Electric Assist Power Brakes?????

[69MyWay]

Man! This looks like cool stuff.

As most of you know I stuffed my master cylinder (1988 S-10 manual) in the driver side cowl of my 69 Camaro. While this is cool as snot, it limits me to manual brakes. Although manual work fine, there is something about using minimal leg power to reign the car to a stop.

I found these:

http://www.abspowerbrake.com/ElectricHPpage.html

The 8" unit would fit like a champ and there is ample room below it in the cowl to mount the electric booster.

Anybody have any experience with these?

[Hydratech®]

FYI - While American Brake and Steering is touting these designs as "new", take a good close look and you will see that these systems are indeed nothing more than the infamous Powermaster systems of the late eighties / early nineties reconfigured. Ask any GN guy what he thinks of his "Powerdisaster" system, and you'll likely get a cold response every time. The OEM's played around with this system for a few years, then dumped it for its reliability issues. Just trying to find any service parts for these types of systems is impossible these days too.

The concept IS cool, what with being able to mount the compressor assembly remotely, though the MC assist valving issues, and the compressor and high pressure switch issues that plagued the designs in the first place are definitely still there...

[Blown353]

Paul got to it before I could. The PowerMaster (or PowerDisaster) was problematic and unreliable.

Braking systems are not an area where I would be willing to be "the first one on the block" to try something new... too much at stake if you encounter a failure. I'd wait for some "real world experiences" before spending the money on one.

Troy

[69MyWay]

I had never heard of these until recently.

Did the Grand National use these? I really wasn't aware of that.

I can't fit a standard booster or hydrabooster in the cowl and would like to have the advantage of power assist.

[Blown353]

Yes, the turbo Buick's used electric-assist "Powermaster" systems. They were prone to accumulator bowl and switch failures, and received several parts-upgrades from GM over the years, but they never got quite sorted out. When they used the turbo Buick powerplant in the '89 Turbo Trans Am they went back to a standard vacuum booster for reliability reasons. Many Turbo Buick owners dump the Powermaster for either vacuum boosters or a hydroboost just to get the powermaster out from under the hood.

This new unit may prove to be a reliable good performing piece, but I just haven't seen any "real world" stories or abuse-reports about them yet-- and it's a good amount of money (and a very important safety item) to take a chance on. Luckily if it fails all you do is revert to manual brakes.

How bad is your pedal travel now? You could always switch to a slightly smaller bore master cylinder, which would reduce the leg effort required at the expense of a longer pedal throw.

Troy

[SoCal69]

I have this setup on my Camaro. So far so good. I never had enough vacuum for the booster so I tried a pump. The noise was incredible and it barely helped. Now I stop on a dime.
If my engine dies (and those things happen) I have 20 pumps before I run out of boost. After that it just works like a manual. Engine dies with a Hydroboost or a vac booster and you're standing on a brick.
We just installed one on a pro-street '68 Camaro. We didn't want to put a powersteering pump on it, and there's no room for a vac booster. I'll keep ya posted! :thumbsup:

[Blown353]

Engine dies with a Hydroboost or a vac booster and you're standing on a brick.

Not entirely true; while you'd lose all assist with the older non-accumulator hydroboosts, with the newer styles with accumulators you get 3-5 stops out of them with assist after the engine dies.

Good to hear it's working for you though.

Troy

[quadfather]

I have this setup on my Camaro. So far so good. I never had enough vacuum for the booster so I tried a pump. The noise was incredible and it barely helped. Now I stop on a dime.
If my engine dies (and those things happen) I have 20 pumps before I run out of boost. After that it just works like a manual. Engine dies with a Hydroboost or a vac booster and you're standing on a brick.
We just installed one on a pro-street '68 Camaro. We didn't want to put a powersteering pump on it, and there's no room for a vac booster. I'll keep ya posted! :thumbsup:

was the noise bad with the electric style pump?

[Blown353]

was the noise bad with the electric style pump?

I've installed a few. They can be quite noisy if mounted wrong. It's best to mount them as far forward of the passenger compartment as possible and also mount them on additional rubber isolators to cut down on vibration. Even then you'll still notice when they cycle on and off, but it won't be nearly as loud and annoying as a vacuum pump rigidly mounted to say the firewall.

Troy

[SoCal69]

Yeah, it was loud. I mounted it on the rubber pads, as far away from the firewall asI could get it. Spectators standing next to the car would ask me what the hell is that. The intake itself makes a barking sound and everything I tried to muffle it with just made it worse or made the pump not work. News on the '68 ProStreet, works great. Looks like we'll be able to take the first turnout now.

[69MyWay]

I know this is an old thread - but has anybody else had experience with these?

Btw - since I originally posted this I have installed TWO hyrdratech boosters sold through VB&P - and I built one from scratch (on Corvettes) - that is an AMAZING braking system - however, my 69 Camaro is SO space limited with the hidden master cylinder in the driver cowl - and I'm still looking for more assit in stopping the car.

[Hydratech®]

Have Frank at Prodigy Customs set you up with the new design Wilwood 7/8" bore :thumbsup:

http://www.wilwood.com/Products/006-MasterCylinders/009-ATCMC/index.asp