Master Cylinder/Booster options for '57 buicks.

Has anyone changed the master cylinder and booster combo on their classic buick? Are there any good inexpensive companies that offer some sort of universal modern brake kit to hook up to my ol 57 super? What was involved tips etc.?
Dont want to do a disc conversion, just change out to a new reliable firewall mounted MC and booster for the daily driver aspect

 

Since I like your Super Riviera, I'll help you out.

I found THIS guy's '57 who wanted to do the same thing, upgrade to a dual master cylinder but retain the drum-drum setup. I'd have to agree that is the best solution. The drum brakes are great when they are adjusted properly.

HERE is the link to the booster/master cylinder combo for $99.99-159.99.

I'll keep searching to see If I can find some part numbers from one of the brake manufacturers.

 

Attached for reference. Sounds like he fabbed up a plate to mount the master cylinder/booster combo onto.

 

wow rob thanks, that is hot off the press, just posted it yesterday. looks like a pretty straightforward swap, just welded a plate up to the firewall

 

The electric booster option:

http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/showthread.php?p=164507

 

check out the street rod suppliers, they provide all kinds of retrofit power brake goodies for cars that were never built with power brakes. They offer all kinds of options for boosters, you can even mount them sideways under the dash; it is pretty amazing what they have available. My dad does a lot of street rod stuff and we have used ECI ( engineered components Inc) in Connecticut several times and we have found them to be incredibly helpful with setting us up with the right stuff.

 

looks like a nice setup,where did the mc and booster come from?i used summit to put the dual mc on my 62 invicta,cost 280 for everthing except lines and fittings.would like to do the same for my 57 super.how thick is that plate on the firewall? buford owner from ct

 

Not sure on 57 where the master is mounted, but on my 55 it was under the divers side floor .I used abs power brakes out of LA they have floor mounted dual masters with booster, I went with a firewall mouted version, what i did was removed the plenum box fabbed a plate using the plenum as a template then mounted the plate to the old plunum location on the firewall. some fab work is needed because you brake pedal arm may hit your steering column(mine did). Also they have drum drum or disc drum or disc disc, I also upgrade my front drums to disc( super easy & very cheap) to take advantage of my new master with booster and proportioning valve as most of your braking is done up front, you really should change the front to disc better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?p=1761092#post1761092

http://www.abspowerbrake.com/images/design2_09.jpg

http://www.scarebird.com/


cheers Will

 

What did you do, just heat and bend the arm?
What did your scarebird conversion end up coming out to and how long did it take (if you did it yourself)?
Ive never done brake work so its kinda scary to me
Id like to keep it under 4. and if I did it, id do it to my riv too.
seems to me that a lot of people are believers in that drums can stop just as well as the discs set up properly

 

i just recently swapped my stock MC for a new dual MC in my 1957 Super. its drum/drum and stops great. i went to ABS power brake in california and they had put a custom bracket on the MC that bolted right up to the stock MC location without having to modify anything in the car, other then moving the voltage regulator a inch or so for clearance. they also modified the brake pedal to change the ratio to 4 to 1 so it would work on the modern booster. it could all be changed back to stock in an hour or so. it cost 450 for the master and bracket and labor on the pedal. i installed it in the car. they were real helpful and i would definitely go back.

 

do they have anymore of those brackets? Or was yours a one off? wheres the shop located?
Do you have any pics

 

yep heat and bend where needed

disc was cheap i think 150 for the kit and 90 or so for the disc and wheel bearings i remember but the caiplers where cheap also .

I had never done anything like this and it took me 5 hours , I would have been done sooner but a friend showed up towards the end of the project and he had cold beer

I like the disc drum set up it stops very well ,drums stop great that's why they have em on semi trailers but if your drums over heat o No: and we dont have a jake brake

 

hmm, sounds like disc may be the way to go. one last question.
Did you have any problems clearing your stock rims with the discs?

 

I had to grind of a small amount of the caliper not much though ,
but the disc cleared fine:3gears:

 

Nineteenfifty5,

This is awesome news! What a great solution to the oddity of the floor mounted master. I have the same issue with my 1956 Century. Many thanks to you for sharing this solution.

I have searched cyberspace and this is the most logical solution out there.

 

abs power brake and they are located in orange california. they will help with parts that are shipped to them as well though. they have more brackets and I'm sure they can do the same thing for you. their number is (714)771-6549. i don't have any pictures yet, but i can try to get some. id post their website but its not letting me post websites, but you can search for them.

 

Thanks but I think bham gave me the idea to use the plate:TU:

 

I can't take credit for that. I saw a picture online..........:Comp:

 

Super57:

What did you mean exactly when you write: " ... they also modified the brake pedal to change the ratio to 4 to 1 so it would work on the modern booster. "

I am working on a 1957 Roadmaster. Does that mean say ABS changed/swapped out the MC rod for one of theirs that connects from the pedal to the stock OEM pedal mount under the dash or did they have to remove your pedal completely installing another completely different one brake pad/pedal?

To others: I would be a little worrisome about mounting a front only mono-block caliper system on a very front heavy 2-3/4 ton vehicle as provided by ABS and others. Also an ABS Saturday sales kid told me that their #9707 booster/mc is a small 7-inch with only around 750-800 psi capabilities. That if you want bigger, (adequate) you have to upgrade to a 9701 or so unit combo. With that said, seems somewhat curious because right on the same catalogue page they state you need at least 1,400 psi for minimal adequate stopping power with these heavy cars which are comparable to full size trucks of today which run dual block calipers. I am going to talk to someone this next week there named "Pete". Apparently he is the tech contact for those interested.

Another side note about the adequacies of the stock OEM brake system: Yes it is very adequate to stop the that big Buick of yours. No doubt about it. The short side is you do not have a proportioning valve as you do not have a dual cylinder set-up for front and separate back reservoirs and really do not need it due to the sizing of the MC cylinder and the size of the brake shoes and sizing of the front verses rear wheel cylinders. The original Tred-Vac and Moraine systems also had reserve air/vacuum for safe stopping conditions after the engine quit or stalled. So this is nothing new as you will see in current advertising. Another thing is you can't drive these old heavy cars like a tail gating, random lane changing ricer. They are just too heavy for these kind of tactics. However, if driven in a safe and responsible manner these OEM systems are very good. Just make sure the MC is kept up to snuff and rebuilt every 5 years or so.

Just some of my thoughts.

 

A perfect car...