Working on a 1959 fairlane galaxie 500, with 292, stock exhaust manifolds, and original running gear. I'm trying to upgrade to power brakes without breaking the bank. I've seen a few different options online, but want to see what other suggestions might be out there. Some of the brackets I've seen offered to do this conversion look like mid 70s F-series booster brackets. Not sure if anybody has used them or not though. Any and all help, questions, and suggestions welcomed. I know macs and a couple other places sell a booster and m/c kit, but I like the challenge of trying to find a way to do this without spending the 400+ they want for those kits. Thanks in advance Sent from my VS986 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
The power brake units out of late '60/early 70s Ford intermediates (Fairlane, Torino, Mustang and their Mercury equivalents) are near bolt-ins for earlier cars, but finding one these days may be an issue...
Rock Auto should have those, you'd be out the core charge which is chicken feed. They sometimes have matched sets of masters & boosters.
What do I need to match to get the correct setup? Bore size? Is there one to search out over another? I looked online at a combo kit for a 68 fairlane with a 302. I'm ***uming I need to try and get close to the same engine size so the vacuum produced would be close between the 2 engines. Thanks for the responses by the way. Sent from my VS986 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Engine size doesn't matter; the boosters are sized more or less to the car weight. More weight, larger booster. The Fairlane booster will be closer to your '59s weight. The late 60s/early 70s F150 boosters will also fit but are designed for more weight (the trucks weigh nearly 4000 lbs empty!), so using one of those may give you touchy brakes as well as having clearance issues in the engine compartment as the booster is a larger diameter. Master cylinder bore size varied between specific applications, so that you should check. Again, this will be related to vehicle weight as well as the particular brakes fitted.
Awesome. Thanks for the help on this. I will keep digging for more info Sent from my VS986 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
like someone already said,diddnt 59s have power brakes back then,? maybe RockAuto has replacements for the exact car..?
I've looked for a factory power brake setup, nobody sells the booster anymore, its a repair existing unit only. Sent from my VS986 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I converted a 64 Merc with one of the commercially available kits and the 7 inch booster did not stop the car well at all. Had to go to 8 inch booster, big difference for customer who pulls an airstream trailer. Contact hemibooster.com . They did a Grand Torino for me . Worked excellent . They are in Portland Oregon. If you can't find the conversion parts, contact Snakeman Enterprises in Cleveland, Tn. He specializes in old Ford stuff. Good prices, reasonable shipping.
Thanks for the heads up southcross. I was originally looking at the 7 inch but I will go for 8 now. Sent from my VS986 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
A '64 Mercury weighs almost 4000 lbs; quite bit more than your '59 Ford. A late 60s Fairlane is about 200 lbs lighter than your '59, a much closer match. Another thing; if you're retaining the drum brakes, those are self-energizing and less boost is needed. Overboosting drums will make them very touchy. If you're converting to front discs, you can use a bit more boost.
64 Mercury Montery convertible . 390 with factory A/C weighs over 4000 lbs. My 59 Ford fairlane 4 door ex cop car with a 352 weighed right at 4000 lbs. An 8 inch booster with 4 wheel drums will not overboosted.
Southcross, did you modify your firewall on the fairlane or use an adaptor bracket? I'm about to pull the trigger on an eBay listing, but not if it can be sourced elsewhere by combining parts found at a local autoparts store or if the setup online ius the only way to accomplish what I'm trying to doi. Thanks for all the info so far, it has been a big help.
On my 55 sunliner I used a mustang II dual diaphram booster and mounted it to a mounting bracket for a mid 70s F150 and stops that 55 just fine,I had to use that bracket to move the booster up away from the motor since it will be getting a Y block some day. I had to do some grinding on the holes to get that bracket to fit the mustang booster.
I ordered the mounting bracket from eBay. Turned out to be a pirate jack kit. Any recommendation for a m/c booster ***embly to use? I saw the mustang II mentioned. Does it matter the year? Does anybody know if those are 1 1/8 bore like my fairlane has? Does that even matter to match anymore since I'm changing the system? Thanks again guys. Sent from my VS986 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
My 59 Fairlane had factory power brakes. Was just using it for weight comparison to the Merc. Sorry for the confusion.
Well I appreciate the help. I'm just curious if anybody else has used this, or a similar, bracket and which application they used for the booster and m/c. I can't be the only one that has used this bracket. Sent from my VS986 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Can you post a link to the booster adapter? I'm flirting with adding power brakes to my Ford. Look at Rock Auto for booster & master combinations. I'd consider something for a '70-ish Fairlane or Mustang.
I take it the Galaxie has the fruit jar m/c with one line coming out of it? The power setups I have seen all have them through the mid-60's. The Fairlane/Mustang power booster looks like it would fit really well and are sold separately or together. No matter what m/c you have, take a look at the mounting flange and see what it looks like and start looking at other cars with similar braking systems and see what might adapt.
The problem with the old Fords is the booster needs to stick out a bit from the firewall quite a bit. It would be nice to find a stock bolt-on booster. Mine has the clutch master next to it, but it looks with the right booster brackets it would give enough clearance.
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