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how does the power brake sytem work?

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  • Brakes: how does the power brake sytem work?

    On a 58 Packard Hawk the master cylinder is frame mounted and the booster is on the wheel well how does it work?

    thanks

  • #2
    If you lookup hydrovac brakes on the internet, you will find a wealth of information.
    78 Avanti RQB 2792
    64 Avanti R1 R5408
    63 Avanti R1 R4551
    63 Avanti R1 R2281
    62 GT Hawk V15949
    56 GH 6032504
    56 GH 6032588
    55 Speedster 7160047
    55 Speedster 7165279

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    • #3
      will do
      Thanks

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      • #4
        Basically a Hydrovac doen't work very well at all. Had new, and rebuilt on my 61 Hawk .None worked as well as no booster at all!! Backed 58 Packard out a few yrs ago and stepped on brake to to effect and a big cloud of white smoke issued from the exhuast pipes as brake fluid was sucked into the engine when Hydrovac failed. Had a 59 Buick and any more than a light touch on the brake would lock up the wheels and smack your passenger into the dash. Safest thing is leave it for show and plumb around it bypass it. You will need to replace the brake pedal tho.Really , I've owned several Studebakers over the last 4 decades and have never had a Hydrovac that I would say worked. Really bad on disc brake cars.

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        • #5
          The one in my 63 GT Hawk worked fine, but that was back in 1974. With age deterioration and less folks knowing how to repair them, they are becoming more troublesome.
          RadioRoy, specializing in AM/FM conversions with auxiliary inputs for iPod/satellite/CD player. In the old car radio business since 1985.


          10G-C1 - 51 Champion starlight coupe
          4H-K5 - 53 Commander starliner hardtop
          5H-D5 - 54 Commander Conestoga wagon

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          • #6
            Remote brake boosters are basically a brake pressure activated boosted second master cylinder. When you push on the brakes, the fluid pressure opens an air valve on the booster allowing atmospheric air to enter the unit behind the large boosting piston. The front side of the piston is sourced to engine vacuum. So this pressure differential is the force pressing on the built in brake master cylinder in the unit, from there it goes to all the wheels braking system. People seem to not rebuild the whole thing when they rebuild one. The built in master cylinder can rust like any master cylinder. The air valve is actuated by a very small hydraulic cylinder that the master cylinder under the floor presses on. That too can corrode like any brake cylinder. Te push rod from the larger piston of the booster can rust, and chew up the leather seal on the shaft.
            So the point being, throwing new parts at rusty and pitted and corroded old parts will not result in like new braking. ALL parts have to be as new for it to operate as new.
            Bez Auto Alchemy
            573-318-8948
            http://bezautoalchemy.com


            "Don't believe every internet quote" Abe Lincoln

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            • #7
              Properly maintained Hydrovacs will work just fine. They were used and may still be used on vehicles of many makes including Mercedes Benz, GM, Ford, many motorhomes, and heavy, large heavy duty trucks. Bezhawk is correct, just repairing the vacuum booster part will not fix a corroded system. I have one on my R1 Hawk with aftermarket front disk brakes and you need to be careful or it will stop like RIGHT NOW, much more sensitive than modern power brakes, just takes some getting used to. So I disagree that hydrovacs are junk and do not work. SI sells brand new ones if you do not want to rebuild yours.

              For Reference: http://dave78chieftain.com/HydroVac_brakes.html
              Dan White
              64 R1 GT
              64 R2 GT
              58 C Cab
              57 Broadmoor (Marvin)

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              • #8
                When I see someone pan the Hydrovac, there just needs to be some sort of push back. Hydrovacs have been used successfully for about seventy years. On heavy duty trucks it was the standard for decades. If they didn't work would they have continued to be use for all these years? I have had the original Hydrovac on my 1955 Speedster for the fifty four years that I've owned it, but I have no doubt that it was original to the car. That's sixty three years, far and away the least problematic of any of that car's braking components.

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