Power Brakes

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wheelsport

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I'm thinking of adding a power brake booster on my '65 Barracuda. Is there a booster that I can bolt the stock cylinder onto and will bolt to the original master cylinder location?
 
simple answer no,

The original brake booster set up had a longer push rod and worked with the single master cylinder. They also used a vacuum canister mounted to the inner appron. So you would need to find all of this to make it work in your car if you wanted the OEM look. I have had a few cars with it, not really much difference with it. Better to go with front disc brakes and dual master cylinder. Not to mention the booster is in the way of trying to get to the last bolt on the valve cover.


They make kits that will work for these cars but you would need to change over to a dual master cylinder which is a plus, the downside it will stick out so far it will be about half way to the radiator support. And is even more in the way of everything.

I almost bought a 65 that had this set up, the dang pedal goes almost to the floor- I was not to happy with that so I moved along.

in my opinion not worth the effort to convert over on these cars, they are light enough to stop with out the power assist.
 
I pretty much agree with Early a body. Here's a picture of my motor from 1969. Kinda cuts off the right side, but you can sorta see the single master cylinder, the power booster behind it and the vacuum canister on the inner fender. It actually worked pretty well. Believe it or not, when I first got my 65 Barracuda back in 68, I wasn't used to power brakes and almost locked up the brakes the first few times I used them. I finally got rid of the setup at 150-200K or so when the vacuum booster failed and it was gonna cost a fortune to rebuild it.

65 Barracuda motor 1.jpg

After I swapped in front disc brakes, I used a power brake booster from an early seventies A body. Like Early A says, the booster/dual M/C sticks out halfway to the radiator support. I had to slightly modify the booster mounting brackets in a way I don't remember, but given the limited tools I had then, it wasn't too much. Here's a shot of this setup from the passenger side. Doesn't show everything, but you can see how far out it extends.

65 barracuda motor 2.jpg


I've done without power brakes for a long time, now. In an A body I really don't think you need them. Present setup:

65 barracuda motor 29.jpg
 
Thanks. You saved me some extra work. Out of curiosity, has anyone installed discs without power assist?
I did. In my 66 Dart. KH disc. Did not like the feel, needed a lot of leg IMO. Went with power. MUCH better. IMO.
 
I tried to go the power brake route on my ‘65 Dart with original drums all the way around. Could never get it dialed in the way I liked it. Found a small bolt pattern KH disc and spindles set up off a ‘70 Swinger here on FABO. Bolted right in, installed a dual MC and proportioning valve and could not be happier!
 
My 66 has 4 wheel disc and a Dr. Diff manual master cylinder. 73 dart bbp front discs and Grand Cherokee rears on an 8.25. pedal feel is so much nicer than the single pot master with 10" drum brakes it had originally.
 
Thanks. You saved me some extra work. Out of curiosity, has anyone installed discs without power assist?

yes i have done the kelsey hays swap multiple times. If you would like to eventually go to a big bolt pattern now is the time to plan for it by getting all the needed parts- As greasybear says . check out drdiff.com if you have an 8 3/4 he sells the parts needed to convert the rears to big bolt pattern. If you are perfectly fine with the small bolt pattern and your car has 10 inch brakes then you are in luck as there are lots of kits out there that will bolt up for the front. If you have the 9 inch brakes you will need to change the spindle and lower ball joint and piece to together the parts unless there is a new source that has kits to convert 9 inch brakes to disc easier. The last time i did the kelsey hays set up i was able to buy everything new from rotors to calipers from rockauto.com. I had to find a used kh set up for the spinal and hub and related brackets and dust shields.
 
My 71 duster has manual disc KH brakes and it definitely does not need power brakes at all. Put your money into something else imo
 
I have 4 wheel disc brakes all bought from Dr. Diff. I have his 15/16 master cylinder and it stops nice. My alignment guy at first said (before be drive it) 4 wheel disc cars stop like crap, they need a booster. Then he drove it and said, I wouldn't change a thing, once those pads break in, it will be real nice.
 
I have the dinky brakes and wheels. The car stops fine even in a panic stop. I just thought it might be a little safer with power. Even though the cars has the 13" wheels, I would like to keep it as stock as possible. I tried to find 13" whitewalls close to the original 670's but couldn't. 185/70's are the closest to 670's I found. They looked weird so I put on snap on whites, which make the tires appear larger. Thanks for the advise!!
 
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