Power Brakes on a B and B ?

[Wbulk]

I see that some FFR guys are coverting to power brakes. Some are using the vacuum booster from a Nissan Quest or Mercury Villager becasue it's pretty small.
I will be running my brake lines next week and have no idea how this cars brakes behave. I have the four wheel discs.

Would the car be better with power brakes? Now is the time to do it if I'm going to.

Hope you guys don't mind me asking a lot of questions. This is my full time project.

Thanks
Wayne

[chas427fe]

Wayne, I have a B&B with a 428. I only drive it on the street and don't feel the need for power brakes. Chas

[lnfletcher]

A agree, you don't need power brakes. But if you want the brakes to feel like your chevy caprice, it won't.

[Clois Harlan]

Almost 10 years in my B&B and I have never had power brakes. I have spent countless miles on the street and track and just don't like the feel of power brakes. Save your money Wayne and put in a front sway bar instead.

Clois

[PurpleVenom]

Not so fast there Clois I had powerless brakes the first year I owned the car and there was a time or two where I tried to slow down quickly, but couldn't and ended up taking a turn beyond my comfort level. I have since put an electric power brake system on from http://www.abspowerbrake.com that works wonderfully. Doesn't take up near as much room as the boosted brakes do and applies 1200lbs of force at the pads compared to 600 from the boosted. Our club takes long cruises and the power brakes really make the day not as long (as far as my legs are concerned). I had it on the track at Gateway last year, and with the built in proportioning valve in the master cylinder, I was able to brake hard and straight in the turns. I'm sure there will be many more opinions for you to get confused by, but my opinion is always right.......well maybe not.

[Clois Harlan]

Okay, some power brakes are OK but I run a good brake race pad on the track and some high temp brake fluid. Once I get some heat in the race pads they give ME the feel I like. Street pads are a $50/Wilwood street pad that works well for me.

Maybe you will let me drive your Cobra and see how your electric brakes work. I have only driven the power brakes that rely on a booster for assist. \

Clois

[ndpace]

PurpleVenom, the website is http://www.abspowerbrake.com
what does it cost to convert?

Thanks, Jim

[PurpleVenom]

Will try to answer this as short as I can.

My original system was a #10-59 - http://www.abspowerbrake.com/ehpm.html (look at bottom of page) with a master cylinder that had onboard reservoir. This master cylinder was a direct replacement for the master cylinder that I had on the car. It comes with an adjustable push rod and a large 1 1/8" bore and built in proportioning valve. The system will also come with the electric pump and accumulator (shown on the link given above just above the 10-59 master cylinder on the right) that has a relay pre-wired to the motor that you have to hookup. Plumbing would consist of front and rear lines to the master cylinder, a soft line from the master cylinder to the pump (for fluid supply) and a hard or high pressure line from the pump back to the master cylinder for the "power" to the brakes.

After running this system for 2 years, I have now moved to the remote reservoir system. I retained the lower half of the 10-59 master cylinder, removed the onboard reservoirs, and put a manifold in it's place. The remote reservoir is now mounted to the front of my engine block for easy access. Here are some pictures of my setup:

In the lower right of the picture, under the oil filter, is the pump mounted to the frame rail. It should be at the lowest point on the car. The remote reservoir is in the upper right (the polished aluminum can on the driver's side of the engine) is mounted so that it is higher than the master cylinder, or at least the fluid is higher than the master cylinder. The master cylinder wasn't mounted in this photo.

Showing the remote reservoir in relation to the master cylinder


Showing location of electric pump


This shows the master cylinder, but I hadn't installed the upper manifold yet.

[PurpleVenom]

Now, as far as the cost, $850 - $950. If you don't buy their remote reservoir can, you save $120. If you want to ask them more questions, ask for Doug, he helped me alot when I had an issue with the pump motor recently. HTH, let me know if you have more questions.

[Wbulk]

That was enlightening and cool! Thanks.
Wayne