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Classic Performance Products |
Firewall Mount Power Brake Booster Kit for
1953-56 F-100s |
By Jeremy Cook |
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You know the old story about the painter whose truck has primer
spots all over it or the mechanic who has smoke pouring out his ride's exhaust?
We drew a similar comparison when we were looking over the Classic Performance
Products project '56 Effie. You see, brake-system upgrades and performance
upgrades are what CPP is probably best known for, yet as far as we knew,
no decision had been made as to what brake booster and master cylinder to
run or where to locate it. Evidently, Jim still has a trick or two up his
sleeve. It seems the crew at CPP had been busy working on some of their
already-popular products
and kits to make them available in polished stainless or chrome. |
No sooner was the process complete and we were installing
one on the '56. The complete Firewall-Mount Disc/Disc Power-Brake Booster
is made specifically for '53-56 F-100s (PN 5356FBB-4). The kit was designed
to be as compact as possible and provide enough clearance
for any valve cover combination. Once installed, the
firewall, dash, and steering column become triangulated-making the entire
assembly extremely rigid. The kit includes the mounting bracket, pedal assembly
with billet pad, a polished stainless 8-inch dual power booster, a smoothed
and chromed master cylinder, a chrome proportioning valve, and all the necessary
hardware (all of which has been either polished or chromed). |
Of course, if you're not looking for all the bells and whistles,
CPP can provide the kit in raw form or the mounting bracket or any other
component by itself. You can also upgrade to the chrome or polished stuff
one component at a time. At CPP your braking options are limitless. Follow
along as Alan,and Jim install the new Power-Brake Booster assembly in mere
minutes and even run the new brake lines-completing the mechanical portion
of CPP's project Effie buildup. |
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Here is the complete Firewall-Mount Disc/Disc Power-Brake
Booster in all its shiny glory. The smoothed and chromed master cylinder
comes mounted to the polished stainless-steel 8-inch dual power booster.
The pedal assembly comes attached to the mounting bracket. |
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Another option with this show ready setup is this polished
billet master cylinder cover. It's a simple design, so it'll match whatever
else you already have in your engine compartment. |
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As per the detailed instructions, Alan measured and marked
his center point on the firewall for drilling. This is where the
pedal push rod will pass through. |
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Alan also marked out the four booster mounting holes at this
time using the leveling spacer as a guide. |
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Since the hole is directly over one of the ribs in the firewall,
extra care was taken to make an even cut. Once the center hole was cut,
the four mounting stud holes were drilled. |
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Next, the mounting bracket and pedal assembly were set into
place, and the holes were double checked. Notice that the steering column
drop has been temporarily removed. |
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We used the mounting studs from the column drop to attach
the bracket to the dash. This triangulated the dash, firewall, and column
making the entire area much more rigid. |
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Now the master cylinder/booster unit (with the leveling spacer
slid over the studs) was pushed into place on the firewall. |
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The nuts and lock washers were then installed and tightened
down. The heim joint was adjusted to get the pedal level where they wanted
it. Then it was bolted to the pedal assembly. Once the brakes are adjusted
and bled, the pedal level may have to be adjusted again. |
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Since the brake lines congregate to this area of the framerail,
Jim decided to run the lines straight down into fittings on the top edge.
First the holes were drilled... |
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...and then the two fittings were bolted to the frame. The
lines below were bent, cut, and attached. |
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Jim likes bending up lines, so we put him to work making the
two lines. He wanted a simple setup where the two lines meet and run down
to the fittings. |
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Not bad, eh? With the lines in place, Alan ran the
vacuum hose from the booster to the manifold. |
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On the proportioning valve, the right front line was plugged
off. Instead of running this additional line, the left front line will go
to a "T" fitting located inside the framerail. From the "T"
fitting, the front lines then split off and go to the front left and right
wheels. |
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The CPP proportioning valve has a warning light switch built
in. (This is not a stop light switch.) The warning light will detect any
loss of pressure, such as a leaky wheel cylinder. While it is not absolutely
mandatory, CPP recommends that you wire this light into your system. Any
two-wire light socket can be used. One wire goes to the accessory power
and the other goes to the warning light. |
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You'll remember how good-looking this setup is every time
you look at this trick billet pedal. You'll remember how well the CPP system
works every time you have to hit it suddenly. |
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It's always best to have shop and assembly manuals on hand
to make sure your installation is correct and to make the project as easy
as possible. We recommend factory manuals, available at Greg's
Automotive |
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