I hope some of you have had good luck with these guys 'cause I sure haven't. Spent to much $$$$, had missing fittings, and the master cylinder isn't a "bolt in part" like they said!!!! If I use either set of bolts from my original set-up the push rod is at an angle and binds, so then I'm lacking proper pressure to stop. I'm thinking that I sould have just gone to my local autozone and had less headache and probly spent less cash!!
The customer service sucks, but I had good luck with the kit that I bought for my 68 Camaro. You probably would come out cheaper buying the individual parts at Autozone and at least it would be easier to take back the stuff that didn't work or fit right. What is your kit for?
Use the search and you'll find a number of prior "they suck posts" For what it's worth I wouldn't buy from them again myself.
I had good luck with my M/C from them. I ordered the part, and designed the mounts and floor around it, so it fit pretty much prefectly. I have had no problems with the brakes on it at all. Mine wasnt a bolt on deal to any kind of stock build, so I had no suprises.
sorry to hear you had so much trouble with them. i bought a setup for my 59 ford and everything went fine .while i did have a problem with the linkage rod being to short in typical ford fashion it seems there can be 3 different lengths on my 59 ford. but they did send one right outand were helpful on the phone .
They did a fantastic job on my 54 dodge spindles. I sent them my spindles, they sent them back with disc brakes on them. All for less than $600. No one else would deal with me, and I could never figure out the right combination of parts to do it myself.
I had good luck from them as well, used there kit on my 41, I even had them send me a new diagram for the propotioning valve. She did make a coment on going back to a "box" of files because I had boughten it so long ago..lol
I got one of their retro kits to convert a full size chevy to discs. No problems and it was a true bolt-on. My buddys shop took in a 56' Cadi that the customer wanted a disc conversion. Sent the spindles down and came back with disc and calipers.
Only used them once. Sent wrong master cylinder. After trying to bleed for a couple of days, took master off, no push rod. Their customer service sent the correct piston, but I had to install. Wouldn't buy from them again Bob
Never bought from them, but call them for some diagnostic advice after I had problems with my older set up. Their tech people were very helpful and didn't offer to sell me anything while I was on the phone.
have you checked the part against the catalog and other parts, you might have gotten a wrong part, with the other part number? how does a set of bolts cause this pivot? i can see not getting a set of fittings, that happens, fill us in on the details, what kind of frame or car or conversion, i think you might have some wrong item, or screwed up application you thought was the right one, and got the wrong one instead, ,calm down and look at it, i have never bought anything from them but have helped install many items, and years i had no troubles, can be as simple as it might just be wrong, or the item is not gonna fit no matter what you think it will, if that doesnt work,,, give them a call or email and hash it out, last thing any place wants is bad items or fitment and they dont hear about it way later,could be a problem with the same parts in many kits
You bought this over a year ago and yet you are complaining now? Tell us some more details, have they been stringing you along for a year or has the box been sitting in a corner for a year?
Over the years I have purchased 7 kits from them. Most were a Snap, 2 were a Royal Pain. Dealing with one of the two right now on my 51 Ford. They should try installing a complete retro kit before selling them. Good thing I'm a fabricator. It's in now but to put fluid in the Master I half to un-bolt it from the booster and pull it down to get the Lid off and then use a squirt bottle to put fluid in it. The Booster still hangs 1 3/4" below the frame rail After rebuilding the mounts, so I build a Skid Plate. I've been Hung up several times even with that and It's NO low rider, just low enough. The brake system works just "OK" and if you need to stop on a dime you better be looking for an Escape route. I'm not giving up yet and refuse to mount a swing pedal in it. I know that would be the smart thing to do. Nova Disc in the front and Ford drums in the rear. They recomended the Booster/Master combo and still say it should be fine. Well,, I'd like to take there Teck Guy for a ride. I'll get it sorted out but I'm done with there advice. The Wizzard
My advice. Based on experience with their booster. JUNK IT! I had one and experienced the same barely stopping that you are. I replaced it with a $10 junkyard booster from an Astro van. BobK had the same problem with his 52 and took my advice and did the same. Both cars now stop on a dime
Is this on your 41 ford? I have their kit on my 47, and it hasnt really been on the road since Ive had their brake kit on (it used to have a 77 mustang II junkyard brake system on the car). I have only friven the car, stripped down around the neighborhood, at around 20-25mph, and I dont think it stops as well as when it had the booster/master from the 77 Mustang II ! even at 25 mph, the brakes dont seem to be powerfull enoguh to stop the car well, and I have 18 inches of vacuum, and the brakes are properly bled.
Aftermarket shit's so competitive, these guys are cutting corners to keep prices down. NOT GOOD! I installed a CPP firewall M/C w/power booster on a customers 53(?) Chevy truck. If i hadn't double checked, and drilled according to the supplied template, my holes would've neen abot SIX INCHES off.
do they offer an adjustable rod? 2 vettes (all discs) i bought would not stop wortha damn, the previous owners said it needed a complete brake job, i looked into it started checking things and got to the acuator rod and the rod was adjusted all the way in, not enough push, the diaphragm would stop againts the booster and not have enough travel with the rod so short a guy has enough problems building something with out the product not working right ,i put in a kit my brother got in his 40 sedan, and worked fine although both drums
My advice. Based on experience with their booster. JUNK IT! I had one and experienced the same barely stopping that you are. I replaced it with a $10 junkyard booster from an Astro van. BobK had the same problem with his 52 and took my advice and did the same. Both cars now stop on a dime What's so Trick about the Astro Van booster? I do belive the booster is 70 percent of the problem. Also think the master bore size is to large. Real hard pedel and will NOT slide a wheel. I'm going to change one at a time and will start with the Booster. The Wizzard
Yes it's on my 41. I wouldn't say there is anything trick about the Astro booster, but it's the right diameter and the rod was long enough to cut, thread and put a clevis on so that I had an adjustable rod. I don't know of any boosters that size that had an adjustable rod from the factory. I screwed around with the brakes for a year talking to their techs and all I was ever told was I didn't have enough vacumn to operate it correctly. I had 17" they said I needed at least 18". One day I happened to get the owner and after listening to me bitch about all the trouble I was having and what all I had done in that year trying to change it he told me to send the booster back and he would check it out. Well I got a new booster, they claimed the old one was defective. The new one didn't work any better than the first so I got rid of it and would never buy anything from them again.
Are any of you having problems with parts store (NAPA, Car Quest, etc) brake parts, or just master power?
I used a kit, not power brakes. The components were ok, the instructions were a disaster. Their help was outstanding.
Take a look at the pedal ratio. It is usually different between cars with power and non power brakes. Your pedal arm may not be drilled in the correct spot. If you try and put the clevise in the not power hole, it may be in a bind. I ran into this on a 59 Chevy. 8:1 - 9:1 is what you are looking for. Also check that the pedal is bottoming out the M/C before it runs out of travel. Pedal Ratio M/C size 1", 1-1/16", 1-1/8" Proper rod adjustment Correct Valves; proportioning, metering, residual pressure, etc Fully Bled. After that is is easiest to get a pressure gage ans start checking line pressure front and rear to diagnose. Good Luck TZ
Glad the thread was reopened, I've been chasing the same problem for a year now! I've swapped proportioning valves three times now with no improvement. I'm grabbing an Astro van booster this week!!!
I only used the Astro van booster because of the diameter and the length of the rod from it to the pedal allowed me to cut the eye off and thread it for a clevis. Also there is no way you want to run a pedal ratio as high as 8 or 9-1! The aftermarket boosters just don't seem to work as well as the OE's. It seemed ridiculous to me that the aftermarket booster I first installed could not work on 1" less vacuum than the dealer claimed it needed. The van booster worked fine. How many of you have an engine that produces in excess of 18" of vacuum?
Here's a break down of what I had and did. When I first changed the booster I did so because the original one I used went south. I wanted an adjustable rod to the pedal and the dealer in question was the only one at the time with an 8" dual diaphragm booster. I had 4 whl drums at the time. I worked to correct a hard stopping problem all summer. Over the winter I changed to 4 whl discs. The frts are stock Nova and on the rear I used Cad Seville brackets and calipers. When I converted I changed all lines, master cyl and also the distribution valve as I had been using silicon fluid in the drum system. After all this I still had the exact same problem. When I received the 2nd booster from them and still no difference I'd had enough and decided to try a junkyard booster. It's still on the car after 35,000+ mi and working great. When a $10 junkyard part out performs a new $250 part something is wrong
So you do not have their under floor pedal and booster/master cylinder kit? I have their whole under floor kit on my car. First off, the pedal arm came out behind the gas pedal, when the bracket was attached according to their directions and supplied templates. So that had to be bent, and lengthened. My car had a steering column, brake pedal, and booster/master cylinder in it from a 1977 Mustang II, that was already there when I baught it. It was all one integral bracket that the column, booster, and brake pedal mounted too. When I took out that stuff to install a 1951 merc column, I lost the bracket for the master cylinder, and the firewall wasnt near strong enough alone to mount the booster too. After switching to the Master Power kit that they make specificaly for my car, it doesnt stop nearly as well as the car did with the old Mustang II system, which was probably originaly designed for a lighter vehicle! In fact, it doesnt stop well at all going 25 mph, I couldnt bear a panic stop at 40-50. I called MPB, and they asked me to verify the vacuum, and I did, I had just enough, 18" at warm idle, and I made sure the rear drums were adjusted, front calipers were fine. I asked if switching from the supplied 1-1/8" bore master cylinder to a 1" bore would help, they told me it would be too sensetive. Well, thats also coming from the guys who sold me the 1-1/8" bore saying it would be enough, and they were way off on that one. Perhaps a 1-1/16" bore would be worth trying. I dont know if an 8" booser will fit on the bracket for their pedal that I now have. I'll just have to get one from a yard, and see if it works, or make the bracket work. Do you know about what year Astro Van the booster came off of?
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