I began by removing the master cylinder and the vacuum booster. The booster is actually attached to a "bracket" (more like a spacer) by four studs that go through the firewall as well as the actuator rod that connects to the top of the brake pedal arm. Since I already had the driver's seat out for another project, it was not as hard to get up under the dash to take this stuff apart. Still, it was not real fun. The brake light switch is held on with the same pin that holds the actuator rod to the pedal arm. I removed this with needle nose pliers. The studs are held to a firewall with 9/16" nuts. The hardest part is getting to these up above the steering column. Since I was also working on a tilt wheel project, I dropped the column out of the way. One thing to note...since my car is already set up for power brakes, the pedal I have is set up to accept the actuator rod from the Hydroboost unit. A manual brake pedal will be different and may require modifications. The firewall would also requires an extra hole that is not there on manual brake cars(at least before power brakes were an option...it *may* already be there on later cars.) |
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Installing Pump and Hoses | |
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While I waited for Van to finish building my Hydroboost unit, I decided to install the new pump and hoses. The pump is basically the same as the stock Maverick pump, but it has an extra return line on the top of the reservoir. Although I was not able to confirm this, I decided to change out the pump to one specified for a Hydroboost application because I suspect it may have a higher pressure output. Van says that the stock pump is usually fine. I also would have had to use a "T" fitting in the return line if I used the stock pump, and this can restrict flow and reduce steering and brake boosting performance. I decided to err on the side of caution. I also had to swap the pulley from the old to the new pump(bought a puller at Auto Zone). There is a long bolt and nut with a washer included with the remanufactured pump to be used for pressing on the pulley. |
Installing Hydroboost Unit |