Brake pedal mounting

[mygirlz55]

I now have the Camaro front clip mounted to the 55 and now need to determine a mounting location for the brake booster. Has anyone had success with mounting a brake pedal from another car or truck into a 55 to 58? Looking for the easiest route without spending a bunch of $$$ . pictures would really help

Thanks
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[Kim57]

You can always leave it mounted to the frame in the original position. They make kits to upgrade them to power.
Kim

[_Ogre]

i'm with kim57, keep in the stock location
i have an 03 mustang hydroboost in the stock location
one member here had a good idea and just cut off the end of the stock mc and ran the push rod thru the stock mc



keeps the firewall clean

[mr48chev]

Depending on how the stub was attached and how the stock frame was trimmed I'd run the stock pedal if I still could.

Reason one, no matter what you do the booster an master cylinder end up sticking out over the nicely done engine like a big zit on a hot blonde's face and ruin the whole clean look of and engine compartment.
2. The thing always ends up in the way and too close to the left valve cover.
3. You have to reinforce and or brace the firewall or you end up cracking it.
4. there are plenty of options available.

On the other end of the spectrum mounting the mastercylinder and booster on the firewall is cheap as you may have one off the subframe doner. It is also easy to do and it is easy to fill.

I ran the booster and master cylinder on the 48 for a number of years and still have the holes behind an aluminum plate on the firewall but it really detracted from the look of the smoothed firewall that I had spent a lot of hours welding and and grinding and it was always in the way when I wanted to do anything on the left side of the engine.

On the 48 it created another problem that you won't have on the 56 in that I couldn't run the rods from the firewall to the fenders that help keep the fenders aligned and ended up with a squeaking front end no matter what I did.

[mr48chev]

I was writing while Orrie was posting but I do like the idea of the hydroboost over the vacuum booster if you are already running power steering.

I was thinking about running one off an Astro van but that setup looks pretty clean and simple and easy to find.

[xpickup]

mr48chev, hydroboost is great till you loss the power steering pump. Then no power steering or power brakes. I have had it happen on my 3500 truck a few years back. It seemed worst than when I drove something with no power brakes from the factory. I did not even drive it till I put the pump on. It just did want to stop. The pedal was so hard and did not seem to move no matter how hard you pushed on it.

Shannon

[mr48chev]

I had Hydro boost on my 77 one ton 4x4 crew cab Xpickup and loved it. I had to steer that truck on the back end of a chain a couple of times so I know well how it does without power. I like the feel of the brakes a lot better than the feel with a vacuum booster though.

I've had a Mustang II booster and master cylinder stashed in the shed for years but it's been sitting so long that It's only good for a core exchange now.

There are pluses and minuses with either system.

[Kim57]

My hydro-boost has a canister on it that will give a couple of stops with no power.
Kim

[mknittle]

Originally Posted by Kim57

My hydro-boost has a canister on it that will give a couple of stops with no power.
Kim

The one I put on my jeep has one too I think it is called a accumulator.mine isn't that bad with the engine off but i may have more leverage than a stock set up.

[Kabwe]

Originally Posted by Kim57

My hydro-boost has a canister on it that will give a couple of stops with no power.
Kim

correctamundo.lol

[mknittle]

maybe If the truck is going to be driven by younger girls It would be easier to check the fluid level on the firewall Given that they will be learning to check all that kind of stuff.
We don't want to lose sight of who will be driving the truck. just my$0.02

[mygirlz55]

Originally Posted by mknittle

maybe If the truck is going to be driven by younger girls It would be easier to check the fluid level on the firewall Given that they will be learning to check all that kind of stuff.
We don't want to lose sight of who will be driving the truck. just my$0.02

The hydroboost setup looks good. I kept the whole setup from the camaro that the front clip came from thinking I could use it. Only problems are 1. Pedal mounting 2. Firewall mounting 3. Engine clearance
Looks like the first two can be resolved with some fabrication. Just don't want to have issues with engine clearance.
BTW good looking out about the girls driving the truck and keeping an eye on the fluid levels etc. Was keeping that in mind myself. That's what dads are for.

[mknittle]

i am going to use a vaccume booster on the fire wall of my 52 GMC ( pretty much the same as Mr48s) and i have a ton of engine clerance and i have 400 pontiac (much bigger than a small block chevy and i can use my fender braces. the firewall is stiffened with a 12" square piece of 10 guage and the pedal mount is tied into the steering coulmn. For the pedal mount I used a pedal mount from a buick skylark and modified it.
you can buy pedal mounts from sevral aftermarket suppliers.


The clerance issue is a two way street. on mine the stock pedals wouldn't work as the pontiac engine is too wide. the brake pedal hit the back of the engine and the M/C is in the way of the exhaust.

Not trying to change your mind. I like the clean look! just saying it all depends on your situation.

P.S the reason I said firewall is I cant imagine young girls climbing under a truck to check the brake fluid. If there is going to be carpet that is held down at the sides with strips that is theonly way to check the fluid.

Like Mr 48 said there are pros and cons for both

[Rude Dude]

I used a 67-72 Chevy truck pedal, i cut it down boxed the front were I trimed it used a 7 inch booster and vette master cylinder, here are some of the pics. The reason I went with it was cost I paid $20 for the pedal at pick a part and I didn't want to crawl under truck to service Master Cylinder, just me to old.

[mygirlz55]

Looks like I'm going to use the camaro pedal and booster. Will post some pictures of what I end up with. I started cutting down the brake bracket now to start fabbing up the mounting to the cab.

[mknittle]

Originally Posted by Rude Dude

I used a 67-72 Chevy truck pedal, i cut it down boxed the front were I trimed it used a 7 inch booster and vette master cylinder, here are some of the pics. The reason I went with it was cost I paid $20 for the pedal at pick a part and I didn't want to crawl under truck to service Master Cylinder, just me to old.

I noticed the older i get the farther away the ground seems! on top of that it doesn't seem like fun laying on the ground pouring brake fluid into an overhead container that you cant see into

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by mknittle

I noticed the older i get the farther away the ground seems! on top of that it doesn't seem like fun laying on the ground pouring brake fluid into an overhead container that you cant see into

that is easily solve by a remote reservoir from the junk yard

[mknittle]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

that is easily solve by a remote reservoir from the junk yard

on mine the problem is with the big pontiac there is no room for the pedal to move, the head is in the way

I have seen aluminum aftermarket ones as well. It is a great soulition.

[mknittle]

You can always paint the booster if the plating is faded and rusty.

[mygirlz55]

Originally Posted by mknittle

You can always paint the booster if the plating is faded and rusty.

That's the route I was thinking of. Throwing in some color under the hood, maybe match the valve covers.

[mknittle]

Originally Posted by mygirlz55

That's the route I was thinking of. Throwing in some color under the hood, maybe match the valve covers.

That would look good!

[waybad]

please post those picts.. I have the same booster...thanks..Tinker

[mr48chev]

That is done all the time and I think we just had a discussion on it on here yesterday.

You need to reinforce the firewall to keep from cracking it as they aren't designed for having pedals mounted in them nor having the pressure from pushing on the brake pedal against them.

To me they are rather ugly and draw one's eye away from a nicely detailed engine compartment.
The plus is that they are fairly easy to do and they do work well if you use all of the components off the doner rig. Meaning pedal assembly, booster, master cylinder and proportioning/combination valve.

[mknittle]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

That is done all the time and I think we just had a discussion on it on here yesterday.

You need to reinforce the firewall to keep from cracking it as they aren't designed for having pedals mounted in them nor having the pressure from pushing on the brake pedal against them.

To me they are rather ugly and draw one's eye away from a nicely detailed engine compartment.
The plus is that they are fairly easy to do and they do work well if you use all of the components off the doner rig. Meaning pedal assembly, booster, master cylinder and proportioning/combination valve.

I think this is the discussion from yesterday.

[mygirlz55]

Originally Posted by mknittle

I think this is the discussion from yesterday.

Yep, seems like dejavu.
Ill do my best to take pictures as I go along thru this. I'm thinking it would be best to reinforce the firewall from the inside, up under the dash. Thinking of making sort of a 'triangle' frame that would tie the firewall and dash together sort of like the original bracket that's behind the gauge cluster. And put some more metal on the firewall to prevent any flexing or cracking.