Which brake booster do I need for 68 disc/drum (w/o pwr brakes)?

[munger77]

Some here on this site are very knowledgeable on this subject so I seek advice. My 68 satellite is in need of a booster; I'd like the correct style/size/part number.

Front brakes were converted to disc. Rear are drum.

My car has no booster or power brakes. It does not stop well at all.

My friend has a shop, he looked at the brake setup on my car and told me to put a booster right on the firewall behind the (new) dual chamber master cylinder and it would make a BIG difference. He said I could just remove the (4, I think) bolts on the firewall, pull the master forward(carefully keeping the brake lines from bending too much), and install the booster to the firewall and re-attach the master cylinder to it. Sounds too easy to be true!!

What part number, size, style of booster is best for my application (non-power brakes, booster for front disc, rear drum for 68 satellite.)
I'm not sure how to attach the brake booster linkage parts to the pedal itself at the firewall, and have never done this before. Are there any instructions out there or youtube videos to help me?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

[Car Nut]

Here's what my booster with linkage and mounting plate looks like for a 69 Charger. You might need to cut your firewall since the master was mounted directly to the firewall, smaller hole.

 

[BeeKool]

Does your car have a blocking plate behind the Mc? It should. There were plates for manual brake and plates for power brakes. You can find one for power brakes on this site pretty easily.
Secondly you will need a fulcrum linkage adapter. For connected the pedal to the plunger. Again you can find one of those on this website as well. (The fulcrum linkage adapter should come with a bolt and 2 sleeves.) Below is a picture of a disassembled linkage. Notice the sleeve inside the top hole. You will need two of these to make linkage work properly.

You really shouldn't just mount the booster/Mc directly to the firewall without the stiffened plate behind it.
This pic is a little dark, but you see the stiffened plate behind the booster.

 

[munger77]

Wow, thanks for being so helpful. If this works out and I stop better I'll be very thankful.
Any problems laying under the dash to install? I'm timid of stripping the column, etc and hope it doesn't end up keeping me from driving for weeks Or months.

 

[BeeKool]

Funny you should mention.
Removing the front seat(s) and steering column will make it much easier. You may not be able to reach all of the bolts if not.
It is a bit of a tedious process. But by no means overly difficult. I just finished my upgrade a month ago. My car is still a roller so it was a bit easier. Although trying to see if your brakes work w/o having vacumn from the engine takes a bit of hill Billy engineering.
You should be able to find the stiffened plate for apprx. $60 or less on thus site and the fulcrum linkage for apprx. $100 or less on this site. As far as the booster. If you want the original Im not sure. I just went to Napa and hot a no frills booster/mc assy for $220.

What disc brake upgrade did you go with?

 

[Sixpactogo]

Make sure your booster is the dual ballast one and not the single ballast like in BeeKools pic. The single booster will not have enough boost for front disc's. Ask me how I know!
Get the set up like Car Nut has with the backing plate and hardware. Pull the steering column and drivers seat to make things much easier unless you are a skinny teenager and don't mind standing on your head while doing a circus act. You will also have to enlarge the hole in the firewall to get that rubber boot through the hole. The aftermarket boosters are larger there than the vintage factory pieces were.

 

[Car Nut]

Dr. Diff has everything in MT.

http://www.doctordiff.com/bendix-style-dual-diaphragm-booster.html

there's the Ram Man out of TX.

http://therammaninc.com/

 

[NJRR]

Before you go through the process of adding a booster, have you gone through your current system? Many members on the site have the manual front disc/rear drum set up and are very happy with the performance. Are they bled properly? Do you have the correct master cylinder? What size is the plunger rod ( terminology???) ? Do you have a proportioning valve? Is it adjusted correctly? Before you go replacing, check what you have. Might be an easier fix than adding a booster. Post pics of your setup. The members here will quickly point out anything obviously wrong.

 

[munger77]

Ok NJRR and others, here is my setup; hopefully you can see in the photos that
1. the brake pedal 'connecting rod' (just) came unhooked and is hanging straight down next to the brake pedal = no functioning brakes;
2. the other photos show dual chamber master cylinder bolted possibly to a plate on the firewall with typical 4 bolts.
3. How do I get the car to stop well with this set up? I just drove it for an hour an a half, with hard pressure but it stopped, that is, until the rod became disconnected from my brake pedal once I started taking photos.

 

[NJRR]

Your master cylinder might be bad. Why did the brake push rod come out?

 

[munger77]

Your master cylinder might be bad. Why did the brake push rod come out?

Master cylinder is new; only has about 100 miles on it so far, but it looks old. I 'pulled' the brake pedal up to get a clear view of the 4 bolts to the MC, and the push rod fell to the floor. ? and pedal is now sitting on the floor near firewall. Any ideas? springs that fell out or are needed to keep pressure on it?

 

[munger77]

Ok, I was able to get the pushrod behind the brake pedal back in place; I'll need to install a spring to keep the pedal from pulling up so high that it can fall out again in the future. But all questions above still remain.

 

[munger77]

Here are some more photos