The Ford Barn

JimNNN · 05-15-2019, 12:06 PM

I've isolated a vacuum leak to my original Midland Ross vacuum brake booster on my '61 full sized Mercury. The power brakes seem to work good, yet the leak exists, so it will be addressed. The boosters are almost impossible to find, and very expensive when found, but I luckily found a rebuilder who comes highly recommended from good sources. The cost will be a fraction of what a replacement booster will be, so that's excellent.

Now that I'm venturing into brake work, however, I'm also thinking about another option I've pondered for a while - converting my single reservoir mast. cyl. to dual. So far, though, I haven't found an option that would allow me to reuse my existing booster for that purpose. I've found some cyl./booster kits, but some won't work for existing power brakes cars (they're for upgrading from manual single res to power dual res.) Others say they'll work, but I don't know if a trust their application knowledge.

The cheapest option I've found is from Leed brakes, but that would entail doing away with my power brakes and going to a manual system. No prob. with non-power brakes, that's what my Ranch Wagon has, but seems kind of regressive for my Monterey.

The car is a fairly low mileage survivor, and originality is important to me, but so is safety. What would you guys do?

Have any of you converted your early 60's full size Mercurys and Fords to dual reservoir while using the original vacuum booster?

darrell · 05-15-2019, 01:01 PM

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rebuild your booster and stick to your master cylinder.if your emergency brake works you havent got a worry.most of us drove half of our life with that setup.

05-15-2019, 12:06 PM	#1
JimNNN Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 522	Power brake options I've isolated a vacuum leak to my original Midland Ross vacuum brake booster on my '61 full sized Mercury. The power brakes seem to work good, yet the leak exists, so it will be addressed. The boosters are almost impossible to find, and very expensive when found, but I luckily found a rebuilder who comes highly recommended from good sources. The cost will be a fraction of what a replacement booster will be, so that's excellent. Now that I'm venturing into brake work, however, I'm also thinking about another option I've pondered for a while - converting my single reservoir mast. cyl. to dual. So far, though, I haven't found an option that would allow me to reuse my existing booster for that purpose. I've found some cyl./booster kits, but some won't work for existing power brakes cars (they're for upgrading from manual single res to power dual res.) Others say they'll work, but I don't know if a trust their application knowledge. The cheapest option I've found is from Leed brakes, but that would entail doing away with my power brakes and going to a manual system. No prob. with non-power brakes, that's what my Ranch Wagon has, but seems kind of regressive for my Monterey. The car is a fairly low mileage survivor, and originality is important to me, but so is safety. What would you guys do? Have any of you converted your early 60's full size Mercurys and Fords to dual reservoir while using the original vacuum booster?

05-15-2019, 01:01 PM	#2
darrell Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: p.e.i. Posts: 1,060	Re: Power brake options Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements) rebuild your booster and stick to your master cylinder.if your emergency brake works you havent got a worry.most of us drove half of our life with that setup.