Who has installed front discs with no power booster---and ran them??

If I were going to go with this setup on the street, I'd do it the same way I did it on the track - a Wilwood pedal and dual master cylinder with either a 1" or 7/8" bore. Run the swinging pedal with 2 cylinders; one for front, one for rear. The Wilwood swinging pedal gives good leverage. The setup isn't totally cheap, but it's not much different from buying a pedal, mini-booster, and master cylinder. I've never driven nonboosted discs on the street with conventional passenger car stuff, so I'm not going to comment on that - BUT the Wilwood setup gives damn good stopping power.

 

Depending on the weight of the vehicle (no Mack trucks) a properly DESIGNED brake system can work very nicely unboosted. Lots of good info given out here, but it all comes down to three things, pedal ratio, m/c bore size, and a set of brakes compatable with the weight of the vehicle. ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL. All of these things work together to yield a "brake system", so make sure you get all three correct or things can end very badly.

 

I have manual disc/drum setup on my 33 pickup. I am using a 7/8 bore master cylinder and the truck stops great......

 

I'm considering running a S-10 power master cylinder and metering block with no booster when I convert my '37 Chevy to camaro disc fronts and a S-10 rear end-as this would be a pretty much matching set up.

Is there any difference between the power and non-power m/c? Will a longer or shorter pedal make the brakes easier to push, while keeping the proper pivot point?

 

I have a 30 sedan, came to me with ford drums in the rear and chevy discs up front, master is non power and is a dual unit. It has a proportioning valve, but is in the front lines, stupid, so I have it backed all the way out, so effectively not there. It stops well enough, takes some pedal pressure though but not a strain.

2 things,

the person that mentioned "some pedal pressure is needed so as to not have to keep your foot "off" the pedal if it is to sensitive. My wifes denali, while on the freeway, the weight of my foot will increase the gas pedal travel and I actually have to angle my foot to take pressure off, it is a pain. Good point - some pressure is good

the other thing, I am surprised no one has mention the source for vacuum for a booster. If you are running a vintage intake and strombergs, you probably only have one vacuum inlet on the intake and none at the carb bases. That vacuum port will need to run constant vacuum on the distributor if the motor can take that and then tee'd off to your vacuum modulator for the tranny, assuming you are running an auto.
This doesn't give you any options to run the power booster unless you drill and tap the intake again, which you may not have a problem with, but now you are aware of it.

I hope this throws some different light on the subject, Joe

 

I have 4 "non-H.A.M.B. friendly" vehicles, 2 with power disk brakes, and 2 with non-power disk brakes, for me the 2 non-power ones require a little bit more effort to stop than the power setups, but not too much more, I guess it depends how strong you are.

 

Got a place where you could add a not-too-strong spring?

I say not-strong cuz it's easy to get it too heavy.

 

M/C under the floor?

No propo valve or residual valve?

I plan on not having them in my 31.

 

I put discs on my '50 Ford. It was from Fatman although ECI sells the same thing. Aerostar rotors, Monte Carlo calipers, MII master with stock pedals and an 8" Maverick rear with stock drums. I never drove the car with the original system, but am pleased with the feel and performance of this.

 

Although this isn't quite as traditional as others, it's what I started out with. Corvette manual master cylinder connected to 3/8" thick solid rotors, wilwood dynalite calipers in front with stock rear Jaguar inboard solid rotors and calipers. Didn't stop a full-fendered '26 Tudor sedan good enough in my opinion, had to step down quite a bit. Added a dual diaphram booster to the system with 2# residual pressure valves since it's located under the floor. It was worth all the effort modifying, it came out nice and works better now.

 

this is a little off topic of the original post... but what would cause a MC to spray fluid out of the cap onto the hood? Did it with both manual drum and drum, and now power disc and drum. Different MC's. Car is off topic late 60's ford.

 

I have 70s midsize discs/calipers, corvette 1" master, s10 rear and an adjustable prop valve. 2 lb res pressure valves in line to front, 10 lb to the rear. stops on a dime. this is my 53 chevy, so it is pretty heavy.

 

In my '52 Buick, with factory master cylinder and factory rear drums I did discs up front. Stopped better with no more additional pressure.

 

I'm running mid size GM discs up front ('76 Buick Regal) and the rear drums that came with the '74 Camaro rear on my '38 Ford pickup. MC from the same car I got the front brakes off of. Pedal assembly is modified '52-'56 Ford car. No booster, works fine. Don't know what the pedal ratio is, but it's a pretty long pedal arm. The MC doesn't know or care if it's getting boosted by a booster or by mechanical leverage.