Power Brake Conversion

[farside847]

Last weekend I converted my manual brakes on my 1971 C10 to power brakes. Hey, if I
can do it, you can do it. So, I thought I would post what I did for "the next guy" who wants
power brakes.


Here is what is looked like before. A slightly rusted but perfectly working master cylinder bolted
right to the firewall.


I got a brake booster from a board member (thanks Davy!) and cleaned it up a bit with a
wire brush to get the old rust and road gunk off, put a new coat of rustoleum, and lubed up
the center pushrod piece.


Here is an awkward shot. I was on my back looking up at the brake pedal linkage. This
is how the old one hooked up. The pushrod attached to the pedal with a nut and bolt,
plus a cotter pin for extra measure. Getting this bad boy off is fun if you dont want to drop
down the column. While the MC is bolted on there is not enough clearance to get the bolt
all the way off, the back hits the column. But, if you unbolt the MC first, you can push the
brake pedal to the floor and get it out.


Here is the old pushrod for manual brakes, its quite a bit longer than the power brake one.


The next trick was wo gently pull the MC back far enought for the booster to fit behind it.
Without braking the brake lines. Im not sure how much bending these jobbers would take, so
I moved it the absolute minimum amount just to make sure. I didnt want to have to replace
any brake lines or clean up a puddle.

With the booster in place, but not bolted in, I attached the linkage. If the booster is bolted
in you wont be able to get that damn bolt in place without moving the column. The brake
pedal should not go all the way to the rubber bumper. A half inch or so shy of it or so Im told.
The new pedal will travel less than the manual one. The booster bolts right up where the MC
used to be. Then bolt up the MC to the booster, pretty simple actually.

At this point the power brakes wont work yet but I wanted to test to make sure manual brakes
still worked, so with the engine off I got in and let her roll a foot and hit the brakes. They should
feel just like manual brakes, just with less pedal travel.


Last thing for me was to hook up the vaccum line. I found a plug in the top of my intake that
I unplugged and used a normal brass plumbing fitting. Running the hose up to the booster
without getting it too close to anything important.


After that I was all set and took her around the block a few times. WOW! Feels like 10x
the braking power! Now I have to learn how to driver her again. hehe.


The one thing I didnt do was hook up the bracket. It looks like it bolts to the firewall here but
I didnt have a bolt there, just a rubber bumper. I suppose I could have ran a new bolt through
but it didnt really seem to need the support. Then again, it might bolt up to another place.
Im sure someone on here can confirm the correct bolt on location though.

All in all it was pretty easy. I was surprised. It took me about 3 hours, most of that under
the dash, but then again Im pretty slow. Guys on here would have done it in 30 min flat