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Hello there, Im thinking of putting in power brakes in my 68 442. It has power steering so I figured Id look into power brakes. All 4 are drums and they go into a master without a booster. Has anyone had experience doing this? Is it difficult? Can I just add a booster? Thanks for the help!
Read through this post. It has a lot of good information on doing a power disc brake upgrade. If you want to keep the drums up front but just add power I think this sticky will still point out the things that need to be changed. John
If all you want is to add a power booster to your current four wheel drum brakes, there was even a dealer-installed kit to do that. Simply unbolt the M/C from the firewall, remove the pushrod and retainer and boot from the back of it, and bolt in a repro power booster. The hard lines should have enough give in them to allow you to do this without disconnecting them. If there's any question about the M/C, now is a good time to replace it, however. Note that the power booster pushrod attaches to the lower of the two holes in the brake pedal. The manual M/C attached to the upper hole.
If all you want is to add a power booster to your current four wheel drum brakes, there was even a dealer-installed kit to do that. Simply unbolt the M/C from the firewall, remove the pushrod and retainer and boot from the back of it, and bolt in a repro power booster. The hard lines should have enough give in them to allow you to do this without disconnecting them. If there's any question about the M/C, now is a good time to replace it, however. Note that the power booster pushrod attaches to the lower of the two holes in the brake pedal. The manual M/C attached to the upper hole.
Thank you both for the help! Joe do you know what kind of booster it is supposed to be. From what I'm seeing there is 7in, 9in, and 11in. Which did they use on the dealer-installed kit? Is there anything else I would have to buy other than the booster and possible M/C? From what you said it seems like everything I have will work with it.
This guy will have the right one...or at least direct you to one if originality is a concern.
I found the correct previously enjoyed 68 booster & master for my power disc car and sent it to him for the full blown resto.
Thank you both for the help! Joe do you know what kind of booster it is supposed to be. From what I'm seeing there is 7in, 9in, and 11in. Which did they use on the dealer-installed kit? Is there anything else I would have to buy other than the booster and possible M/C? From what you said it seems like everything I have will work with it.
No Oldsmobile ever came with a 7" booster, and frankly most generic aftermarket boosters will likely not be bolt-in replacements. Be sure you get a correct factory style 11" single diaphragm booster. Also be sure the booster comes with the rubber seal where the M/C attaches.
NAPA has them branded as remanufactured Delco 11" units but the one I purchased for my '72 came as a brand new Chinese 11" Delco repro booster - same as all the other aftermarket vendors sell but in black instead of the anodized gold. But NAPA's booster is cheaper than the others AND has a lifetime warranty, vs 90 days or 1yr the others might have.
NAPA has them branded as remanufactured Delco 11" units but the one I purchased for my '72 came as a brand new Chinese 11" Delco repro booster - same as all the other aftermarket vendors sell but in black instead of the anodized gold. But NAPA's booster is cheaper than the others AND has a lifetime warranty, vs 90 days or 1yr the others might have.
So might want to check that option out.
Was it black when the car rolled off the line or was it originally the gold color?
Anodized gold on the booster and the master cylinder lid.
The master was black. The metering valve is raw.
The pic is the disc brake assembly on a 68 442.
The 4 wheel drum cars have the same color combo but use a different design master and no metering valve.
