Have you considered Hydroboost?

[Kern Dog]

I've noticed that many heavy duty pickups came with Hydroboost systems.
I'm doing a brake upgrade to my '70 and part of it includes a new HB unit from Dr Diff. My old brake system consisted of 12" Cordoba front discs, (Actually 11.75") Iron 2.75" calipers, the Dr Diff 10.7" rear disc kit, a 1975 Dart Power booster and 15/16" master cylinder.
The new setup is the Dr Diff Cobra 13" front discs with 2 piston calipers, 11.7" rear rotors, 1 1/8" master cylinder and Hydroboost.
I pulled the engine in June when the '528 solid cam went bad. I took it as an opportunity to change pistons and lower the compression slightly. While apart, I'm upgrading the brakes, steering and refinishing everything that needed attention.
I've never driven anything with hydroboost but from what I have read, it is a highly effective system. The cam I'm using is sort of what led to all of this. I have a Lunati solid that is a bit lumpy and when I ran it before, I had to use a vacuum pump to make the brakes work. I wanted something that would be indifferent to low idle vacuum and I was actually going to use a manual Master cylinder until Dr Diff offered the Hydroboost unit to install, test and report.

[Kern Dog]

For those that don't know, Hydroboost uses pressure from the power steering pump to function. There are 3 ports on the HB unit.

[Kern Dog]

The  port to the left is a pressure port directly from the power steering pump. The port on the right goes to the steering box. The return line goes back to the P/S reservoir.

[Kern Dog]

To make this work, I needed a way to utilize 2 return lines . The HB and steering box both have return lines that need to go back to the reservoir. I thought of modifying the line on the steering box....

[Kern Dog]

A guy at FBBO sent me a link to a NEW Saginaw reservoir with 2 return nipples. The delivery time was approx 3 weeks. I decided to check out the stock at the local junkyards. I found a Chevy 1 ton 4wd with HB so I grabbed the pump.

[Kern Dog]

My plan is to pull the actual pump out of my original reservoir, along with the pulley, brackets and hardware.....and install it in the newer reservoir.

[tan top]

   

yes  
the plan was a put hydroboost with discs all round on mine,
& at the  same time i was going to put a Hemi  in, along with 5 speed manual trans,  
cant see it ever happening now  life got in the way .

looking forward to seeing & reading progress & road test  up dates when you get the chance
   

[histoy]

I put a hydro boost system on my '56 Chevy.  I found that the original PS pump wasn't sufficient for both units.  I ended up with a new Borgeson pump designed for hydro boost systems.  It has the dual return lines and higher pressure and flow than the standard pump.  The system I bought also comes with an inline filter to install in one of the return lines.  The system works fine with the new PS pump.   If I had it to do over, I would install a silent vane type vacuum pump to use with my existing power brake booster.  It would have been easier to install and half the cost of the hydro boost.

[b5blue]

I discussed this with Bergman. (The guy who makes adapters for Borgson steering.) You can give him a call as he does this modification in his shop so he knows what to expect. In the end, from his knowledge I just went factory booster for my needs. 

[Kern Dog]

Thanks guys.
Peter Bergman is a pretty sharp guy. I've bought torsion bars and the Borgeson steering kit from him.

[John_Kunkel]

To make this work, I needed a way to utilize 2 return lines . The HB and steering box both have return lines that need to go back to the reservoir. I thought of modifying the line on the steering box....

Why not just put a "tee" fitting in the return hose? No need to change the pump.

[Kern Dog]

I don't recall where I read it but an online search showed an article stating that a "T" was not advised. Something was mentioned about better flow with separate lines.
I considered it though. I was thinking of making one myself but this solution seemed like a cleaner way to go. Changing the reservoir gave me the opportunity to refinish everything to look better than it did before. The gloss black didn't look good to me.

[histoy]

FWIW.... My engine had a brand new PS pump, when I installed the hydo boost.  I started out by using a T in the return line.  The steering was sluggish and the pump & fluid ran hot.  I switched to the proper pump with higher pressure and dual returns, and the system has worked great since then.

[Kern Dog]

Thanks.
What do you mean by the "proper pump" ?
I pulled the pump from a heavy Chevy 4 wd truck....It was a Saginaw with a 6 1/2" pulley.
My pump has a 5 7/8" pulley. I just moved all my parts to the newer reservoir with the dual return lines.
It seems to me that if a heavy truck was built with the Saginaw pump as OEM equipment, it should work fine for me, especially since I have a smaller pulley (5 7/8") that will turn faster.

[histoy]

What I meant by "proper pump" was a pump designed to provide higher output for the 2 systems, and one with 2 return lines.  You can go to the Borgeson website and compare the standard vs. the hydro boost PS pump.

[1970Moparmann]

Love mine!

[Kern Dog]

What I meant by "proper pump" was a pump designed to provide higher output for the 2 systems, and one with 2 return lines.  You can go to the Borgeson website and compare the standard vs. the hydro boost PS pump.

I saved the pump that I removed from the truck. I just took the reservoir from it.
If this setup of mine isn't adequate, I can remove the serpentine belt pulley and use the truck pump along with the small 5 1/8" pulley and just use a shorter drive belt.

[b5blue]

Yea all this stuff and knowing rear disk was a waste for me had me pass on hydro.

[Kern Dog]

If you have a mild cam, a stock type vacuum boosted brake system works fine.
If you don't drive aggressively or are still running 14 or 15" steel wheels, the bigger brakes won't fit and would be a waste of money if they did.
I want this car to stop as well as or better than a new car regardless of how aggressive I drive.