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I am restoreing a 57 chevy belair 350 w/4 speed.
I am going to upgrade to front dics brakes do I need to go with a power booster or just go with manual
brakes? I feel that the vacuum booster will make it harder to change the spark plugs which are already
a pain in the butt !!
Any thoughts on this?
Hello Tony,
First of all welcome to the site! glad to have you here.
On a 55-57 chevy there is plenty of room to get to the spark plugs with the booster installed. The booster is angled up on the firewall to get the correct pedal ratio and pertaining to your question will allow more access room.
I personally built a 57' with the 8" dual setup and found that spark plugs we not tough to get to at all. So no worries with that.
If you decide to run manual brakes they do work good but just remember what a power booster applies for pressure and assistance with your braking; your foot is doing all the work to build the pressure now.
If you are working with a limited vacuum pull out of your engine and thinking of manual brakes (less then 18" @ idle) another option would be a Hydraulic brake assist. See the link! This system does not work with any engine vaccuum and runs off the power steering pump (tee'ed with your steering box if power steering) These are AWESOME!
Disc Brake, Steering and Suspension Products for classic Chevy and Ford cars and trucks
I hope this helps with your decision and please feel free to post or email with any other questions. I'd be happy to help.