hey gang excited to be on this forum! I'm kind of a late bloomer in the car world, i grew up around it thanks to my pops. now I'm finally getting into full on! I'm rebuilding a 63 tbird as we speak, after replacing the master cylinder, brake shoes and hardware i still have no brakes. i pulled the brake booster out and it's toast. i was curious if there were any other brake boosters off a diff vehicle that would work in my tbird? I'm on a tight budget and can't stand the thought of shelling out a few hundred bucks for a part that i might be able to get out of a junkyard off of a diff rig. i would greatly appreciate any feedback!
dont get excited try your local autoparts store i bought one for my 66 tbird from autozone. remember we still just driving a big ford
I used a "generic" style m/c and booster on my 55 Lincoln, it was easy to install and worked well. I think it cost me about $140 for the m/c and booster, did the whole conversion for about $200, (RPVs, tubes, fittings, etc.) The Lincoln came with Bendix power brakes which caused a little more work, I am thinking your Bird has a more conventional setup which should make the swap pretty easy if you focus on keeping the same bore m/c, and pick a booster that will fit. I used a dual diaphragm 8" here.
If your power brake booster is "toast," you will still have brakes when you step on the pedal. They just won't be powered, and will require more foot pressure to use than non-power brakes. Why do you think your booster is bad? SAFU
Maybe it was full of water or something? My experience with junkyards is they're full of junk. Best used for cores. Swap boosters and you're looking at trying to find something that will fit your '63 and bolt up to the firewall correctly and have to make sure the little thingemabob spacer between the booster and MC is the correct length plus the time you'll spend out there looking for one that fits and then trying to make it fit on your car and maybe you'll have to take it back and find another. Guess how I know what an ordeal it is? I ended up buying a 8" dual generic from piratejack, broke that(junk), then found the one i wanted and bouught it from autozone with a lifetime warranty. Trying to save money ended up costing me big. Story of my life. Good luck I love that tbird
i took the booster apart and all the rubbers are tore and cracked, there is no way it could hold a vacuum. i have all new brakes and hardware, and rebuilt the master cylinder, and have bled the system several times. that booster is the only thing left to fix. this car has been sitting for 20 yrs, so i have alot of work to do on it. so I'm trying to budget myself well. if i have to, I'll bite the bullet and spend the 400 bucks to get a booster. i was just trying to see if there were any alternatives. it has a 390, so would other vehicles with a 390 likely have the same booster?
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