Brake Booster Parts

jimmyessbee

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Hello all. I've got a 1964 Newport that I thought was in need of a Power Brake Booster. I pulled it with the intention of getting it to Booster Dewey. Noticing that this is fairly easy to get apart, though, I thought I'd see what I had inside first.

Interestingly, it looks like almost all pieces inside are new. And clean. Except for this one boot which has an obvious crack and leak.

I do think I could manage to get this fixed if I could find this boot. A start would be if I could know really what this booster is. Is it a Bendix? Midland? Size? How do you measure it?

Any insight is appreciated.

crack.jpg
 
Consult the 1964 Chrysler parts book. Should be either at www.mymopar.com or www.jholst.net , I suspect. Not sure where you might find that particular item, though.

CBODY67
 
Hello all. I've got a 1964 Newport that I thought was in need of a Power Brake Booster. I pulled it with the intention of getting it to Booster Dewey. Noticing that this is fairly easy to get apart, though, I thought I'd see what I had inside first.

Interestingly, it looks like almost all pieces inside are new. And clean. Except for this one boot which has an obvious crack and leak.

I do think I could manage to get this fixed if I could find this boot. A start would be if I could know really what this booster is. Is it a Bendix? Midland? Size? How do you measure it?

Any insight is appreciated.

View attachment 595936
I think that is just a dust boot. I can't imagine that is what is causing your loss of boost but I could be wrong.
 
I think that is just a dust boot. I can't imagine that is what is causing your loss of boost but I could be wrong.
No... I don't think so. This one is inside the booster. You cannot see it without opening up the booster. With this crack, vacuum will directly leak into where the rod goes. You can see the other half of the booster with the vacuum check valve lying on the bench. That is what covers this up.
 
I'm going to put another plug for Harmon Classic Brakes. If you follow this thread, I ordered the kit on Thursday. It arrived yesterday. I put it in this morning. There's no great trick. They had copies of the appropriate pages from the service manual in the kit. The biggest issue was getting the big clip off the piece that houses the bellows.

Regardless, ordered the kit Thursday, I've got a Chrysler that stops on Sunday. It's going to be hard to get used to, though. I almost went through the windshield the first time.

With that said, the booster seems to work appropriately now, but it seems like after I apply the brakes that they stick a bit. They will come out of it in short order, but what seems to be happening is that the pedal isn't returning immediately. With the booster not working, I suspect that this didn't matter so much because it took a lot of pedal pressure to stop the car. Now, it doesn't take much and you can feel it physically trying to slow the car.

Is there supposed to be a return spring of some sort on the pedal? I'm not seeing a place to attach one.

Any other insight is appreciated, too.
 
I could be just an adjustment issue. You didn't change the length of the rod in your picture did you? Your FSM should have some directions for any adjustment needed. Good luck with it and glad you were able to get the booster working.
 
I could be just an adjustment issue. You didn't change the length of the rod in your picture did you? Your FSM should have some directions for any adjustment needed. Good luck with it and glad you were able to get the booster working.
I considered that. Also, though, I did spray some lubricant on the pedal linkage and that did seem to help. I think I'll drive it a bit and see how it goes.

Thank you for the input.
 
I'm going to put another plug for Harmon Classic Brakes. If you follow this thread, I ordered the kit on Thursday. It arrived yesterday. I put it in this morning. There's no great trick. They had copies of the appropriate pages from the service manual in the kit. The biggest issue was getting the big clip off the piece that houses the bellows.

Regardless, ordered the kit Thursday, I've got a Chrysler that stops on Sunday. It's going to be hard to get used to, though. I almost went through the windshield the first time.

With that said, the booster seems to work appropriately now, but it seems like after I apply the brakes that they stick a bit. They will come out of it in short order, but what seems to be happening is that the pedal isn't returning immediately. With the booster not working, I suspect that this didn't matter so much because it took a lot of pedal pressure to stop the car. Now, it doesn't take much and you can feel it physically trying to slow the car.

Is there supposed to be a return spring of some sort on the pedal? I'm not seeing a place to attach one.

Any other insight is appreciated, too.
I had my booster rebuilt by Booster Dewey a few years back and have had the same problem since. They tried to tell me I didn't have enough vacuum, but I've got like 17" Hg. You find a fix I'm interested in hearing it.
 
I had my booster rebuilt by Booster Dewey a few years back and have had the same problem since. They tried to tell me I didn't have enough vacuum, but I've got like 17" Hg. You find a fix I'm interested in hearing it.
It seems like I have made progress. As @Sixpactogo suggested, there is some adjustment. I didn't recall changing the length of the rod, and also didn't consult the FSM -- but logically it seemed like if I made the rod a little longer it would seem to be less likely that if I left it parked after hitting the brakes that the brake lights would stay on as the pedal would be higher up. I really couldn't fathom how that would fix the issue except with the slight chance that maybe with the rod being shorter you have to push the pedal further and hence maybe the geometry is not where it ought to be. I can't logic it out, but I made the rod longer. I made it probably almost a 1/4" longer. I didn't recognize that pedal height was off previously, but it does seem better now and it seems like the pedal returns immediately. I'll report back in if that changes, but for now it feels like that was a fix.
 
It seems like I have made progress. As @Sixpactogo suggested, there is some adjustment. I didn't recall changing the length of the rod, and also didn't consult the FSM -- but logically it seemed like if I made the rod a little longer it would seem to be less likely that if I left it parked after hitting the brakes that the brake lights would stay on as the pedal would be higher up. I really couldn't fathom how that would fix the issue except with the slight chance that maybe with the rod being shorter you have to push the pedal further and hence maybe the geometry is not where it ought to be. I can't logic it out, but I made the rod longer. I made it probably almost a 1/4" longer. I didn't recognize that pedal height was off previously, but it does seem better now and it seems like the pedal returns immediately. I'll report back in if that changes, but for now it feels like that was a fix.
FYI -- after I lengthened that rod, it didn't seem like the brakes were hanging but after driving for a period I smelled burning brakes. So, I adjusted the rod back in. Total adjustment out was actually probably about 1/8". I've put about a hundred miles on it, now, and the pedal returns to where it should and the brakes still seem to work like they should and there is no brake smell. I'm very pleased that the brakes in my '64 work once again and I do appreciate the help I received here.
 
Glad you got it solved. Mopar to yuh. Burned rubber smells much better than burned brake shoes.
 
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