I helped a friend drag home a 2d 56 Lincoln Premier this weekend its a running car but the brakes are shot. It has the dreaded TredalVac brakes and here the master cylinder is part of the pedal****embly which supports the column. Ive asked around to a couple of people who have messed with em in the past an the general consensus is send em in to be rebuilt for $300 an then theyre still are no guarantees on these PoS. Anyone got any experience with these any other options on what we could do? -HL
It's been a long time. I had on on a 57 Chevy. I rebuilt it by cleaning it up inside and fixing the valves. I think I made a new seal with some leather from Tandy Leather. I know I did not spend any money on it. Never did. Thing was simple.
http://chevyps.com/ try this guy, he is know for his p/s & p/b stuff and does nothing but great work. at least thats what everyone who has dealt w/him has said.....joe
Had a Bendix treadle vac in a '58 Edsel that was shot, about 15yrs ago & rebuilt it with a kit from Kanter....was real easy to do, very clear diagrams & good parts. It worked real good after that a buddy had the same on his '56 Cad...did that one too & was a good result also! Back then the inner shaft wasn't available but i think it is now.
<font color="green">See if you can get a hold of MBL. He came up with some late model parts that he adapted for his Packard. I saw it myself and was quite impressed. RASHY </font>
Thanx guys. I've got no experance with 'em other than I had one on my '56 Olds, pulled it off an sold it at Chickasha as I'm gonna clip it, one of these days... I'm pretty sure he would much rather get rid of it all together if possible rather than rebuild it but he'll do what it takes to get it rollin' it's gonna be his wife's daily. I heard they are not too reliable an prone to fail with out any warning. I have yet to hear anything good 'bout these brakes from anybody. Anybody out there like them? Andy & 32Limey: Thanx. We may have to rebuild it. How long ago you rebuild 'em? They driven regularly? This will prob be a daily. TooMany2: Checked the site, all I found was p/s stuff no p/b, you have to email 'bout it? Rashy: Thanx, I would really be interested to find out what he did. MBL: you out there? -HL
They are really reliable if taken care of. Mine however was 50 years old and started to flowby once it heated up... I figure it would be a quick fix but I just put a standard MC on it instead. The site that TooMany put up is the right one, email the guy and find out. He's a really good guy.
I have one in my 55 Packard im having a friend rebuild it as we speak i got all the parts from Kanter's he said it look's pretty easy to do. I'll keep you posted on the results....
[ QUOTE ] Thanx guys. TooMany2: Checked the site, all I found was p/s stuff no p/b, you have to email 'bout it? [/ QUOTE ] yourrrrrrr welcome & yep ya have to email him like clssy56 said........joe
Howdy...and Thank Rashy for bringing this to my attention....OK first of the Treadle Vac is just asking for trouble. They were iffy when they were new...and unlike other booster/master setups....when it goes out IT GOES OUT...LIKE NO BRAKES! So depending on your setup there are several things that you could do...In my case the Treadle Vac is right under the floorboard and is underneath the column...A tight squeeze to say the least...but this all could be done with Junkyard parts as a setup and you can get new stuf after you have the mock up done...Take a modern ford booster out of like a 5.0 mustang...mine actually came out of a 85 Ford LTD(same booster) then I mated it with a master cyl from a 87 ford econoline van...with the plastic reseviour taken off. By taking the plastic part off this will clear the column which in my case was really close to the top of the cyl and wouldn't fit. Then install a remote fill res and your done. Now there are some other tricks to this that my help. The Ford Courier(truck from the 70's) had a stock remote fill but this didn't work for the booster configuration for me. But....and see if you can follow this....There are elbows in the Courier setup for you remote fill...that fit into some rubber gromets...take both of those together....they together will fit into the gromets left behind when you removed the reseviour from the 87 Econoline van master. I can try to make this clearer if you need...also if you have a picture of yours to see how this might work...I'll see if I can find a pic of a similar setup. Tim MBL
This is from a Packard friendly project guru...who gave me the inspiration to do my setup...mine comes out alot cheaper but to give you an idea...here's a pic...also the Ford booster has an offset hole...No big deal...you will have to drill new mounting holes anyway...one will be offset. Tim MBL
See the full conversion the way it is done on his site. http://www.1956packardpanther.com/powerbrakes.html
[ QUOTE ] OK first of the Treadle Vac is just asking for trouble. They were iffy when they were new...and unlike other booster/master setups....when it goes out IT GOES OUT...LIKE NO BRAKES! [/ QUOTE ] Who's chain are you yanking? That happens with any single master cylinder.... I'd take one over any other single MC, especially if I was going back stock. My plan is going to a drum/drum dual MC for now to be safer for my family.
Yeah, with any single master setup....but with a Treadle Vac...I have heard reports of the booster end giving way and drawing in the fluid not just giving you a hard pedal. But whatever you want...its a bad system any way you look at it. Tim MBL
Mine worked for 50 years till it had flow by.... what's wrong with that? Like I said before... you have to properly maintain any single MC or any MC for that reason... Now... When I got it...
Seriously I am glad you never had a problem...but it is a good idea to get rid of the single master cyl. in any event. If the conversion sets you up with a more reliable unit...then I am for it. There are plenty of places that offer rebuild kits for the treadle-vac...and some places where the rebuild service is offered...for me I have heard enough horror stories to make the switch. Tim MBL
I've never had one completely fail on me... however... my first 56 was a manual single MC. The brake line to the wheel cylinder was rubbing against the tire (of which I didn't know) and it rubed a hole in the brake line. Well needless to say.... the ol' girl didn't want to stop at all at the red light.. luckily it was late night, no traffic and I made it home in one piece. It happend 4 blocks from home. I did however overshoot my driveway and ended up in the neibors back yard... I totally forgot about the emergency brake and engine braking wasn't enough...
Cool! MBL, that's exactly what we're after. I've not seen his set up an am goin' on what he has told me but your's sounds like a real sim to the way he describes it. I'll prob make it by there this weekend with the camera to get a better feel to what goin' on an take a few pics. Really appreciate the help. -HL BTW: I know where you're comming from on swapin out the ol master cyclinders with modern dual pot set ups. By what ever little luck I have I rode out 3 total brake failures on the '60 until I swapped it with little trouble. Just the peace of mind is well worth it.
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