I am thinking about changing my manual brake car to power brakes. The car is a 4 speed. I have the plate that goes in the firewall to mount the booster to, but its very rare to find the correct pedal for the power brake/manual trans car. Can someone remind me what the difference is, and tell me if its possible to modify mine to make it work correctly???
you have to have the whole setup on hand to be done right and quick , the pedal is the same ,you have to change the master cylinder, it is a diffrent bore and does not have the pedal rod on it , and the lines are longer and have a larger fittings that go one the master cylinder , you have to pull the steering wheel unit along with the upper brackets , remove speedometer , they have one little bolt in the center of the dash that bolt down into that long bracket that holds steering wheel unit , and take extra care , every thing is sharp and wants to cut you , ask me how i know :o
This is not an easy job. While you have the plate (EXTREMELY IMPORTANT), you also need the correct master cylinder. Now here's the issue - the stock power brake pedal is TOO WIDE and will interfere with your clutch. I had to have a friend REMOVE the pedal from the bracket, and weld on a smaller pedal (same size as the clutch pedal) so that the clutch was not interfered with.
I love the setup, personally - in fact I wrote an article on this conversion in one of the old "Pinto Times" magazines. Having power brakes on my four speed wagon is superb - but that's gonna be your sticking point. Everything else is "drop in" as Pinto One said, but make sure you have ALL the hardware/brackets/plates/etc.
Chris
I do or did have the brake booster and master cylinder as well, but they were used so I am getting new ones. I will probably go with a reman ranger master cylinder, because they are available brand new, where a pinto master cylinder is not. Plus its got the new style with the plastic reservoir... I am also looking into a new (most likely adjustable) proportioning valve, so some brake plumbing will need to be done anyways.
The car is a factory 4 speed, manual brake car. So I have the pedal that will clear the clutch, but I remember the power brake/manual trans pedal being different from the manual brake/manual trans pedal..either by length or location of the clevis that connects it to the booster or something...cant remember for sure. Correct me if I am wrong...
I can check and find out for you , I have a 79 cruze wagon that has the power brakes but i am changing it over to a 5 speed T-5 , have to remove the pedal to install the new clutch pedal and brake pedal , I can compare them and take a few photos , done the swap a long time ago and can not remember , now when i find out it will be posted for future power brake swaps , will know this weekend for sure if they are the same or you have to mod them ,