My cam is too big (257/270 @.050)to work with power brakes. Does any one know of a replacement master cylinder that I can use or any other helpful info. The car is a 91 Firebird with front disks and rear drums. I don't want to use a vaccuum reservoir or a vaccuum pump. I will eventually change to rear disks but I need this to get it rolling safely for now.
Thanks,,, Matt


------------------
Dirt Late Model racer and Third gen lover.
91 V-6 bird with 406 in process.

 

These are pretty heavy cars not to have power brakes. Just thinking safety. I would really recommend you consider using a vacuum pump to compensate. You'll be better off in the long run.

------------------
Rob
'86 TA 305 TPI

 

I had a 69 Chevelle without power brakes from the factory. If it was good enough back then????
Later,,, Matt
Please don't take this as a smarta** response, It's not meant to be!

 

brakes are one of those things I just want to work when I need them,if your master cylinder isn't broken,why not just get a vaccume pump?

 

I ditched the power brakes on my stock car (vw scirocco, believe it or not). I used a m/c from an 88 F@rd bronco. It is a manual M/C with a built in pushrod. It is made of aluminum. The fittings are the same size but are on the drivers side. You could also look at an S10 master cyl for manual brakes, but the ones i saw are the old cast iron type with an integral reservoir (about 10 lbs worth). I paid $60 for a new one.
You could even file off the F@ed script if it made you feel better!

 

Hey Matt, ignore these guys. They love saying their opinions rather than actually answering your question (Only kidding) I'm thinking about swapping over to manual as well. There's a guy on the boards by the name of Stephen87IROC and he's got a nice race car and is planning on the manual brakes swap, too. I thought I recall him saying that old dodge's or something of that nature would work, but I swear one of my good car buddies said an 80's Chrysler master cylinder would work real well since they didn't use a booster, but still braked nicely.

------------------
The '82Z
Hugger Orange
383 4 bolt main
3000 lbs
Bad cornering
NOS Sportsman Fogged
10 bolt braker

Coming to a street near you in the spring...
The car's website

 

I haven't done the swap yet. The big block engine has taken priority.

I was going to use a dodge master cylinder from a van that I found. I had it sitting around for a while. A couple of months ago I found something even better. I actually found a manual master cylinder with pushrod in a S10/S15.

All you need to do to install it is make an adaptor plate to mount it to the firewall. The master cylinder uses 2 bolts and the brake booster uses 4. You can't really use the same bolt holes. Pull the brake pedel off and drill a new hole for the pushrod 1" higher than the old one. This will give you a better mechanical advantage for the manual brakes and also lets the pushrod push straight into the master instead of upward. The last change you need to do is re-route the brake lines. It seems only f-bodies have the brake lines coming into the right side of the master cylinder. I guess there's just not enough room on the left side with the strut tower in the way. The S10's master has ports on the left side but since there's no booster behind it, there will be plenty of room to run the brake lines.

I figure that's about all that's needed to swap over to manual brakes. I hope to have it done before the race season starts but the engine needs to be finished first.

Cool! 1000th post

------------------
Stephen's racing page

87 IROC-Z Pro ET Bracket Race Car
383 stroker (carbed) with double hump cast iron heads and pump gas
454 Big Block buildup now in progress for the 2001 racing season

Best results before the 383 blew up
Best ET on a time slip: 11.857 altitude corrected to 11.163
Best MPH on a time slip: 117.87 altitude corrected to 126.10
Best 60 foot: 1.662

Racing at 3500 feet elevation but most race days it's over 5000 feet density altitude!
Member of the Calgary Drag Racing Association

87 IROC bracket car
91 454SS daily driver
95 Homebuilt Harley


[This message has been edited by Stephen 87 IROC (edited November 22, 2000).]