I was going to remove my power booster to clean it, possibly replace it. That was until I struggled to getat the nuts on the fire wall.. For those who have removed the power booster on a 1970 Cutlass, could you offer up any tips, share your experience…thanks

 

It can be a real pain. I have found you need a socket,long and short, also a open box end wrench, ad a addjustable, ratchet box end. Between all these wrenches, you will be able to finally get it off, then you can have fun putting it back on. I have found some boosters, have the bracket a little deaper, so it gives you more room to work. Also I learned to do this when the engine is out. Now when I do a engine, I address this issue every time, before the motor goes back in.Also some times once you get the nuts loose, they may turn by hand,and you can loosen them all a little,you can pull the booster away from the fire wall, to get more room.

 

I just R&R'd mine, used angled, ratcheting box wrench, easy job..I had it replated at Brakeboosters.com..

 

And you may want a second person on hand. I was thankful I did because one of my studs spun and I needed the extra hands to keep it from turning with a pair of pliers.

 

Do not round off the nuts !!

 

Exactly how I do it. No big deal with the right tools. If you end up having one spin get a friend to hold it to get it out then take the pedal assembly out and get it to someone with a welding to tack the bolts so it never happens agian.

 

I just took the 4 firewall nuts of my '72 CS booster today. They have to be the most 'preserved' nuts on the whole car. Other than light surface rust, the wrench fit perfectly snug on each one. Just time consuming is all, as I used the wrench on all of the nuts, sometimes, only like 1/16th of a turn at a time (bottom left nut).

What else needs to come off? Feels like there is something inside under the dash holding it on still.

 

Disconnect it from the brake pedal.

 

I have a brake master cylinder and power booster from Inline Tube sitting 10 feet from my car. Was going to tackle the project in the winter.

That said, what size are the nuts holding the booster to the firewall? I don't have any angled ratchet box wrenches so I'll have to get a set.

 

I did mine with a standard set of wrenches.

 

Should be 9/16".

 

Summary: Not Fun - also, if your car has air, I believe there is a fan relay on the firewall over it which has power to it even if car is off (71 does) - I dead shorted it with a wrench and caught the harness on fire...be careful

 

If you submit to the temptation to go with manual brakes, you will need to scrounge up a derby hat shaped retainer cup to keep the pushrod from falling out of the back of the cylinder. The cylinder is different and you use the "other" hole in the brake pedal arm for more leverage and less travel (the one closer to the pivot, farther from the foot pedal end). Power brakes are nice, but restrict access to the valve cover, and require more vacuum than you may get with a big camshaft.

 

They're a real b*tch to get off.

#1. Take the hood off, or you'll be swearing up a thunderstorm trying to get at it from awkward angles.
#2. Ratcheting wrenches makes life a HELL of alot easier.

I have a full Gearwrench set. They are my favorite tool set I own.
When you're putting the booster back on go get new lock nuts from Home Depot.
That's what I did.

 

I will call you over when mine needs to be replaced...

 

I just removed mine this week. Used a 9/16" ratcheting wrench; access wasn't too bad even with engine in place, but I'd removed the hood and fenders earlier. Took a little effort to break the nuts loose, probably should have sprayed them with Liquid Wrench ahead of time. Three of them came out no problem, the fourth one (lower inboard, hardest to reach) rounded off and I had to use a vise-grip to coax it out.

 

How in the heck does one break those gorilla-tight nuts off with such a short little wrench? I semi-rounded one already... No way a socket can get in there. WD40 on them has not helped either. Any ideas? Cut booster off with sawz-all, then use socket??

 

I hesitate to post this, as I do not want to take responsibility for anyone doing something without being very careful about it. If you have any doubt in how to do this properly, DON'T attempt it.

In the past for really screwball stuff like this with a frozen nut in a hard to reach location I've used an old-school trick. Get out a small propane torch. Bottle kind, not the big dual tank kind. heat the stud/nut good & hot. Remove & shut of the torch. while it's hot, touch some wax to it and it should seep into the rust & threads helping loosten it and provide ease of removal.

BE CAREFUL! Don't catch anything on fire. Use wet towels around anything close by that MIGHT catch fire. Inside the firewall side too, as the bolt head will get hot on the other side too.

If you've already rounded it off, this may not help. You might hace to get in there with a grinder/dremel and cut that sucker free. NOT fun. Might even be easier to cut the bracket free if you have a good spare handy already.

 

PS.. the nuts came loose with no issues. Once loose they spined off w/o a wrench..

 

CRAP !!...wish i would've read these posts first before attempting my brake booster removal.

Too late. Already rounded one of mine off !! (lower one closest to the engine)



EXACTLY what I did. I knew it was going to be a hassle, so I had the forethought of removing hood already....

Check..used liquid wrench on mine too. Nuts have been there since at least '71. Looks like the vise grips are comin' out for mine. Rounded one of mine off too

Had to remove wiper motor to gain better access & yes, removed the A/C relay that was mentioned. Even broke a box end wrench in process (cheap taiwan one-so that doesn't count) gave up doing any more today. Decided to come check out the forum here & see if anyone else had booster removal trouble besides me..YEP !! THEY SURE DID !!. Thanks guys for the tips. Next time I'll check here first for tips before starting a repair on my car I haven't done yet on my own. Tomorrow, I will heed said advise & try & get those last 2 bastard nuts off. WISH ME LUCK !!

 

Take your time and don't get frustrated,it's not that difficult.
Changed my booster on a 71 with the hood on and engine in.Detailed the upper portion of my firewall.
Here's some pics for motivation and what your final reward will be.
Give you an idea of what I started with.

DSC02506.jpg




DSC02525.jpg

DSC02554.jpg

 

I hack sawed about an inch of a deep well socket and used a wobble extension to get the bittom right one off.... the 9/16 deepwell wouldnt fit because it hit booster frame and the short socket wasnt deep enough cuz of the stud

 

Same here. I don't really understand why this is an issue. I removed the booster on both my old 70 and my 71 a couple times using a ratchet and box/open end wrench. It's not that difficult of a procedure.

 

I have found the same prob. I have thought that a shorter deep socket would work. May have to make my own like you did.

mine are REALLY frozen on. Even got my weight lifter buddy over to try & turn that box end wrench cause I couldn't get it to turn when I got it on (one closest to the fender on bottom). Even he couldn't do it. Not enough leverage in the cramped space. The top end nuts I got off using a wrench within a wrench, by slipping the box end of a bigger wrench over the other one that was on the nut & basically making a big lever out of it. Both top nuts popped loose with a big "BANG" noise when they released. Still working on the bottom ones.



Ya, i'm takin' pics as I go along too. Keep ya all posted of my progress.
Thanks all !

 

Im in the process to take my booster off, is it easier to take the fender well off to get to the lower nuts?
Has anybody tried the Eastwood paint kit for the booster?

 

Personally if it were me,I would not take off my inner fender well. I took my booster off without removing my hood,fender or fender well.
It takes a little bending and reaching,it was slightly slow going but it was rather easy.

The job looks more intimidating than it really is.

I have never tried the Eastwood paint kit,have seen boosters it was used on.I didn't care for the look,did not look like real plating,looked painted.

 

Here's another thread that discusses the same topic. I used the two wrench method mentioned above. But be carefull, when it finally breaks free don't slam your knuckles into something hard or sharp!

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...changeout.html