On Tue, 15 Feb 2000 jelerath@us.ibm.com wrote:
>
>
> Bill,
> I converted my '53 3100 to disc brakes. They work great. I went to
> pick-n-pull (junk yard that lets you go find what you want and remove it
> yourself) and got the front rotor (includes the hub), calipers,
> proportioning valve and flexible brake line from a 77' Camaro. I bought
> the adapter kit from Chevy Duty. I do NOT have any type of vacuum assist.
> I even used the old, but rebuilt, master cylinder. I have had people on
> this list state that you "need" a vacuum booster and dual master cylinder
> but have not seen a GOOD explanation as to why. Most of the statements are
> speculation.
>
You don't need a vacuum booster.
However you DO need a dual master cylinder. I found out why when the
original master cylinder failed on my 58. Fortunately the parking
brake stopped me just behind (barely) the car stopped ahead of me. Did
you know that pulling that parking brake handle out in panic causes
the rear end to hop around so vigorously that it is almost impossible
to control? And that the release is impossible to find while trying to
steer the truck away from possible collisions? :-(
Was I ever glad my parking brake worked!!! My heart did take about an
hour to slow down though :-)
If it had been a dual master cylinder that failed, I would have only
lost one-half of my brakes (and would have had lots more control).
Do yourself (and everybody ahead of you) a favor and put a dual master
cylinder in.
Safety aside, there is another reason for a modern dual master
cylinder on disk brake equipped vehicles: Disk brakes use a much
larger volume of fluid over the life of the brakes (the pistons are
much larger!). That is why the reservoir for the disk brakes is so
much larger than the reservoir for the drum brakes. The old single
master cylinders do not have a large enough reservoir.
Rawlin
--
blake@nevada.edu http://www.scsv.nevada.edu/~blake
How far would Moses have gone if he had taken a poll in Egypt? What would
Jesus Christ have preached if he had taken a poll in the land of Israel?
What would have happened to the Reformation if Martin Luther had taken a
poll? It isn't polls or public opinion of the moment that counts. It is
right and wrong and leadership.
-- USA President Harry S Truman
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