod is adjusted to the proper length.

Several folks on here had problems with the length of the intermediate pushrod when they bought the booster and master as separate components.

For my drum/drum set up the masters are the same for manual and power....but I'm going to get a matched set even though the current master is good. No fiddling or frustration due to the wrong length intermediate shaft. Besides, the master for drum/drum is only $15 so no real loss. I can use the old one else where or keep it back for a spare.

Thanks. That makes sense.

[tincan1966]

I discovered recently that O'reilly's offers and OEM replacement power brake booster for '64-66 Chevy/GMC trucks for $89! Downside, IF you do not have a core, then it's an additional $50. They also offer the unit w/master cylinder(single OEM) style and with or without the bracket.

On my previous power booster install, I fabbed my own bracket, similar to what Captainfab sells. Nothing wrong with his, the quality of al his parts is top shelf, I mainly just like making stuff!

[JWheeler331]

Originally Posted by tincan1966

I discovered recently that O'reilly's offers and OEM replacement power brake booster for '64-66 Chevy/GMC trucks for $89! Downside, IF you do not have a core, then it's an additional $50. They also offer the unit w/master cylinder(single OEM) style and with or without the bracket.

On my previous power booster install, I fabbed my own bracket, similar to what Captainfab sells. Nothing wrong with his, the quality of al his parts is top shelf, I mainly just like making stuff!

I didn't know that 64-66 trucks even had a power booster. Mine is only the single master cylinder with no booster.

[tincan1966]

Here's some part numbers/prices for what I found. Autozone also carries the Cardone brand for comparison shopping.

OEM booster w/out master cyl or bracket 54-73535 $ 87.88 + $ 46 core

OEM booster w/ bracket(no MC 54-73537 $ 93.99 + $ 35 core

OEM Booster w/bracket and OEM(single) MC 54-3537 $ 131.99 + $35 core

These are all reman parts w/ warranties that could be purchased locally.

You would still need to fab a pushrod to go from your pedal to the booster bracket/linkage, but those can be purchased rather cheaply too.

Just more info to think about. I'd rather buy locally when I know a replacement may only be overnight away if needed than go thru the hassle of some mail order places.

[JWheeler331]

Originally Posted by tincan1966

Here's some part numbers/prices for what I found. Autozone also carries the Cardone brand for comparison shopping.

OEM booster w/out master cyl or bracket 54-73535 $ 87.88 + $ 46 core

OEM booster w/ bracket(no MC 54-73537 $ 93.99 + $ 35 core

OEM Booster w/bracket and OEM(single) MC 54-3537 $ 131.99 + $35 core

These are all reman parts w/ warranties that could be purchased locally.

You would still need to fab a pushrod to go from your pedal to the booster bracket/linkage, but those can be purchased rather cheaply too.

Just more info to think about. I'd rather buy locally when I know a replacement may only be overnight away if needed than go thru the hassle of some mail order places.

Thank you.

[Captainfab]

Post #183 in the for sale thread has a list of boosters that are compatable with my brake booster brackets.

http://www.67-72chevytrucks.com/vboa...=339081&page=8

As for the master cylinder, you just need one for a '73-'87 C10. There are some differences within those years, so you just need to make sure you get the lines connected correctly. I can help with that if you need.

I do not know if the original brake boosters for these trucks will bolt up to my booster bracket. If it does, you will likely need to change the intermediate pushrod since you are going with a disc brake master cylinder.

[tincan1966]

What I like about the OEM brackets is the compound linkage, like the '66-72, which reduces pedal travel while still giving full stroke in the master cylinder.

What I am doing on a customers' truck, since he is keeping it original looking, is adding the OEM booster with bracket from Cardone, then installing a '67 C10 dual master cylinder, adding the new lines and using a '68 Camaro distribution block. This works great for power drums, which will work fine for daily driving.

[Custom/Ten]

I used some stuff I found at summit, it was really easy and took about an hour, didn't have to drill any holes everything bolted in and it cost about 250 bucks, used old combination valve and lines. Only problem is now the brake light wire wont reach the combo valve. Anyone know if I can solder in a few inches of wire and it still work right? Here's some pics if anybody is interested. Seems to work great, better than the brakes on my 95. I'm an automotive student and had brakes class, I think everything is cool i don't know why people often talk about changing lines. I had factory manual disc/drum.] hmm that pic is upside down for some reason

[Custom/Ten]

[Custom/Ten]

I dunno why all the pics are upside down sorry. I do like that wall mounted booster but I don't think it would work with my three on the tree on the 72.

[spookylynx]

Been lurking awhile and doing a lot of reading.... I'm in the process of restoring a '65 C10 LWB stepper, I'll post some pics soon enough, I haven't been doing anything that hasn't been done before,

I have a 76 K20 parts truck and was going to use the Power steering and the V8, it's drum/disc.

Question is... are the 76 K series front calipers, master cylinder and booster the same as the C series? Think I can swap those parts over?

[Custom/Ten]

Just thought I'd mention that I answered my own question. Opened up the wiring and found out there's like 4 feet of the brake light wire taped up in there. Only mention cause someone else might have same problem.

[old cool]

I have a power brake conversion on my 66 but it was siliconed (top of hose) at booster. The previous owner said it needed a proportioning valve to function correctly so he plugged it off making it non power again. It didn't take me long to figure out this guy would not be my resource for repairing or replacing things. Hence, DO I NEED a proportioning valve if I have a drum-drum brake system with a double barrel master cylinder? I have read two different answers. What is the consensus here?

[66Submarine]

Originally Posted by spookylynx

Been lurking awhile and doing a lot of reading.... I'm in the process of restoring a '65 C10 LWB stepper, I'll post some pics soon enough, I haven't been doing anything that hasn't been done before,

I have a 76 K20 parts truck and was going to use the Power steering and the V8, it's drum/disc.

Question is... are the 76 K series front calipers, master cylinder and booster the same as the C series? Think I can swap those parts over?

A '76 K20 is a solid axle 4x4 3/4 ton truck with eight lug hubs; you don't think you can use the brakes off of that to get disk brakes like using 71-87 2wd 1/2 ton stuff, do you?

[66Submarine]

Originally Posted by old cool

I have a power brake conversion on my 66 but it was siliconed (top of hose) at booster. The previous owner said it needed a proportioning valve to function correctly so he plugged it off making it non power again. It didn't take me long to figure out this guy would not be my resource for repairing or replacing things. Hence, DO I NEED a proportioning valve if I have a drum-drum brake system with a double barrel master cylinder? I have read two different answers. What is the consensus here?

I don't think that the drum/drum dual master cylinder trucks came with them, did they? AFAIK you only need the proportioning valve with disk/drum setups.

[spookylynx]

Originally Posted by 66Submarine

A '76 K20 is a solid axle 4x4 3/4 ton truck with eight lug hubs; you don't think you can use the brakes off of that to get disk brakes like using 71-87 2wd 1/2 ton stuff, do you?

No.... just the calipers and the master cylinder / booster.

Calipers still mount in the same way, off tabs on the knuckle or tabs on the spindle. It's just a question of whether or not chevy used the same MC / BB and caliper system or did they have an entirely different system for the Ks I have them sitting around on a K series donor truck I bought for the 350. I think the MC / BB would be the same, I cant see GM having different sytems for every truck series...

Just thought I'd throw the question out there. I havent had time to tear apart that truck yet, still doing cab rust repair