I going to be upgrading the brake system on my 1959 Apache soon and am looking for others experience on under floor master cylinder adapters for dual reservoir units. I didn't necessarily want to switch to a power booster ***embly and just wanted to adapt in a dual reservoir unit but seems like the cost of the bracket is high in comparison to the cost of the master cylinder with power booster and bracket with peddle ***emblies. But I've heard that not all master cylinder adapters (powered or non) will work with the manual trans and are for automatic transmissions only. I don't want to put on a firewall mounted unit, I would like to keep it under the floor. A note on the truck... 235 6cyl with SM420 manual trans and drums in all 4 corners. No plans for a camaro clip, but there are plans to upgrade the front axle to disk brakes in the future.... Thank you all for your input. I want to get started on this project soon.
i have the same truck, big back gl*** and short. if you find a way to upgrade the master cyl, please let me know. i want to keep under the floor.
I ordered the dual reservoir adapter bracket from Speedway for the master. I found that the push rod was too short (even after adjusted to its fullest) and I ended up using a longer bolt to mount that push rod and different spacers as I didn't find what they supplied gave proper geometry. But other than that, it worked out. I ordered a disk brake kit for the front that kept the 6 lugs from ebay (I know... I know... ). I wasn't too happy with the kit. Wrong banjo bolts, wrong brake lines... the calipers look to be re-manufactured, not new items. And while I was at it I installed a 12 bolt axle out of a k5 blazer... I never found a power brake master cylinder kit that worked with the manual transmission that kept the master cylinder under the floor. I'm fine with manual brakes.
I put the dual cylinder under the floor in my 57 suburban, but I still haven't got it on the road so I don't know if it works. But I've been driving these old trucks since the late 70s, and had the brakes fail once....I knew I needed to replace the hoses but never got around to it, so when the hose popped it was right in front of the NAPA store, easy fix. Point being that with a little maintenance, you really don't need a dual cylinder.
Since I kept the 6 bolt drums I used a 67 Camero drum/drum master cylinder on a bracket that I bought at the Pate swap meet from a vendor of Chevy truck parts. I have found that I will need to install a proportioning valve in the rear line to reduce the rear braking power. When braking hard the rears tend to lock up while the fronts are still pulling down hard. I have not locked the fronts up because the truck tends to side step when the rears lock up and I have to back down some on the pedal to regain control. The master cylinder is not boosted and does not require boosting as the pedal pressure to lock the wheels is not that great.
I put a Jag master and boster under the floor of my 58 but also put the Jag front end under it to. It took a lot of sorting out I had to make my own braket to mount it then I had to machine up an ajustable push rod to make it all work the Jag master has a remote res so I mounted that under the seat easy to see the truck has been on the road now for 2 years and the brakes are some of the best I have ever used
Try Buffalo Enterprises in Washington State. I believe they are located in Arlington. They also offer 6lug disc brake kits. Good luck
My son's 59 apache uses a power boosted dual cylinder in the stock location from CPP. It uses the stock brake pedal and the whole unit was a bolt in. He went with 5 hole front discs and a camaro rear axle with drums. The kit has the proportioning valve built in, and it works with the stock granny low 4 speed.
The Jalopy Journal
