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By Bobby O 55 - 14 Years Ago
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Ihave a 1955 ford victoria I'd like to convert to a duel master cylinder. It's all drum brakes. what do I use and how do I set it up.Can I use the same rod. If anyone can Help me I would appreciate it. Thanks.
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By Grizzly - 14 Years Ago
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Bobby, I have a upgraded brake system on my 56 mainline. I used a kit that was recomended on the forum off ebay from old irish dave. It uses a dual 7" booster and a covette 1" master. I'd recomend replacing your hardline as it's probably got some condesation over the years and is very thin by now. Although some just run line to the spliter on the frame under the master. Do a search of brake booster/master and you should see some previous posts. It can be a good time to consider a front disk brake upgrade as well. Cheers Warren
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By snowcone - 14 Years Ago
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Can I hijack this thread and ask if anyone has an email address or web link to get Irish Daves mastercylinder/ booster
I searched but only got a phone number and some redundant ebay listings which is no use to me.
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By oldave57 - 14 Years Ago
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I also purchased a power brake conversion kit from Old Irish Dave for my 57 Fairlane. I kept the original drum brakes and the new kit works great (front disks would probably be better, but the power brakes work so much better than the standard that I am satisfied with the performance). You will need to split the front and rear lines in order to take advantage of the dual master cylinder. Irish Dave's Ebay store is: http://stores.ebay.com/The-Oldirishmans-autoparts?_trksid=p4340.l2563 His telephone number is: 575-544-4729 Good luck with your brake project. Regards, Dave
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By PF Arcand - 14 Years Ago
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Dave: If you don't mind elaborating a bit? What is required besides the contents of the kit, to install it on a 57 car with drums? Thanks - Paul
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By Jeff - 14 Years Ago
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I purchased one of Dave's power booster setups for my 1957 Wagon with 312. His supplied bracket would not allow the booster to clear the exhaust manifold. I didn't receive much satisfaction from Dave. His response was he hasn't had any problems before. I found a bell crank style bracket from a 70's era Galaxy which raised the booster slightly but it was still to close. It worked fine until things got warm and then the brakes would start hanging up.
I pulled it off. Since I had already split the lines I purchased a dual master cylinder for a 69-70 Torino with non power drum brakes. The splitting of lines is fairly easy using some fitting plugs and some new brake line.
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By oldcarmark - 14 Years Ago
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If you do go with the booster kit from Old Irish Dave,phone him and buy it.Dont buy off Ebay.You will get a better price and he does take credit cards.Regarding the problem with the 57 Wagon.Thats the first time I have heard of a problem with his kits.How come it worked on one 57 sedan but not on the wagon?By the way I bought 2 kits for my 56 and my friends 55.As well another friend bought one for his 54 Mercury.Worked great.
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By oldave57 - 14 Years Ago
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Paul, The kit consists of the dual master cylinder, vacuum booster cannister and mounting brackets as well as a new push rod that connects the brake pedal to the vacuum booster. The brackets for my kit were angled upward slightly to give more clearance with the exhaust manifold. The clearance was "tight" even with the upward angle, but it has worked out just fine. I did add some heat shield material under the closest point between the exhaust manifold and the vacuum booster cannister. The system has been on the car for almost 2 years and has worked just great. I did need to purchase some brake line material to fabricate new lines from the dual master cylinder to the tee fitting location on the frame where I connected it to the original front and rear lines that split from that location. Good luck with your installation. Dave
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By oldcarmark - 14 Years Ago
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One thing I did on my 56 was redrill the hole in the pedal for the pushrod to bolt to.More in line with where the pushrod meets the pedal about an inch or so lower than the existing hole.I have had no problems with it.I found the angle steep if you use the existing hole causing the pushrod to come close to rubbing on the firewall.I did one other thing because there is no dustboot to cover the hole in the firewall where the pushrod coes through.I got a rubber floor type plug the same size as the hole in the firewall and put a hole in the middle for the pushrod and cut a series of cuts from the hole out to the edge of the plug to make it flexible.Keeps the dust out much better than leaving a hole in the firewall.A little silicone to hold it in place when it flexs.
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By PF Arcand - 14 Years Ago
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Dave; Thanks for the details. I'm still a bit apprehensive, given Jeff's problem with the kit. However, dates of purchase may have been considerably different, (?) so maybe the bracket has been altered, hopefully? Also, thanks Mark for the additional info, however fitting issues are still quite possible, given that 55-56 bodies are quite different from 57s.
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By Grizzly - 14 Years Ago
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Bobby, I had a slightly different approach to the two mentioned. Mine is right hand drive so could be a little different but the braket is adjustable and so is the position of the booster on the bracket. I found enough adjustment to make it work. I added a heim joint to the rod this removes any play with the clevis and pin arrangement. It also required some packing (3mm) for correct alignment. I used aluminium plate with a tube fixed to the plate. The tube is slotted at the plate so the plate is installed by placing the tube through the hole in the firewall then pushing it up. I used the original boot on the drivers side to stop air/dust /fumes.  
I was cautious not to redrill the hole in the pedal as Mark mentions but I can see that a small change would work as I have plenty of leaverage. A small change would only add to the feel. cheers Warren
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By snowcone - 14 Years Ago
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Thanks for the link to Irish Dave
I have emailed him to confirm the correct model for me.
The one I think it is mentions an angled bracket so maybe it all fits OK now
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By oldave57 - 14 Years Ago
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I thought it might be helpful for a couple of photos of the installation on my 57 Fairlane. The clearance on the 57 model (between the vacuum cannister and the exhaust manifold) is very tight and I have added some heat shield material there just to be on the safe side. I'm not sure if it is needed, but the close clearance to the cannister bothered me and I thought I would add it there as insurance. It has worked very well and the power brake performance is great compared to the original standard master cylinder.  Regards, Dave
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By Jeff - 14 Years Ago
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The bracket I received was the angle type bracket similar to what Oldave is showing in his picture. The booster I used was an eight inch dual diaphragm type and it wouldn't clear the exhaust manifold. I slotted the bracket and tried to gain all the heigh I could. My wagon is a pretty much unmolested car so I ruled out any type of modifications that might have impacted the fit. I compared the relative location of the master cylinder mounting location to my 1956 Fairlane and could see no major differences other than the changes in the exhaust manifolds (the 1957 manifolds are a different casting). For the short time I had the booster on the power brakes worked great and I am still running the stock drum brakes.
Jeff
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By oldcarmark - 14 Years Ago
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Jeff mentioned he had trouble with this booster on his 57.In his last post he said he had an 8 inch booster supplied.I am wondering if the wrong booster was supplied.Should have been a 7 inch I think?
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By oldave57 - 14 Years Ago
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I measured the vacuum booster cannister (shown in the photos above) and it is approx. 7.1" in diameter at the maximum point (the crimped flange). I can certainly see that an 8" diameter cannister would not fit. Regards, Dave
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By Grizzly - 14 Years Ago
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My 56 has considerably more clearance than the 57 shown in the photo. Part of the appeal is that a dual 7" booster provides similar assistance to a 10" booster. These are sold on the basis of having enough clearance. If Jeff recieved a 8" and had trouble with fitting old irish dave should have done something about it.
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By oldcarmark - 14 Years Ago
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I checked Irish Daves listing on Ebay and it says 7 inch booster.Maybe he didnt realize you had recieved an 8 inch in error if in fact the one you got was an 8 inch.Explains why it did not fit and the other 57 Ford did fit.Something to check.Just wanted to also mention you should have the steel lines to the outside(next to the fender apron) to avoid heat.Also the line should have a couple of loops to handle any vibration.When I did mine I put a "tee" next to the booster to screw my brake light switch into so I could use the wiring as is rather than cutting and extending the line.One more thing to suggest.My buddy with the 55 kept being told the brake lights weren't comming on.With the power brakes you dont tend to apply them as hard so the stock brake light switch may not activate due to lack of pressure in the line.There is a "low pressure" replacement switch available.I bought one off a seller on Ebay for $10.00 and solved the problem.Right now the seller has them backordered but is expecting more in the near future.By the way these replacement boosters are "dual diaphragm" which is why they work as good as a 10 inch(or bigger) conventional single diaphragm booster.I think they are a very well priced item.He also sells the same setup in chrome for not too much more money.I dont know how good a quality the chrome is.Anybody tried one?
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