This may not be the right place to put this out there but I am wondering if anyone can tell me about adding a brake booster to my Olds. As mentioned above its a 1970 currently disc/drum set up. How difficult of a job is it? What might I expect to pay for parts and labor? Any particular brand/make that I should get? Can a 11 inch fit? Would I need to replace the MC at the same time? Does anybody live in the Portland, OR/Vancouver, WA region that could recommend a good shop to perform the work? Thanks, Rob

 

You're right. Hijacking someone else's completely unrelated thread was not the right place for this. Now you have your very own shiny new thread to talk about this.

The only 1970 Olds that came from the factory with manual disc/drum brakes were the W31 and manual trans W30 because the engines didn't generate enough vacuum to operate the power booster. If that's what you have, don't install a booster. If this is an assembled car with an aftermarket disc conversion, the stock booster was 11". Replacing the M/C depends on which one you have now. A factory manual disc/drum car came with a 1" M/C. Power brake cars (and just about every aftermarket kit) comes with a 1 1/8" M/C. If you have the latter, you'll be fine. And to anticipate the next question, the only way to tell is to unbolt the M/C from the firewall and measure the bore.

 

Thanks for the information and the new thread start, however I wasn't really hijacking someone else's thread because it was on a thread I started. . I believe this to be an actual 442 W-30 because I have all of the required parts, numbers etc, just no paperwork. Anyway, I'm not sure what to do at this point, are you saying that I would subtract from the value if I added a booster? I might be willing to sacrifice that because it could always be returned to pre booster form. I was just thinking safety-wise in case my wife ever wanted to drive the car. She doesn't like the amount of force she has to use (on other vehicles we have) required to stop. Thanks again for the new thread start for me. Rob.

 

Make sure you have enough vacuum for your booster. They recommend 15 as a minimum, however you may get away with 12.

 

Sorry, I missed the fact that this was the same car. Since it's an AT car, power brakes were an available option. Manual disc brakes were the base equipment with the W30 package, even with an AT. Yes, you can install a power booster. Assuming the M/C is a correct 1" bore, you'll want a 1 1/8" M/C for the conversion.