ben1212

I have a 55 Olds with original power brakes. The booster went out recently and I am contemplating switching out the whole brakes system since I never liked how the original brakes worked anyway. I am looking for suggestion as to what I should do and if there are kits available for my Olds or a similar year Chevy.

I am open to all suggestions. Tell me what you think. Thanks--Ben

gearheads78

I don't know for sure but I would be willing to put money on a tri-five Chevy kit would work.

ozoneblue

I f it is A Tredalvac system Kanter offers the parts Thats where I got Mine larry@vintageozarks.com

ben1212

Thanks Larry. It is a Treadle Vac and that is the problem. I found a nice rebuilt one on eBay for $180. Seemed legit. The local brake and clutch place wanted $450 to rebuild it.

I've heard of incidents of complete Treadle Vac failure. From my (limited) understanding there is little or no warning, no pumping the brakes. And that is what happened to me, it went out slowly over a cruise through the neighborhood, the pedal went to the floor and the tree stopped me in my driveway with luckily only a dent on the fender.

Have you had similar experience with this brake system or heard of such incidents?

kaptmikey

Ben,
I'm working on a drum to disc conversion on my 1956 Olds 88.
I bought a kit from ABS in Orange Calif. for 575.00. and its o,k.. I'm having problems bleeding the system, might switch out the old to a new power booster and reservoir to complete the swap. I'll let you know after this Sun.
Mikey

kaptmikey

Ben,
I'm doing my 56 Olds 88 with a kit from ABS. ABS stands for absolutley the best in brakes and steering. I'm not sure of that claim, but the product is o.k. so far. The disc brakes were easy to install, now I'm waiting for a booster and brake rservour assembly with a proportioning valve attached.You might want to check out steetrod garage, they have a complete kit.
http://www.streetrodgarage.com/index...S&Category=298 Also check out scarebird, the workmanship seems to be in their product.http://www.scarebird.com/4436.html whatever you do good luck and let us in on which company you used and how it turns out. Cheers Michael

hialeah56

scarebird is also on ebay (I bought one of these for my 56)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Olds-...spagenameZWDVW

59-59-59

I have had 4 of these boosters rebuilt from the same guy in Florida that advertises in Hemmings Motor news.. 2 units from a '57 and 2 units from a '59 and I will get any other units rebuilt by him...The rebuilt units are perfect as I have not had any issue with them in the 5+ years I owned them..Let me know if you need the name of the guy who rebuilds them..You have to remember that you are dealing with 50+ year old parts and EVERY component must be replaced or serviced in the braking system PERIOD! And this is from someone whos semi daily driver is a '59 Olds