The thing just took a $hit.

 

You have my sympathy.Get ready for the contortionist mambo.

 

Has your brake booster failed? Do you have any difference in braking??

 

Yea - it doesn't. That along with the hard pedal and the hiss...

 

Its a pain to replace. You can get a remanufactored one from autozone for about 125 with a core charge. Also if you are tight on cash pick up a 15 dollar haynes corvette guide as well. Detailed info on how to replace it. You gotta take off all this **** to get to it under the hood and dash. Real pain. I suggest you do it yourself because mechacnics will eat you up with raised labor and prices. Much more than normal. Hope it works out for you. P.S. You may want to replace your master break cylinder while your messing with that. So you wont have to go thru the hassle again and youll have excellent braking again. Those run over 200 dollars though.

 

Did mine on my 88 vert last weekend , plan on standing on your head for a few hours. What a mess !

 

 

Autozone is now $148 + $30 for the core charge. I'm not going to replace the MC - I just did that last fall. I've got the factory manual - and I'm not a bad mechanic - but I'm not looking forward to it.

 

It's a pain-but not that bad, BTW, I'd buy the metal one-forget those plastic POS.

 

How can I tell if the booster is working? i've had my 91 for a couple of years, and my brakes seem kind of stiff?

 

I replaced the diaphram in mine for about $35. It's just a flat piece of rubber. They just get a rip in the edge where it fits over the back half.
I'm out on the road and don't have the info on where I found the part. I searched around the web. It was some place in NC.
The 2 studs holding the MC on have nuts underneath that hold the halves of the booster together. It has a big spring in there you have to mash down to get the nuts on off. It took about 20 minutes to do.

I had Advanced Auto parts order a metal replacement. It looked so crappy I wouldn't put it on a chevette!

I wouldn't doubt if you went to a junk yard and looked through the Hollander manual that there isn't another listing for the same part.

JS

 

Problem with our stock PLASTIC boosters is the housing can crack over time-and a new diaphram won't repair that.Stiff brakes are one of the first signs the boosters is going south.

 

I just did mine - definately a pain in the a**. You will need 13mm swivel, long, medium and short extension, 10mm, 13mm open end, plumbers putty to keep the under dash bolts from slipping out of 13mm swivel socket, needle nose vice grip

Step by step

disconnect negative battery cable
remove under dash panel
unscrew computer from mount
unscrew computer mount bracket from chasis body
remove mount from bracket
lay computer on top of manifold
unbolt asr from body (two bolts at wheel well- 1 at asr bracket)
and pull away
unbolt master cylinder from Brake Booster
pull it to the side
You will definately need a good florescent lamp under there - because you will be up close and personal with it for a while
Make sure tilt steering is all the way up
pull your seat back as far as it will go
now get your 13mm swivel socket, with very long extension, put a little plumbers putty so nut with hold in socket, and remove two nuts holding booster to firewall.
remove booster rod from brake pedal by unclip'g clevis pin
remove old booster
replace with new or rebuilt (I used Autozone - A1 Cardone remanufactured, no problems $140 after $25 core return)
go under dash and bolt up brake booster to firewall
connect booster rod to pedal.
reconnect master cyclinder and all else.

Start car and check for brake feel, if they feel good, I did my initial check by putting the car in neutral on a slight incline and testing the brakes as the car backed up slightly to check for feel and if any dragging.

Take it for a spin get up to 45 -50 mph and brake, if brakes feel like they are dragging you will have to Remove master cylinder from booster adjust the rod on the master cyclinder side of the booster. If its a slight drag you may only have to back it off (clockwise) quarter turn - more drag more backoff (maybe half turn)

Then have someone check you brake lights if on all the time you will have to adjust the Brake light switch in
(check your pedal against the brake light and cruise control switches, if they are contacting your ahead of the game, if not you will have to adjust the brake light switch and cruise control in).

 

Do you have headers? If so, years ago Dick Guldstand was doing tire testing for GM and had a 383 C4 with Long Tubes, and I noticed he wrapped the Brake Booster with a heat resistant material, similiar to the stuff we use on Subs for High Heat pipes. Well, apparently the plastic booster crack right around the same area #7 cylinder header is and it makes it crack quickly due to the heat. I wrapped my bosster with a very good material, in my photos, and it reduced the temperature from the headers to the booster by 200 degrees.
Or youcan put a ZR1 booster in, which is metal.
Just a tip.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/phot...cat/500/page/1

 

Nope - no headers here..

 

Great Directions!

 

stay away from auto zone - you have a better than 50% chance of getting ANOTHER plastic one
see this thread for links to where to buy the metal one


http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1235127

 

whats wrong with autozone. A parts a part if your on a budget Plus they give lifetime warrantys.

 

Hey Mitch,
when my booster went bad last summer - I got lots of forum members telling me how bad doing the repair was - contortionist marque de Sade etc.

Either they never actually did the job themselves - and were just repeating hearsay - or the did it the hard way.

first - get youself the metal replacement
http://www.hotrodsusa.com/store/boosterchev.html
130 bucks - mine arived the next day if you don't like the metal color - just spray paint it black

Now for the 2 secrets to doing this easy!
1. remove the drivers seat - flip up the wire clip - pull out the seat cushion - and unplug and unbolt the seat from the slider assembly - this incredibly "difficult" feat takes almost 3 minutes - maybe even 5 minutes if you don't have socket wrenches.

Next unbolt the master cylinder assembly - no need to remove fluid or anything else - just unbolt it and move iot out of the way!

Kneel down next to the car - I use a gardening foam pad to kneel on - cause I'm an old man!

#2 secret! and using a couple of extensions with the wobbler ends (just looks like a rounded end nub on the extensions) (I picked up a set of 6 or 7 of em from Harbor Freight - 5 bucks) you can easily reach up and unscrew the nuts from up on either side of the steering column (I'm working from memory here).

Pull the thing out - put it back into place - get back under the dash and bolt the thing back up - It has helped some to put putty or grease in the socket to hold the nut in place - and they thread it on using the extension setup - I just reached in and hand started one of the nuts - used the extension on the other.

The whole thing took me less than 45 minutes - and a chimp with a set uf snapons is more adept mechanically that I am.

carl - lots of stuff on a vette are hard - but not this! Johansson

BTW if you get stuck - email me - you can either call me - or if it becomes to big a problem - I'll just come up there to Tracy and fix it! It's not that big of a deal - honest!

 

Dumb question but, WHY where the ZR1 boosters metal???
Also, would removing the driver's seat make the install easier????