Toronado.org

I used a bit too aggressive a cam in my rebuild and so had to accelerate my plans to convert to a Hydroboost Hydraulic Brake Power Booster from the stock Vacuum booster.

I based the upgrade on the Hydroboost system in the 78 Eldorado I bought for just this purpose. Hydroboost, for those not familiar with the system, uses the Power Steering pump to provide hydraulic pressure to drive a Hydraulic Power Booster. This entails running a line from the PS Pump to the Hydroboost unit and then back down to the Power Steering box. All these lines can be sourced for the Eldorado; I used the very new looking lines from the Eldorado.

One speedbump in the process is the difficulty of obtaining a Remanufactured Hydroboost unit; I ordered the last one in stock from RockAuto after finding that no local source could even get me one. It is also possible to send a unit off for rebuild; this is why I kept the unit I took from the Eldo for future use.

The usual gremlins popped up during the swap; I had to include the Master Cylinder due to differences in the piston actuator rod. I had to slightly modify the fenderwall to provide clearance for the end of the master cylinder as the new booster is a bit longer, and I had to make new lines to connect the MC to the distribution block and metering valve as they swapped the position of the front and back reserviors on the new MC. I also had to wrap the exhaust pipe with insulating material as the accumulator on the new Hydroboost unit is very close to the exhaust pipe.

You can either obtain a dual return inlet Power Steering pump or you can simply install a Tee in the existing return line for the standard PS pump; I did the latter as the Eldo pump does not look like it will fit in the Toro bracket. Eventually if I ever do the Serpentine belt upgrade I want I will probably use the Eldo pump.

The results, however, are well worth the effort. Braking is so fantastically improved it is a wonder they do not use this technology in more cars; my 1969 Toronado now stops even better than my 2001 Silverado and has much better brake feel. I have about 2 or so inches of brake travel before I hit a rock solid point and can easily lock the wheels up if I try. I went from developing a massive right leg to being able to feather braking with the lightest of touches. I highly recommend this for those that are willing to move away from a bone stock car.

Lol, did you modify your inner wheel well by hitting it with a hammer?

That's a pretty bizzarre looking unit, never seen anything like it before. If i'm still not happy with my stopping with.my regular disc-brake upgrade, i'll seriously consider that upgrade. Thanks for the posting.

Well, I did not directly hit it with a hammer... I used a wooden dowel to focus the blows and hit that with a hammer. Needed to make it work and pretty much do not care what it looks like at the moment; I can smooth it out when I take the whole front end apart in the next year or two.

My primary reason for all this originally was to have maximum braking power and for my eventual upgrade to rear disks. I just wish I had not bought the remanufactured vacuum unit... If you need a vacuum power booster I have one at a good price!

Now I am re-sealing the exhaust manifolds which leaked pretty badly the first time around. Got one off and can clearly see where the (obviously rich) exhaust came out. I think if I needed confirmation of the need to change carb jets I have no doubt now...

BTW - you can clearly see the seperate metering valve in the first photo...

What a totally cool upgrade! Love your Tech posts! Keep them coming!

Well, I was kind of poking about a little bit on this subject, and the T-type '83 Buick Regals had a Hydro-boost II brake system... Mid 80's Regals are bloody everywhere, I wonder if the hydroboost units from them would work... Obviously it was built for much smaller cars though...

That might indeed be an excellent find. You do not need to find an actual car if you can do what I did and order just the booster and pay the core charge.

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/A1C0/527211.oap?year=1983&make=Buick&model=Regal&vi=1020722&ck=Search_01305_1020722_2538&pt=01305&ppt=C0066

The reason it may be such a good find is that it does not have the accumulator that I ran into interference issues with... It seems that in the Eldorado HB unit they have a feature that provides several panic stop tries when the engine is off. This intereferes with the exhaust pipe and I am having Waldron bend a custom pipe for me which they will offer to anyone in a similar situation once we get it validated.

The Hydroboost is well worth it, however, either way. The unit you found might be a better choice, and it probably will work fine in our cars. I may test this at a later date with my 68, and if it works I will post it as the better option.

xgecko wrote:That might indeed be an excellent find. You do not need to find an actual car if you can do what I did and order just the booster and pay the core charge.

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/A1C0/527211.oap?year=1983&make=Buick&model=Regal&vi=1020722&ck=Search_01305_1020722_2538&pt=01305&ppt=C0066

The reason it may be such a good find is that it does not have the accumulator that I ran into interference issues with... It seems that in the Eldorado HB unit they have a feature that provides several panic stop tries when the engine is off. This intereferes with the exhaust pipe and I am having Waldron bend a custom pipe for me which they will offer to anyone in a similar situation once we get it validated.

The Hydroboost is well worth it, however, either way. The unit you found might be a better choice, and it probably will work fine in our cars. I may test this at a later date with my 68, and if it works I will post it as the better option.

That emergency stop with no engine sounds like a good thing to have. I mean, it's a one in a million chance you'd need it. But when I lost my alternator with my Fiero my engine died, and had a fun time stopping

That's a much better point, buying one new, and getting away from the potential trouble... Picking up a new master cyl as well. I wonder if the unit might be shorter from front to back, and avoid having to customize the inner wheel well as well... I'm going to start looking in salvage yards to see if I can find a used one to pick up cheap to experiment with. I'd bet I could find one for less than $50, if I can find one >_> My favorite salvage yard practically gives stuff away from '80s cars.

We need to talk if you are serious about this as I can save you my pain...

I found that you have to match the Master Cylinder to the Booster as the shaft that pushes the MC in must be the corresponding length. I bought the Booster for the Eldo and discovered I needed the matching MC which luckily was in stock at a local O'Reillys.

I highly recommend this as you know, but you will need to provide clearance between the exhaust manifold pipe and the accumulator. I am working with Waldron on this right now and expect to have a new one in a week or so.

I also will be wrapping the exhaust with a heat sheild tape made of some fiberglass like substance in lieu of the original heat shield as I not only need to shield the transmission lines but now need to keep the heat away from the accumulator.



This one shows were the mod needs to be made:

The good keeps getting better

I just found another one on o'Reily's, that appears to have been installed in regular Regals. It's $50 cheeper, and appears to be nearly identical, with the exception of the shape of the mounting plate. This one is square, the other one has a rounded bump, and recess on the bottom and top respectively. The brake-pedal link is also bend down slightly. Not sure which is more appropriate. This one also has half the core charge, and a quicker availability...

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detai ... &ppt=C0066

The feed line is still available from oReily's as well.

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detai ... &ppt=C0031

It will probably be at least a week before I start hitting salvage yards, but according to the "compatability" tab, it was an option in ALOT of 81-85 vehicles. Particularly Buicks.


EDIT: Wait a second.... is the one in the picture damaged? O.o I can't imagine how you could push that rod in with it bent like that...