1963 LeSabre. Brakes are TREACHEROUS! Need pointed in the right direction

It won't. Like someone mentioned above, if re-using the original booster it needs to be modified to work with a later master. You can't just bolt up a later master and head down the road.

 

Thanks, Chris. I bought a '67 drum/drum master that I believe will fit the booster. I will need a seal like the one in your picture. I'm guessing the 50 year old one will not take kindly to removal and reinstallation. Any idea where I can acquire a similar seal? Does it come with the rebuild kit? I could keep the seal and toss the rest for the five buck cost.

 

Hey Ken:

Yes, the flat, O-ring came with the kit. You are right, it's cheap enough to just buy the kit to get the seal. Rockauto has the kits

Chris

 

Cool, thank you.

 

I have a lot of experience in this area.

There are 2 different brake systems used in '63 with slightly different pistons in the master cylinder. The hole that the actuator pin presses against is either about 1/4" deep or about 1" deep. These are not exact measurements, they are just to help you figure out which you have: shallow or deep hole.

There are 2 different brake systems used in '67 with THE SAME difference in the pistons in the master cylinder.

So you can get a '67 MC to bolt up to your '63 booster IF you match the hole depth in the face of the piston in the '67 MC to be the same as what you have in the '63 MC. The master cylinder needs to be for a '67 full-size Buick with drum-drum brakes. This is important because they also offered disc-drum that year, which uses a different MC.

No real "modifications" are required, except that you need to have the o-ring on the neck of the MC, as mentioned by others.

I am happy to answer questions about this here or by e-mail.

 

My mistake guys. After looking at some pics of a '63 master, it is setup differently than my '62. I had assumed they were the same. Looks like you '63 guys have a lot easier time upgrading to a dual reservoir master than I thought.

 

There is plenty of spring left in my original, but I don't really know if that is a good indicator of it's functionality. For the price I will buy the rebuild kit.

I did get a new dual reservoir master cylinder from a swap meet and it's bolts right on.

Now my next dilemma: The lines on the original MC were on the passenger side of the unit. The new MC has them on the left. There are two lines coming out, and the original only had one. I'm assuming I need a new proportioning valve to run into.

I found this part on Ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/200877291518?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Will this work for what I need?

For now, I'm fine with rebuilding the original MC just to get my baby back on the road. I still like the idea of the upgrade and I'm not giving up on it. I may eventually do over to the disc brakes just for the look.

Also, on my original, I took the boot off from the brake pedal and there is no o-ring like in the above picture. Does the boot have to be sealed as well for this to work correctly? If this is the case, then it's no wonder there is zero pressure on these brakes!! uzzled:

 

You do not need any kind of proportioning valve when converting a '63 to a dual master cylinder. The intended proportioning is already built into the wheel cylinders.

The o-ring seal on the neck of the master cylinder can only be seen when the master cylinder is removed from the power brake booster unit. There is a picture of the groove in the neck of the master cylinder in post #13 of this thread. The o-ring that goes in that groove is in that same picture. That's what you need.

The o-ring does not go on the brake pedal side of the booster.

Hope that helps.

When these original brakes are done right, they will STOP this car quite well. In '63, just like they did with the power steering, they put a lot of vacuum boost power into the power brakes. A little old lady could stop this car by pressing her foot on the brake pedal.

Jim

 

:gp:

 

Great Thread, I am looking at the some Ebay item for my 66 Wildcat power drum brakes. So I emailed the guy, my email is listed on the bottom with his response above it. Here it Is:
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[TD]Dear fmsincorporated,
yes, this will fit booster , you just need to make up lines . thank you
- belair2door
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From: fmsincorporated
To: belair2door
Subject: Other: fmsincorporated sent a message about 63 64 65 66 BUICK MASTER CYLINDER DUAL CONVERSION lesabre wildcat riviera ++ #230958964429
Sent Date: Apr-28-13 17:25:41 PDT


<!--?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?--> [TABLE="width: 100%"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD]Dear belair2door,
I have a stock 66 Wildcat with 4 wheel power drum brakes. The master is leaking between the booster and the MC. I would like to change the MC to a dual reservoir. This item claims to be the correct MC only requiring a little additional brake line rerouting. Is this correct?
- fmsincorporated[/TD]
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[TD="colspan: 2"]63 64 65 66 BUICK MASTER CYLINDER DUAL CONVERSION lesabre wildcat riviera ++[/TD]
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[TD="width: 15%"]Item Id:[/TD]
[TD]230958964429[/TD]
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[TD="width: 15%"]End time:[/TD]
[TD]May-05-13 14:57:23 PDT[/TD]
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[TD][TABLE="width: 100%"]
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[TD]belair2door (30706)[/TD]
[/TR]
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[TD]99.8% Positive Feedback[/TD]
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[TD]Member since Jan-27-02 in United States
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Tough to know with Ebay these days if you are getting the straight scoop, but this guy does have a lot of transactions with good positive feedback. I think we'll give it a try if Napa can't match up to it. Hope this helps everyone out. :grin:

 

Let us know if that Ebay master cylinder works for you!!

Chris

 

Be aware that the parts stores, at least in my area, now only offer organic linings for drum brake shoes and these will never operate as well as the old metallic lined shoes. Also when installing your auto part brake shoes these are not arched to match your brake drums so, when these shoes are installed only the top and the bottom of the brake shoes will make contact with the brake drum and will not provide abdicate braking. The correct way to do this is send your brake shoes and drums out to a business that will reline your shoes with the metallic linings turn your drums and arc your shoes to match your drums. This was common business back in the day of drum brakes. I just had this done for my 62 Olds 9.3 posi I am using in my 57' Buick Super. The cost was 88.00.