Hydroboost Brake Upgade: Looking for Comments
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 3,775
Likes: 4
i was planning on putting in a hydroboost system over winter, since my booster is leaking. but i had also assumed it helped improve the braking performance too.
are there any better designed/performing vacuum boosters out there now? or should i just stick with an OE replacement?
are there any better designed/performing vacuum boosters out there now? or should i just stick with an OE replacement?
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 19,294
Likes: 2,754
From: Charlotte NC
i was planning on putting in a hydroboost system over winter, since my booster is leaking. but i had also assumed it helped improve the braking performance too.
are there any better designed/performing vacuum boosters out there now? or should i just stick with an OE replacement?
are there any better designed/performing vacuum boosters out there now? or should i just stick with an OE replacement?
What year are you putting git in????...It makes difference.
And more importantly... what side is you oil dipstick located????
DUB
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 3,775
Likes: 4
its going in my 69 small block, and my dipstick is between plugs 5 - 7. i think....
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 19,294
Likes: 2,754
From: Charlotte NC
The booster for your car is stamped completely different...and it is stamped out in a way that if the oil dipstick is correctly installed and positioned...you can get to the handle of the dipstick and pull it out easily and re-install it without obstruction. IF you put a booster from the later years...it conflicts with the dipstick...which will have to be bent and moved to clear the booster outer housing.
The later years have a recessed 'pocket' in the stamping of the outer housing...and when the master cylinder fits to it...you can NOT see the contact point of the master cylinder where it touches the booster because it is tucked back inside this stamping. The early design is the other way...the outer housing is stamped and the mounting area for the master cylinder pokes outwards (so-to-speak) and you can clearly see the contact point where the master cylinder touches the booster.
DUB
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 914
Likes: 14
From: Aberdeen, Scotland
If you have enough vacuum I would consider not going with the Hboost initially. I had a new motor built, which in the end seems like it would have enough vacuum and went with HBoost. I am not "sure" that I really like it ... it feels a little overboosted. I big Wilwoods as well. I might end up pulling it off one of these days! I just hate that big, old Vac can!
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 7,455
Likes: 977
From: RI, Now Franklin/Nashville TN
If you have enough vacuum I would consider not going with the Hboost initially. I had a new motor built, which in the end seems like it would have enough vacuum and went with HBoost. I am not "sure" that I really like it ... it feels a little overboosted. I big Wilwoods as well. I might end up pulling it off one of these days! I just hate that big, old Vac can!
Team Owner
Joined: Apr 1999
Posts: 21,953
Likes: 1,445
From: Reno Nevada
2024 C3 of the Year Finalist- Modified
I have a local vette friend that jumps on everything new. Hydroboosted wildwood D4 &D6 and hydraulic clutch TKO 600.
This is just me, but I have a hard time driving his car. It is jerky and odd with no pedal feel. I hate the clutch.
My present motor is about 9 inches of vacuum @ 1200 rpm idle. yes it is a little over cammed solid roller. My braking and steering is fine. It is good enough to run it around a 4.2 mile road racing track and drive on my local mountain roads around Lake Tahoe
This is just me, but I have a hard time driving his car. It is jerky and odd with no pedal feel. I hate the clutch.
My present motor is about 9 inches of vacuum @ 1200 rpm idle. yes it is a little over cammed solid roller. My braking and steering is fine. It is good enough to run it around a 4.2 mile road racing track and drive on my local mountain roads around Lake Tahoe
The ORIGINAL and bestest
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 10,009
Likes: 240
From: Toronto Ontario
Toronto Events Coordinator
I have driven 2 C3s and a '69 Camaro with hydroboost, and they all felt overboosted and touchy. Didn't really like the weird pedal feel, to be honest.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 2,738
Likes: 53
From: Bogart GA
I have a local vette friend that jumps on everything new. Hydroboosted wildwood D4 &D6 and hydraulic clutch TKO 600.
This is just me, but I have a hard time driving his car. It is jerky and odd with no pedal feel. I hate the clutch.
My present motor is about 9 inches of vacuum @ 1200 rpm idle. yes it is a little over cammed solid roller. My braking and steering is fine. It is good enough to run it around a 4.2 mile road racing track and drive on my local mountain roads around Lake Tahoe
This is just me, but I have a hard time driving his car. It is jerky and odd with no pedal feel. I hate the clutch.
My present motor is about 9 inches of vacuum @ 1200 rpm idle. yes it is a little over cammed solid roller. My braking and steering is fine. It is good enough to run it around a 4.2 mile road racing track and drive on my local mountain roads around Lake Tahoe
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 2,738
Likes: 53
From: Bogart GA
That said, I think if ya got lots of power and race/often push the limits of the car, then that is a different story completely as I know some of you do.
For now, I decided to modify the 1" AFR spacer by adding a 3/8" NPT to 8 AN fitting and to it, attach a 45 degree 8AN swivel and stainless braided hose to the vacuum booster. Looks like it will clear everything and didn't cost much to do.
Really short on funds, engine build is way more then I figured and I just closed on a deal Friday to purchase a 1992 ZR1 that has been in the works sense last spring. My wife is a saint.
Team Owner
Joined: Apr 1999
Posts: 21,953
Likes: 1,445
From: Reno Nevada
2024 C3 of the Year Finalist- Modified
The brakes are the same thing. If I drove it enough I would get used to lack of resistance. Just a learning curve.
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 65,492
Likes: 230
From: Orange Park Florida
The hydraulic clutch pedal is just so different that I have to think about taking off from a stop light. It is the lack of feel. Of course if I drove it every day I would get used to it.
The brakes are the same thing. If I drove it enough I would get used to lack of resistance. Just a learning curve.
The brakes are the same thing. If I drove it enough I would get used to lack of resistance. Just a learning curve.
Last edited by mrvette; Nov 10, 2014 at 12:27 PM.