Astro Van brake booster?

[TheJDMan]

On another forum someone mentioned that the hydraulic brake booster from a Chevy Astro Van would work on a Camaro. Does anyone know if this is true and has anyone tried it?

[sgernon]

That's what I have on my car. I also pulled the pump and remote canister for it. Was not a direct fit, I had to reduce the length of the likage and mount but it was fairly simple. Here's a pic.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/11/IMG_0057-2.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/11/IMG_0061-2.jpg

[eroc022]

what year astro van is this off of? and do you have any pics of the mods you had to do to it ?

[Randy67]

In addition to the Astro van one, another easy to find one is 96-04 Mustang GTs (4.6L models) which all had hydroboost. It's a fairly compact setup. Not sure about how the adapt to your car, but it has been done. Plus a bonus is they all had 4 wheel discs so the master cylinders work too.

[Apogee]

...Plus a bonus is they all had 4 wheel discs so the master cylinders work too.

Which is good because the master cylinder has a vertical stud arrangement, so alternative master cylinders are not readily available. They do work well with most aftermarket disc/disc brake kits with smaller piston areas similar to the Mustang application (PBR 2/1-piston floating calipers) that they came off of, similar to the C5/C6 Corvette kits.

[PT Sportwagon]

They actually had a write up in Car Craft mag, May 2011 issue. on doing the astro van hydroboost.

Tim

[Fuelie Nova]

Below is the link Tim is referring to

http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/ccrp_1105_chevy_astro_van_hydroboost_salvage/index.html

Tom

[sgernon]

Sorry for the late reply. I'm not sure what year I used. I think they are all the same but I could be wrong There was a line of Astro at Pick-N-Pull and I simply grabbed the cleanest one. The carcraft article covers most of the basics. The only issue I ran into was due to my own stupidity. I flipped the booster which caused me to hook up the lines backwards. After weeks beating my head on the wall and buying all sorts of random parts I flipped the lines around and the brakes worked great. Just be careful with the lines and you should have no issue.

[Hydratech®]

I flipped the booster which caused me to hook up the lines backwards. After weeks beating my head on the wall and buying all sorts of random parts I flipped the lines around and the brakes worked great. Just be careful with the lines and you should have no issue.

Just like getting the electrical connections backwards on an electrical device!

I accidentally wired in an electric cooling fan backwards once - drove me nuts for quite some time...

Once I got the polarity right, it was that moment of success that had me feel silly for a while... ;)~

[bbcc]

Some of the earlier year astro's had an angled mounting plate. Avoid those. They are a complete pain to modify and not worth the time. You want the straight flanged style. Internally, from the research I have done they are all the same. I have one in my s10 blazer with wilwoods all around, and a friend has the same unit in his s10 truck using factory disks all around. The great thing is the astro vans are pretty close in weight to the s10's so the hydraulic gain is enough to apply good line pressure, but moderate enough to retain some pedal feel.

Cheers,

Ryer

[Ls2GS]

I know this is an old thread but is the astros booster good for 4 wheel disc brakes? Or do you have to get a different master?

Thanks

[intocarss]

I know this is an old thread but is the astros booster good for 4 wheel disc brakes? Or do you have to get a different master?

Thanks

I ran a H-boost from an Astro van with a Early GM 1 1/8" Master Cylinder with 4 wheel discs.. worked good.

[Ls2GS]

What is the difference between the 94-95 Astro hydro booster and the 96-02 Astro? I see that there are two seperate listings for these for sale (reman.) and the price difference is large. I did stop at the local junkuard and picked one off of a 95 astro. Looks decent but it has been exposed to the elements and for the price to rebuild it may justify getting a remanufactered one. I also have a brand new power steering pump and a remanufactered steering box and I am using valvoline synthetic fluid for them, how would this fluid be for the hydraboost? If I were to use the junkyard part I would assume I am going to have to flush out the old fluid which is another thing I am unsure of.

[iadr]

What is the difference between the 94-95 Astro hydro booster and the 96-02 Astro? I see that there are two seperate listings for these for sale (reman.) and the price difference is large. I did stop at the local junkuard and picked one off of a 95 astro. Looks decent but it has been exposed to the elements and for the price to rebuild it may justify getting a remanufactered one. I also have a brand new power steering pump and a remanufactered steering box and I am using valvoline synthetic fluid for them, how would this fluid be for the hydraboost? If I were to use the junkyard part I would assume I am going to have to flush out the old fluid which is another thing I am unsure of.

Above its explained the bolt pattern was rotated on the early ones.

Valvoline fluid is fully mixable with everyday fluid. The only product that isn't, is the now rare DOT5 (not DOT5+) Silicone fluid. You still find this around Harleys, and a very few show car shops.
Not to say you don't want to get all of the old fluid fully flushed, but all you are doing is making sure you get clean, dry fluid.

[bbcc]

The later year (96-02) astro's had an angled mounting plate, tipping the nose of the hydroboost down at close to a 45 degree angle. Get the earlier 94-95. Rebuilding the astro van unit is hilariously easy. A lot of times after diss-assembly and cleaning I've found negligible wear in the bores and the seals look great. In a pinch, i've just tore a used hydroboost down, cleaned up everything, inspected, and re-assembled with the used seals and the unit works flawlessly.

[Ls2GS]

Thats exactly what I wanted to hear, thanks bbcc!!!

[Tpichevy]

Old but looking for more guys that have done this!!?