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By Jeff - 15 Years Ago
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After doing a great deal of research including searching this forum for information regarding the installation of aftermarket power brakes on a car with the original Y block I decided to purchase the parts from the recommended dealer. This particular setup utilized an angled bracket to clear the left hand exhaust manifold. I have even seen photos of this system installed, with plenty of exhaust manifold clearance, but it was not on a '57. What I'm experiencing is with the firewall bracket set as high as it will go (top of bracket hitting the underside of the firewall seam) the booster will only clear the stock exhaust manifold by 1/8 inch. The supplier was stumped. Now I know that Ford made a significant frame, body change in 1957 and perhaps this resulted in the motor being mounted higher in the engine compartment or the master cylinder location being lower.
Has anybody had any success with installing an aftermarket power brake setup in a 1957 or later Ford?
My next thought was to cut the brackets in half, raising them up so as to obtain a suitable clearance and then re-welding.
I can't be the only guy that's attempted to make this conversion, some hopefully somebody can supply some guidance.
Thanks, Jeff
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By oldcarmark - 15 Years Ago
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How far out does the seam come?Perhaps the bracket could be spacered out to clear the seam.You will have lots of pushrod adjustment to make up for the spacers.Or can the bracket be ground or reshaped to clear the seam allowing it to go higher.I had to do a little grinding on mine to get the brackets to fit in the recess in the firewall.As much as they claim these kits are a direct fit with no mods neeed I dont think that is the case.Some "adjustments" are usually needed.On mine I also drilled a second hole about 1 -1 1/2 inchs lower on the pedal so the pushrod was better aligned with the booster.Works fine.Not sure where you purchased from.Have a look at ebay item#230467730570.Is this the same as yours?Thats the one I and a couple of others purchased from that seller.Still had to do a little "adjusting".
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By marvh - 15 Years Ago
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I have a 56 which has less booster clearance at the manifolds than a 57 when using the wide back manifolds. I used the mounting bracket from a 67 Fairlane. I had originally got a bracket from MP brake, it was very close to the manifold and to adjust the valves I had to take off the booster. With the Fairlane bracket I can clear the valve covers easily and lots of clearance to the manifold and less heat problem also. marv 
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By Jeff - 15 Years Ago
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The item on Ebay is the same item. The lip I referenced is were the upper and lower firewall panels come together. Each has a 90 degree bend, facing forward. This lip protrudes approximately 1/2 inch.
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By Jeff - 15 Years Ago
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I also own a '56 so in the morning I'll have to do some comparisons and measurements and get back to you. One thing I did notice is the exhaust manifold on the '56 is not as thick as the one on the '57. Although yours in the picture appear to more similar to the ones on the 57.
Jeff
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By marvh - 15 Years Ago
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Yes they are the 57 manifolds
marv
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By kidcourier - 15 Years Ago
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Jeff, I'm running power disc brakes on my '57 and the picture of Marvs '56 booster is 3 times longer then mine,measuring from the firewall to the front of the booster on mine is 4 1/2" with about 3/8" gap between the back of the booster and the firewall lip your talking about! I'll see if I can find some #'s on the booster tomarrow--you might check out (www.'57FordsForever.com)website for info on brake setups or (www.abspowerbrake.com) for different types of setups--electric master cylinders,etc. KID
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By marvh - 15 Years Ago
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The booster is a dual diaphragm 8" so has smaller diameter to give most clearance and a higher boost level.
Is yours a single diaphragm.
whoops I marked 7" diaphragm. It is 8" dual diaphragm.
marv
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By Jeff - 15 Years Ago
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I did some comparisons and crude measurements this morning and determined that the exhaust manifold on the '57 is approximately 1/2 inch taller and wider by the same amount. Is the '67 Fairlane setup a bell crank style? I see that Pirate Jacks sells a similar looking setup (part number PBUF5772) but they specifically state that it won't fit applications with 292/312 with stock exhaust manifolds. The booster that I received is a 7 inch model.
Kid, I would be very interested in what information that you can come up regarding your installation.
Jeff
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By marvh - 15 Years Ago
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The Pirate Jacks booster setup looks the same as the one Mp brakes sells for the 56/57 Fords.The bell crank bracket has too low an offset lift to clear the manifolds in my opinion with enough heat clearance. The 67 Fairlane booster bracket has a higher lift so the booster sits higher in the engine compartment for more clearance.
Check this link to mpbrakes
http://www.mpbrakes.com/products/product_line/power_boosters.cfm
then click on DB1509PHP
then check the link you gave for Pirate jacks PBUF5772 unit
It will give an idea of the bracket height differences between the two setups.
The 67 Ford Fairlane bracket was not an absolute fit as I had to slot the 2 bottom bolt holes on the bracket 1/2 hole to line up with the original Ford master cylinder four bolts.
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By Jeff - 15 Years Ago
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Marv, thanks for the info. I realized after I posted my response that the Pirate Jacks setup is an 8 inch and the MP setup is a 7 inch. MP swears that theirs will fit. But it sounds like you've been down that road. I would agree that having the booster setting to close to the exhaust manifold is not a good thing.
Where did you obtain your '67 Fairlane bracket (or was it a bracket/booster assembly)?
Jeff
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By marvh - 15 Years Ago
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Jeff:
The booster on my car is a dual diaphragm 8 inch booster.
MP brake boosters will fit the 56-57, however I don`t like the brake unit being that close to a hot manifold. With the Fairlane bracket being higher I still have three inches of clearance to the hood after closing and over 4 inches clearance from the bottom of booster to the top of manifold and about 5 inches clearance from manifold to combination valve. The mc is above that.
I got the Fairlane bracket off a 67 Fairlane. I got it from a bone yard car
The booster on the Fairlane was probably shot, needed a master cylinder and the proportioning and priority valves were stuck.
I bought the booster, mc and combination valve from MP brakes, was cheaper to buy new stuff from MP than trying to patch the old parts.
I see Mp sells setups for 67 Fairlane. I never asked them for a mechanical drawing to see the measurements of their Fairlane bracket to compare to a Ford original.
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By oldcarmark - 15 Years Ago
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Hello Jeff! That power brake setup on Ebay(the one I bought) is NOT bellcrank style.The pushrod goes directly into the booster.The bracket has the booster sitting with lots of clearance from the exhaust manifold much like Marvh"s.I can take the rocker cover off without touching the booster setup.Its a 7 inch dual diaphram booster like Marvh's.Just wanted to mention this.
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By Frankenstein57 - 15 Years Ago
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Jeff, if you saw my post on 58ranchos topic, I bought an aftermarket kit with a 7" booster. It does clear the firewall and exhaust fine on my 58. I did have to cut and re-weld the arm that strokes the booster. Its a bit close to the rocker arm cover on the y-block, I have not tried to take them off yet. I think I could replace the stud with a bolt and get the cover off that way. I would not recommend the vendor I bought the kit from, (fatrodder) bad news.
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