Brakes: Am I Being Unreasonable?

[ColoradoHawk]

In April of last year I replaced everything in my brake system including a $295 rebuilt Hydrovac for my ‘63 Hawk from SI. Now, a little over a year later and 1,500 miles the Hydrovac has failed and is leaking brake fluid into the vacuum line to the engine.
I contacted Jim at SI and all that I’ve been offered is a replacement unit for “cost” or $236 which is $59 off. Needless to say I’m not very pleased with this. Am I being unreasonable?

[christophe]

This is obviously a bad rebuilt. They should send it back to their supplier and fix you with an other one. A leaking unit after only one year is unacceptable, at least to me.
I hope you'll get a solution for this without too much hassle.
Nice day to all.

[Corley]

Can't say I agree, one year is a pretty long time for rebuilt old car parts, not put into daily service. (With only 1500 miles, it obviously has not been a daily driver.) Most have a 30-90 day warrantee, so I think offering you anything at all is at the discretion of the seller. I WOULD expect the seller to follow up with the rebuilder, and see if they might consider a better outcome, but I see no obligation for anyone to do anything. I know that answer sucks, but sometimes reality is not what we'd like it to be. SI has always been an honorable vender and a friend to the hobby, but they ARE in business, and by definition businesses are there to make money, not give away parts. Just my opinion, nothing more...

[rkapteyn]

SI has someone rebuild Hydrovacs and also sell new repops.
The repops have a gold anodized finish.
The Hydrovacs in 1963 came in two versions Disk brakes
or Drum brakes.

[thunderations]

Sometimes dealing with the re-builder is more rewarding then with the 3rd or 4th person in the scenario. Often mass rebuilding is done south of the border and not as "up to par" as we would like. SI, contracting with a re-builder is at the mercy of that company and it's policies, quality of work to produce a part for the price a CASO will pay. May only sell 20 a year and have a problem with just 1 or 2, maybe none. Yours might have been the only one that failed within a year or two.
I'd find a local re-builder and deal direct, asking what the warranty is. There's a lot of big trucks still using this type of booster, so check with them first.

[Jeffry Cassel]

Generally, rebulders use the cheapest parts and the cheapest labor they can get by with. The rebuild on my Packard was near $500 but it was done well. SI (this is heresy) has pretty good prices and pretty marginal stuff. Sad, but really truely hope Jim et. al. can turn it around. The only way is with great customer service. Hydrovacs are expensive, ineffective, and downright dangerous. 58 has one cause it is sposed to have one . 57( current project) will have one but it won't be hooked up. Love the way you get a cloud of white smoke and suddenly -NO BRAKES!