Hydro Boost Brakes for my 77 Trans am

[77ta]

I am looking to install a Vanco Hydro Boost system on my Trans am. I have low vacuum with the current cam and while it’s ok lost of the time there are times the pedal feels pretty hard. I want to road course one day with the car and one of the things I know I need is improved brakes. I have done the 12" 1 LE brake upgrade and it helped and I have factory 10.5 rear Disk on the car. So it is a low budget set up by most standards. I figure to do further upgrades down the road on calipers and maybe rotors and rear disk etc... Are there any pit falls I need to know about?

The unit will included a reservoir so if the belt breaks or something I will have brakes... no power steering but normal brakes to get the car stopped he said. I have two mounting options. He said the over length of the unit is 15.25". He can supply a bracket to match the current angle of the factory mastercylinder or a mount to place it straight off the firewall. He said to look and measure to see which worked better for me for room etc...

Anyone done this and have some pictures of a unit installed?

[gort69]

Not familiar with the 77F-bird, but measure carefully. The HB unit is longer than a vac booster, and if angled up like the stock set-up is, you might have interference when trying to close the hood. The Hydratech system I use on my 1st gen mounts the HB straight out from the firewall and uses the manual brake hole in the pedal.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/06/DSCN0162-1.jpg

[79-TA]

I don't know what else you have done to your braking system, but I'd say improve the simple stuff first. Start with steel braided brake lines and a nice street/track pad (Hawk HPS pads have worked well for me, though you could go with a more aggressive pad.) That will change the pedal feel quite a bit. The day before you go to the track, add new brake fluid with a high boiling point (Wilwood and ATE make such brake fluid.)


Sorry, I have no experience with hydroboost, so I'll let the others chime in on that.

[Skip Fix]

What booster do you have? The 4WD dual diapraghm? Mine worked pretty good even with pretty low vacuum.

[formula]

unfortunately this is the best shot I have of my setup right now...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

who is supplying the unit you're looking at?

[Takid455]

this is on my 78 t/a
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/10/PICT1655-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/10/PICT1658-1.jpg

[ryeguy2006a]

Don't get one from bigger trucks though, too much pressure to the brakes.

[dipren443]

Don't get one from bigger trucks though, too much pressure to the brakes.


Thumb through my folder. I made several runs of these brackets... I don't have any now though.

http://picasaweb.google.com/nicholas.diprenda/Hydraboost?feat=directlink

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/05/Finished20Brackets202JPG-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/05/Hydraboost20Assembly203JPG-1.jpg

[Kiwi Mal]

I am not familiar with the Vanco. I used the hydratech in a 77 bird. Not the best of pic, but it shows how everything fits around it.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif