Could you, would you Hydrovac?

[1project2many]

My 57 1/2 ton Chevy is mildly modified and generally has a stock appearance. I've been considering installing a Hydrovac brake booster on the RH front frame rail as was available from GM but haven't been able to locate one. Today I found a reman that would cost about $250 with core and shipping. I have the factory accessory installation manual for '58 with instructions and chances are good that I could fab brackets and lines as needed for a nice install.

Just curious about this. If you saw this setup on a truck would it generate a reaction? "Wow, that's an original booster." or "What the heck is that??" Or would it not even matter?

[mknittle]

I could and I would. but never green eggs and ham!

They are the best way to go in my opinion. Check e-bay and at the wrecking yard look for chevy vans from the 80-90s.

[G&R's57GMC]

Originally Posted by mknittle

I could and I would. but never green eggs and ham!

They are the best way to go in my opinion. Check e-bay and at the wrecking yard look for chevy vans from the 80-90s.

I think you have confused the Hydro-Boost (powered by the Power Steering Pump) with the Hydro-Vac (powered by engine vacuum).

The Hydro-Vac is for a single master cylinder brake system.
If you loose any part of the brake hydraulic system you have NO BRAKES

As you may know the stock parking brake front cable is prone to breaking (snap) leaving you with no reliable way to stop the truck.

Consider using a dual manual master cylinder and two Hydro-Vac units, one for the front brakes and the other for the rear brakes.
This would give you a WOW factor for the one guy who might notice them.

For the Safety, cost and simplicity go with a frame mount dual master with power booster.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Not to hijack but I opened this thread looking for a hydro-boost discussion.

My early 283 is over cammed;though it runs excellent, and I was quoted $1000 to change cams - eek! My heads have NO holes in the front for mounting a PS pump and I already own a new/never installed disc brake set up. I'd like to use the kit, upgrade to the tapered roller bearings it has, and have debated a manual disc/drum setup wondering is they work well or pedal pressure will be nasty?

I'd only do this cause I'm being cheap I suppose and want to avoid the cost of the PS pump, hydro booster, non-hole heads brackets, etc. What are the opinions on how I should proceed? Just bite the bullet on a cam change?

[1project2many]

Consider using a dual manual master cylinder and two Hydro-Vac units, one for the front brakes and the other for the rear brakes.

Interesting idea. I've got an Electroboost here from an '80s GN but I'm happy to stick with the single master for now. It may not seem safe on the face of it but much of the reason brake systems unexpectedly fail is because they aren't inspected well enough. There's more chance for failure on my daily drivers than on this truck.

Not to hijack but I opened this thread looking for a hydro-boost discussion.

Snuck past airport security, eh? Plenty of diesel vehicles use vacuum pumps for the brakes and some late GM vehicles have electric vacuum pumps to assist when engine vacuum is low.
Clicky Clicky

[Rude Dude]

Dan I never seen P/S pump bolted to the heads before? And a $1000 to change a cam where at Beverly Hills? You can do that guy so easy. Are you using a front of Engine Stock Mount or side mount? Bill's Hot Rods have a nice front P/S mount that uss front stock motor mount bosses.

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Not to hijack but I opened this thread looking for a hydro-boost discussion.

My early 283 is over cammed;though it runs excellent, and I was quoted $1000 to change cams - eek! My heads have NO holes in the front for mounting a PS pump and I already own a new/never installed disc brake set up. I'd like to use the kit, upgrade to the tapered roller bearings it has, and have debated a manual disc/drum setup wondering is they work well or pedal pressure will be nasty?

I'd only do this cause I'm being cheap I suppose and want to avoid the cost of the PS pump, hydro booster, non-hole heads brackets, etc. What are the opinions on how I should proceed? Just bite the bullet on a cam change?

[_Ogre]

dan, dan, dan...
i use an 03 mustang hydroboost on my 58, it has power to stop a mack truck
you can buy a mount to put a power steering pump anywhere on the front of a sbc
i mounted the hydroboost in the stock location, the power steering pump low on the drivers side and have a remote reservoir








i made my own pump mount with 3/8'' id tube and flat plate. no welding.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Hi Ogre, hi Rudy,

Ogre, I remember we "talked" about this before. I like your setup; especially the Villager remote reservoir, but I'm wondering what that '03 Mustang hydroboost would cost? How can you mount the hydroboost in the stock master cylinder location? I assume I'd have to make some kind of bracket to get the pedal to work out of the factory floor hole?

Rudy, I just assumed the PS pump would mount on a bracket(s) that bolted to the holes in the front of the heads...or at least one hole there. My heads are early Camel humps and have no holes. I know there are sources online for brackets - none of which I'm too high on. They're ridiculously big/wide.

The shop that gave me that quote certainly ISN'T in Beverly Hills. It's in Baldwin Park! They're a great little shop. A couple of older guys been there since they were kids in the 60's. The quote included R&R'ing grill and radiator, etc. In your opinion what SHOULD that cost? Cam itself is pretty low buck at Summit even with new lifters. I am concerned about "while-I'm-in-there's" though.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Ogre,

Is THIS:

http://my.cardone.com/English/club/m...ARTNUM=527360#

...what you're using? $178 reman'd doesn't strike me as terrible since it'll be reliable. Checked the Pull A Part website, no late model Mustangs listed but there are other yards too. What's the secret to mounting it?

[Rude Dude]

http://billshotrodcompany.com/673/715.html

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Hi Ogre, hi Rudy,

Ogre, I remember we "talked" about this before. I like your setup; especially the Villager remote reservoir, but I'm wondering what that '03 Mustang hydroboost would cost? How can you mount the hydroboost in the stock master cylinder location? I assume I'd have to make some kind of bracket to get the pedal to work out of the factory floor hole?

Rudy, I just assumed the PS pump would mount on a bracket(s) that bolted to the holes in the front of the heads...or at least one hole there. My heads are early Camel humps and have no holes. I know there are sources online for brackets - none of which I'm too high on. They're ridiculously big/wide.

The shop that gave me that quote certainly ISN'T in Beverly Hills. It's in Baldwin Park! They're a great little shop. A couple of older guys been there since they were kids in the 60's. The quote included R&R'ing grill and radiator, etc. In your opinion what SHOULD that cost? Cam itself is pretty low buck at Summit even with new lifters. I am concerned about "while-I'm-in-there's" though.

[mknittle]

Originally Posted by G&R's57GMC

I think you have confused the Hydro-Boost (powered by the Power Steering Pump) with the Hydro-Vac (powered by engine vacuum).

The Hydro-Vac is for a single master cylinder brake system.
If you loose any part of the brake hydraulic system you have NO BRAKES

As you may know the stock parking brake front cable is prone to breaking (snap) leaving you with no reliable way to stop the truck.

Consider using a dual manual master cylinder and two Hydro-Vac units, one for the front brakes and the other for the rear brakes.
This would give you a WOW factor for the one guy who might notice them.

For the Safety, cost and simplicity go with a frame mount dual master with power booster.

No Sur I am familar with both I have a hydro boost in my jeep. Chevy did use them in some vans because fo limited space. also on 80s-90s disel cars and trucks.

[mknittle]

" If the brake hydraulic system you have NO BRAKES" the same thing happens if your engine dies. And I have never had a sudden power steering pump failure.

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Ogre,

Is THIS:

http://my.cardone.com/English/club/m...ARTNUM=527360#

...what you're using? $178 reman'd doesn't strike me as terrible since it'll be reliable. Checked the Pull A Part website, no late model Mustangs listed but there are other yards too. What's the secret to mounting it?

i have pictures of the bracket i made in my build thread.
i picked mine up at a jy a long time ago, i'm thinking it cost me $100 with the mc.
still need hoses and ps pump.

[_Ogre]

back to the original hydrovac post
not sure they were ever put on small trucks, i had one on a 56 bus.
it was a monster, would probably drag pavement on a standard height pickup
they weren't very dependable, rubber in those days would crack when exposed to oil.

personally i think you'd be safer and better off to go with a newer brake system

[1959Chev]

Why not just go with manual brakes? I've got manual brakes in my race car and They work great. No worries about a failure unless a line breaks. I'm moving pretty fast through the quarter and have a short distance to stop and never miss the the turn to get on the return road..

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by Rude Dude

http://billshotrodcompany.com/673/715.html

NIICE Rudy! Looks like exactly what I need. Plus, it's available in chrome so my truck will be faster! Lol. Ok, only a PS pump, '03 Mustang Cobra (I think) hydroboost unit & bracket and remote res to find. Seems
like the bracket will HAVE to be custom made. Ogre, any input on that?
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[1project2many]

" If the brake hydraulic system you have NO BRAKES" the same thing happens if your engine dies. And I have never had a sudden power steering pump failure.

If the hydroboost is working properly you should have 1-2 brake applications after the pump stops. The small "can" on the side of the hydroboost is an accumulator and will store pressure. If you start pressing the pedal with the engine off you should feel the difference pretty quickly.

back to the original hydrovac post
not sure they were ever put on small trucks, i had one on a 56 bus.
it was a monster, would probably drag pavement on a standard height pickup
they weren't very dependable, rubber in those days would crack when exposed to oil.

personally i think you'd be safer and better off to go with a newer brake system

It was a factory available option in both cars and trucks. I stripped a 56 GMC 3/4 ton once that had one. I used to live in farm country and plenty of the large trucks had hydrovac units there. Something designed for a two ton truck is likely to split the drums on that little half ton. That's almost worthy of a good video.

[mr48chev]

With the boost being supplied by the powersteering pump rather than vacuum the pedal just gets a lot harder if the engine quits just like it does with a vacuum operated power brake setup. I had the hydroboost on my 77 Chev 1 ton 4x4 and both my wife and I loved the way the brakes felt on it. I also had to steer the thing home a time or two when the engine gave out and it stopped as well as one could expect with the engine not running.

The Mustang Unit that Ogre showed on his truck runs about 179.99 at O'Reilly's with a 41.00 core charge but there should be enough of those Mustangs in wrecking yards to be able to find a good used unit for a lot less.

It looks like that mastercylinder would be real easy to put a remote fill reservoir on too. One screw on cap to contend with. Or it would be fairly easy to check and fill from the bottom of the truck as you can see the fluid level in it.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

....The Mustang Unit that Ogre showed on his truck runs about 179.99 at O'Reilly's with a 41.00 core charge but there should be enough of those Mustangs in wrecking yards to be able to find a good used unit for a lot less.

Yeah, the one I provided a link to in the post above doesn't strike me as very expenisve over a junk yard unit IF I know it will work whereas the JY one MIGHT cost me to buy it then cost me to fix or replace it.

Not too worried about the remote reservoir as Ogre's setup off a Mercury Villager or Nissan "whatever-the-hell" looks neat and is hardly noticeable comparedto a big MC and booster. I've gotta go study Ogre's build thread for that bracket though!

[_Ogre]

if i had to do it again, i'd use a mustang ps pump as the mustII rack and hydroboost work best with mustang pump
dan look close at my ps pump bracket. a couple of bolts, some tubing and a few plates with holes.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thanks. Yeah, I've been looking at it but I admit I can't see it as clearly as I'd like. I even zoomed it 200%. But I have a feeling if I had the MC and the hydroboost under the truck with me it would be fairly obvious what I'd need to do to get it solidly mounted and the pedal to still work. Having said all that, if you DO have a photo of just the bracket I'd love to see it.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Ogre, I just found an '04 Mustang hydroboost for $50. I'm gonna get it and squirrel it away while I gather the other parts.

You're recommending the Furd PS pump over a GM one, why?...I mean in regard to the hydroboost cause I'm staying with stock I-beam suspension, Posey's SuperSliders (possibly a dropped axle IF I need it for the stance I want) and eventually go with PS using the No Limit R&P kit:

http://www.nolimitparts.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PS-SA-

But since it doesnn't work with dropped axles, I MAY have to consider this:

http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....Z5Z5Z50000119c

Pricey AND I think this is "old tech" but I don't like that they warn you off about needing a cooler before you even start. Anyone know another, better kit?

[_Ogre]

good find on the hydroboost, try to get it with the mc and keep it full of fluid. even if you need a new mc you'll need the core. i'll post some more pics of the bracket in my build tonite

i was thinking you had a mustII rack on your truck. the hydroboost doesn't mind the pressure of the gm pump but my rack is leaking after 10k miles. go with what ever the toyota ps needs, you'll be fine.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Yeah, it's coming with the MC. Hadn't thought about filling it but does make sense to keep the guts from drying out. I notice there's a std GM pump with integral reservoir and a "Type II" with a remote res. planning to use the std type unless you tell me a good reason not to.
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[Dan in Pasadena]

That $50 Mustang hydrobooster & MC turned out to be a bust. Back to the drawing board!
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