Hydroboost Astrovan vs. Kit

[BroncoinAlaska]

Got the Bronco up and running again after the suspension lift and EFI conversion. The weak link is now the brakes. I have the stock 1977 power brakes with disks up front and drums out back. The Bronco sits now with 35" tires, 2" body lift, 3 1/2" suspension lift, Explorer serpintine setup. The next upgrade needs to be hydro boost. I am looking at either an astro van unit or a kit from Wild Horses. With the Trick Flow upper manifold I have limited space around the brake mounting location. I currenly have half an inch of clearance between the upper manifold an the angled bracket on the vacuum booster.
Which route would be best for fitment and performance?

Here is a link to view the clearance in the engine bay.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1GWGeQ334c

 

[TBS-POPS]

You might as well opt for the astro unit as you will have to adapt it to the angle bracket. The wh kit is made to bolt to the firewall so might as well not pay for thier nifty brackets. just courious as to why the 77 brakes arnt good enough??? should be... maybe you have the wrong pads on them... an old style organic type pad in the front works alot better than a newer ceramic one. unless you are into autocross or rally racing...

 

[BroncoinAlaska]

The brake system has new hard lines and SS flexabe lines. The booster is original as is the master cylinder. I added all new fluid with the new lines and bleed the brakes. Old system worked good when the Bronco was stock height and geared.

 

[Rox Crusher]

Astro boost conversion is simple and cheap! Especially for 77s.

Check our classifieds as somebody usually has junkyard units available for reasonable price.

Somebody sells hardware kit for this conversion on eBay.

Oh yeah, search hydro boost 101 thread by Ransil.

 

[904Bronco]

Astro boost conversion is simple and cheap! Especially for 77s.

Oh yeah, search hydro boost 101 thread by Ransil.

I did this conversion on my 77, and finally got all the bugs worked out... I highly recomend Ransil's Thread, I have posted to it and it has alot of great info/part numbers...

 

[Madgyver]

you could do this.........

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60141

 

[TOFIC]

Which route would be best for fitment and performance?

As some have said there is one more way to do this.
If your Bronco is an automatic you can do the pedal shift modification
This mod puts the brake pedal in the location of the clutch if you had one
This moves the brake mounting location about 4" towards the driver fender
Then you have a huge amount of clearance to your valve covers and other things that stick out
The nice thing about this modification is it gives you the wide brake pedal
Here's some pictures of my Bronco altered
That is a 351 Windsor motor in this pictures
The pedal is from a mid seventies Mercury wagon although most guys do this mod with the late seventies Lincoln pedal
Another benefit is you are mounting the pedal and booster to the firewall (much firmer and stronger that the bracket), the pedal rod is a straight line into the booster and there is no bushings or angle brackets to give you that "funny" brake pedal feel.
My standard warning "watch your first drive with Hboost, if you do it wrong the power of the unit will cause you to do a face plant on your windshield"
Ask a few of us that have done this.
My article in the tech section shows the wagon I used the pedal from.
TOFIC

 

[malcolmzilla]

Put the flat Astrovan booster on your angle bracket. It locks my 35's at 70 mph easy.

 

[NYLES]

you want it like this!

 

[BUCKNBRONK]

Do the astro on to your existing angle braket, it bolts right up and it looks good. u will need to modify the turn buckle alittle or get the one off ebay for $60. I just did this about 4 weeks ago- its sick ! There is a guy selling the rebuilt booster, adj rod and master cly on ebay, got mine for 165$ shipped. After a $250 trip to Parker Hoses for the jic adapters and new hose it was about a 8 hr project total . Would have been alot less if i would have just bought the turn buckle from ebay.. Reuse your dick/drum perp valve it should be ok. Good luck.

 

[BroncoinAlaska]

Looks like I'll try the astro van conversion with the eBay hardware. What kind of lines will I need for the hydroboost with my explorer serpentine setup?

 

[70_Steve]

As TOFIC says, more than one way to do this.

I just got mine done. Used a hydroboost from a 2000 Superduty. I liked that booster because the brake rod is just about the same length as the stock Bronco one. No messing with cutting and threading, or welding in extensions...

Used a master cylinder from a 90 Dodge 1/2 ton truck because it has a 1 1/8" bore, same bolt spacing as the booster, it's aluminum, and the lines connect on the drivers side.

Had to turn the booster 90° to clear the EFI manifold on the 351, which worked out OK cause I needed a 1/2" spacer between the booster and master cylinder. Made the spacer out of a piece of 4 x 4 x 1/2" aluminum.

Had the local hydraulic shop make the hoses and silver-braze a #6 JIC adapter onto the back of the PS pump reservoir.

$90 shipped for the new Booster from Ebay
$ 30 shipped for the new master cyl from Ebay
$ 4 for a piece of 3/16" plate to mount the booster to the firewall.
$100 at the hydraulic shop for the hoses and silver-brazing.
$14 for a rebuild kit for the Saganaw PS pump
$25 for misc fluids, brake lines and fittings.

76 disk brake Dana 44 and drum brake 9" and I can lock up all 4 tires with ease. Still getting used to it!!

 

[markperry]

I also did this conversion a couple of weeks ago.....love the stopping power and the brakes don't fade away at stop lights.

I used the saginaw PS pump so I could use the HP line that goes from the PS pump to the hydroboost from the Astro van. You can also use the HP line from the stock Bronco box to the hydroboost, but you need a compression fitting to connect the lines.

I got the hydroboost at a scrapyard for 15.00 and the sag pump for 35.00 the lines I already had...It can be done pretty cheap!