power drum brakes

Any ideas on power drum brakes on my 49 buick, do or don't or just not worth it.
cheers Darren

 

Use a VH 44 remote booster. They'll work pretty good. Better than original anyway. Trouble with boosted drums is they do tend to lock pretty easily. Not sure how to get away from that....discs I suppose.

Pete

 

What is a VH 44? Anything like a Bendix Hydrovac?

 

Just installed 7" booster and bracket kit from Speedway on my 55 Chev wagon for the stock drums. They work much better and easier and I think it was definitely worth it.

 

With a single M/C a Hydro-Vac is a good way to go with the M/C under the floor.

 

I just went the opposite direction and removed my booster. With recent engine build I could no longer develope enough vacuum to run the booster, so removed it and went to manual. Still stops great, but a little more pressure than before.

 

For normal use in town or rural roads the stock brakes are OK. For real meat axey traffic (4 lanes or more packed with trucks and cars, 70 MPH) front discs would be a good idea.

Have you tried the car without power brakes? Those cars had real easy brakes, some find with a power boost they are actually too grabby and fierce.

I sort of wonder why you want to add power brakes to the stock drum setup. It seems to me it would make more sense to either leave them stock or go to power disc brakes.

 

I got a '65 Biscayne where the previous owner had a booster installed on the drum brakes. It worked great, but takes a light touch. My '63 Pontiac Grand Prix came with power drum brakes. The first time I went to stop, I locked up all the wheels. It too, takes a light touch. I suppose it comes from newer cars having power ***isted braking.

 

If you have access to some '52/'53 Roadmaster brakes, I think they are wider than than the '49 and will stop better with the same or less pedal pressure. And, they bolt on. You'll need the backing plates and drums. A power booster maybe easier to obtain.

Ray

 

ive heard that they can be very touchie. i suppose i can fit all the new brake bits, drive it and try it with and without the booster, i was hoping that someone had tried it on a buick of the same era and for a simple answer but thats what usally happeneds with car building
cheers guys

 

http://www.mako.com.au/?content_des...on/product_list_display.cfm&productID_list=92

Scroll down to VH44. Ran one on my 52 Chev for a while. Prior to that I had one a long time ago on a HR Holden stock car. They work good within the ability of drum brakes

 

had one ina 69 olds ,They worked great ,,,,Car stopped just as good as disc brakes................

 

Thanks for the reply. That IS the old Bendix hydrovac design. Still used in motor homes as far as I know. Used to be real popular in 1 1/2-2 ton trucks.

 

I am in the process of putting a hydro-vac in a '48 Lincoln, what a paint in the ****.

But in the other hand my friend has a hydro-vac in his '51 roadmaster. he loves it, hut he also has discs on all four corners.

Now getting to the question my '58 Roadmaster had power drum brakes. This was one of my high school cars, and it initially had some issues that I had to sort out. At the time it was a 12 year old car and had not been well taken care of. Anyway once all was sorted out the difference between the power brakes and the manual brakes was night and day. I do recommend power brakes for a big car, whether they be drums or discs.

 

What's such a pain? Other than replumbing half your brake system? At least you don't have to change over to suspended pedals in order to mount a big ugly booster on your firewall.

 

In the lincoln the cross member has to be modified as in the cross member has to have a hole all the way through it, I pulled the power brake booster and master cylinder and the hydro-vac is sold as a bolt in but it is 3" longer then the power unit. So cut a hole through the cross member, then notch the top of the cross member so you can remove the cap to fill the master cylinder, then cut a different hole in the floor. Now rebuild the cross member so that it still functions. It is a pain.


I think they may work well on a hanging peddle mount if your firewall is already beefed if not the firewall will need to be beefed as the hydro-vac weighs a ton.

They do work better or differently that a common vac operated brake booster, but it is a lot of work in the Lincoln. In this particular situation I believe it will be worth the effort, the guy is a paraplegic and his shoulder ae getting weak with age, but I probably would not change one for a normal power booster just for the sake of owning one.

 

Thanks man