Brake booster parts?

[fireman]

Just picked up a 66 Dart 270. The brakes are not the greatest. Looks like the master cylinder has had a bad gasket and has been slightly leaking for a while. Was thinking about converting to disc but the wheels are 13” and I only found conversion kits with a 14” minimum. I’m thinking about keeping the drums and putting in a booster instead. Would be easier and cheaper too and I’m hoping would give me some better stopping power. Any recommendations as to where to buy the parts and/or tips and tricks for getting the most out of my brake system?

 

[65 Dartman]

The booster doesn’t provide any additional stopping power- just an assist and less pedal effort. Chances are you have the standard 9 inch drums. Best option for them is make sure they are properly adjusted with decent shoes. The next step up for somewhat better brakes is going to 10 inch drums (although you’d need to change the spindle to the 10 inch variety - they are are different than the 9 inchers. You’d still be able to run the wheels/tires you now have. Up for markedly better brakes is the 65-72 Kelsey Hayes 4 piston discs. You’d need to swap to the disc spindles and associated hardware but the rest of the suspensions- UCA and LCA’s remains the same. This is gonna require 14 inch wheels which is not a bad thing since there are more tire choices than the old 13 inchers. You could swap to the 73-76 single piston disc and it’s associated hardware but that means a swap to the 73-76 UCA. You can add a booster to any of these but again, it only reduces the pedal effort.