Thread: Brake Booster riddle - can you solve it?

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Originally Posted by Dave Severson

If the brakes aren't working properly or adjusted and maintained properly, no booster regardless of the size will help..... Bad brakes are bad brakes....

Dave has hit the thing on the head. No, she doesn't need a booster, and no, she certainly doesn't need to throw out the whole system and go exotic. She needs someone who knows brakes to go through the entire system and fix and adjust what is there. If she has early Ford brakes on the front with Buick drums, and typical 8 or 9 inch Ford brakes on the rear (Haven't seen what's back there, so I am assuming) this car will stop just fine.

Are discs and SoCal stuff more modern? Sure. And the SoCal setup sort of gives you the look of the traditional Buick set up. But for us diehards who really want traditional, only one setup will do, and that is the setup she, and I are running. I am not defending this setup simply because I am running it, but because for years and years, day in and day out, I drove my '27 and the brakes could not have been better even if they were discs. The car stopped on the proverbial dime, with no pull or fade. Pedal pressure was perfect, and as for getting them wet, I live in Florida, where it rains just about every day in the Summer, and many times the rest of the year. I have driven through rainstorms where I could not see the car in front of me, and the brakes never diminished whatsoever.

The secret is in the setup and adjustment. Faith just needs some knowledgable rod builder or brake person to go through the car for her.

Don

PS: I have two other thoughts on this. Maybe Faith is comparing the feel of these brakes to her daily driver SUV that she mentioned she also owns, and secondly, maybe, being a female, and naturally a little weaker than males, the pedal is tougher for her to push. That isn't a chauvinistic comment, simply a fact of life. My ex-wife wanted to drive my '27 one time, and was mad because she couldn't push the clutch down. To me it was stiff, but very comfortable. Just a thought.