I'm down under, so need all the help I can get! Imported an Ecklers Power Brake Kit to turn my 70 Roadster into a Power boosted car. Unfortunately the 4 studs on the booster dont line up with the exisitng holes. And if I was to utilize the current hole in the firewall to connect to the pedal, the booster would sit 1.5 inched too high, and the hood wouldn't close. I thought this would have been a simple bolt on conversion. But guess what! Wrong. Were the boosted cars configured totally differently? What are my options? If I cut a new hole in the firwall, it wont line up with the pedal :-(
Thanks guys
Dave

Hey Dave,

I too just bought a power brake conversion kit for my 71 vette and also realized that it is not a straight bolt-on. How did you remedy your install? I've searcvhed high and low on the internet and have not found much help with this issue.

Thanks,
Gonzo

Hello, A power brake booster wont bolt up to a non-power brake firewall with out modifying it, And i think the brake pedal is diffront also. It's best to have a parts car with power brake, Then you get all the needed part. But if you dont have one you can modify the parts off your car to work. At my shop the one thing we dont modify is brakes, Its all G.M. parts or we wont do it, Safety First!
David

The conversion you want to do is possible and not that difficult, but does require some reconfiguring and can be done using all GM parts, no custom built parts are required. The only part that is a real bear is the front to rear brake line. The master cylinder for the non power unit sits on the firewall between two bolts inline with the hole in the firewall. The power unit uses the four bolt holes which should already be in your firewall, but you need to relocate the large hole for the booster unit slightly lower than it is now. Second you will need to move the peddle to booster pushrod so it is inline with the relocated booster hole and third you need to bend (if you can) or replace the brake lines from the proportioning valve to the brakes, as the master cylinder is now farther forward by the depth of the booster unit. The front brake line is easy, but replacing the brake line from the proportioning valve to the rear of the car needs, believe it or not, a body removal from the frame. Corvette, in their infinate wisdom, routed this line between the frame and the body, and there just isnt any way to get there from here, using pre-bent brake lines. There is a company that makes bendable brake line tubing, but you need a double flairing tool to flair the ends. Have seen it but never used it, and I don't know for sure this method will work either. I am doing a frame off restore right now, and have the opportunity to do this conversion, but frankly, I may just leave the standard brakes alone. You still have 16 pistons stopping the car, you just don't have to push quite as hard. With the possible loss in engine vacuum (depending on your cam) and the loss of clearance between the engine and booster unit, I am thinking I have tons of stopping power with the standard brakes and the rest of the work just may not be worth it, and my body is off the car now! You can contact Van Steel Corvettes (www.vansteel.com) in Clearwater, Florida for better assistance. They are C3 corvette frame, suspension and brake experts, and they have my car right now rebuilding the rolling chassis. What ever you decide, good luck. :cheers: