asilverblazer You better give that booster a chance,both of them,thay like a dose {2 oz.) of hydraulic jack oil to lube a big leather cup in there. The big truck service book tells how to do this,my two are 71 yrs. old work good !! Always big fun to climb on the brakes and know you can stop !! they worry about disc brakes all the time, my 51 6400 made into a 98 inch wheelbase pickup has plenty of brakes. It is pretty happy at 50 MPH on good roads has 8.25x 20 with 4 and 2 speed axle.
The midland is working pretty well. The power piston moves free on the bench, might be a problem in the control circuit - the cost for proper rebuild kit, the acceptable function of the midland has killed my interest in messing with it more. I don’t expect that even if it was in proper working order any improvement to braking power.
The midland is working pretty well. The power piston moves free on the bench, might be a problem in the control circuit - the cost for proper rebuild kit, the acceptable function of the midland has killed my interest in messing with it more. I don’t expect that even if it was in proper working order any improvement to braking power.
Talk about speaking to soon... Thursday the main rubber diaphragm of the Midlands power piston developed a tear. Swapped the Bendix back on. I have discovered that first time I installed it I had the vacuum source air intake reversed, so it wasn't even working at all. Second when they are installed correct, the brakes are full on. Seems I've got a problem in the control valve admitting atmosphere to the back of the unit and/or not administering vacuum to the rear. Now to decide which one of these boosters to concentrate on getting fixed.
PS: I might have patched the ruptured diaphragm with a bicycle inner tube patch - stay tuned if I decide to put it back in.
I adjusted the striker plate on my drivers door, wow, now I can close and latch it!, also removed the Hydrovac so I can try to find a match fit, luckily it had the tag with the Bendix number.
1957 Chevrolet 5700 LCF 283 SM420 single speed rear, 1955 IH 300U T/A, 1978 Corvette 350 auto
NH46 COE Have been out,got home 51 6400 wouldn,t crank,pulled it ,fired right-up. So suspect home rebuilt starter I put on a month ago doesn,t like this cold !! Was a new switch looked fine but wont make the circuit now,have to make me go out in the cold and look at that !!
asilverblazer My boosters make a huge difference,if you climb on the brakes it will squall the front tires and you have pretty good control of the truck. Now I told you about the bendix vaccuum cylinder oil ?? If not get hydraulic jack oil,same thing-Carters told me,that leather cup in the booster gets dry and needs 2 ozs. of that a 2x a year that is on a bendix booster 1951. Midland may be different.
Yeah, I got em oiled. The Bendix I'll have to open back up and fiddle with the control valve to see why its activating the brakes with out hydraulic pressure on the control valve piston.
The Midland is just leaky with brake fluid getting places it shouldn't and the 2" tear in the diaphragm.
Cleaned up the floor panel that covers the transmission and painted with POR 15, fabbbed in a new shifter boot and parking brake lever boot, pretty fancy now, I don't have to have rags shoved in the holes.
1957 Chevrolet 5700 LCF 283 SM420 single speed rear, 1955 IH 300U T/A, 1978 Corvette 350 auto
Winter has arrived, since I took this picture I have hung tarps around the shed so it’s protected now. A few things I can work on inside over the winter but the long wait for spring has begun … nice to see all the posts from others.
today I bought a new battery, need to get the clamp to hold it in. Inflated the front tires also, they were soft when I brought it home. Next step is to dig into the hydrovac brake system. Probably going to try to find a shop manual for this thing, it makes working on anything so much easier to have either the manual or even just an exploded diagram.
