I am on the dark side now 100% -- gotta have brakes that work well because I will be driving it and my family's safety and my own high regard for self-preservation will make decisions like this for me -- and when say drive remember I'm in Texas, 100 miles is a round trip into Houston and heavy traffic everywhere --

Just my overpriced 2 cents, I had a TreadleVac fail on my '55 Clipper half way down a steep hill in San Francisco back in the early 80's. They say on a quiet night you can still hear a "puckering" sound at the bottom of that hill.

Glad you have seen the light, my young Padawan! Welcome to the Dark Side of Packard conversions! You will create many enemies by doing this, but keep your faith strong, and you won't hit anyone with your Death-Vac any more!

Mostly question for Craig but am curious if the new booster used on the Panther site car was the single or dual diaphragm and what the difference in assist is between the two. If a single was used, is there enough difference in boost that the pedal ratio might be able to be lowered?

Second question is re the mounting of a master cylinder. Are the boosters specific as to a particular size or could a smaller one be fitted if found that would more closely match the Packard bore.

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There is something wrong with the TreadleVac that can not be fixed by any rebuilder and that is that even new when it failed you have lost all brakes and systems exist now that are simply better plus anybody that claims to have a monopoly on a spring i'm not willing to bother with them as there are other routes to end up with a better product even when the TreadleVac was new, the unit is not complicated you are correct, too much so

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i saw through research that this was a problem and somewhat common, saw that my fluid disappeared with no apparent leak, therefore GUESSED this was possibly a problem ----

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this is why i had it at a shop that went through the brakes and they, as well as i, thought it was good but as it were the problem emerged where before there was none --- i bought an old car to enjoy and drive, i didn't buy a car to completely rebuild right out of the box and have a 100 point restoration, can't afford it and afterwards would be afraid to drive it anyway, just thought i would play with it and when something broke i would fix it -- before i bought this car i had never heard of TreadleVac and never knew anything about it so i thought the real problem was drums,cylinders,etc -- my ignorance to the single resevoir TreadleVac with several ways to fail was something i didn't even know to look for, thats why i'm on here looking for intelligent advice

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and finally, its possibe to build a car from the ground up in a garage, its possible to put a big block in a Festiva if you want to, so i think there is a modification out there that will work and some have been posted on here that seem just fine, and talk about not being satisfied, my brakes do not work as they are so, i do not like the TreadleVac system and have decided to change which at first i was against --

When rebuild is completed, would be very interested to hear what you find that caused the total lockup and whether the cylinder was damaged or able to be saved..

DanL
Sorry to hear about the too short road trip. But, at the same time I realize that that is part of the fun. That's the way we accumulate all those old car stories.

There's nothing wrong with a TreadleVac that can't be fixed by a competent rebuilder, if you're not up to the task. This unit isn't really that complicated, but there are a few critical service parts that are no longer available to the DIYer. Yet, rebuilders have repro'd and reserved such parts for their own services.

Armed with a download of the brakes section of the factory shop manual from this site, a little forensic exploration on your part might be more telling than merely guessing that the fluid went into the booster.

At any rate, if you can't be sure of the repair history and quality of work performed on ANY car, you should be going through the critical systems with a fine-tooth comb BEFORE taking it out on the street.

Still, if you feel that you need (for whatever reason) a tandem master cylinder, then by all means go the route of modification. However, be prepared to spend a lot of time on working and reworking, and then maybe still not being satisfied with the end results.

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i'll see what i can do when i get to that, just took it around the neighborhood and i thought it would be full of air but seems to be fine after refilling it, then i pulled in the garage and one of my heater hoses (top) busted, so gotta fix that --


i don't know any history at all on the treadle-vac, i am going through the paperwork i got with the car tonight to see if there was something in there that i missed, before i got this car i knew nothing of the problems with the brakes, always thought it was just having drums that was the problem, i'm irritated that its so complicated and that there is no replacement for these systems we have -- i plan on driving my wife, friends and family around in this beautiful old car that runs like a top and now i ( as many of you have before ) run into this goofy weirdo problem that is not easily remedied --- i am probably going to go with the relocation idea of Eric and others and have just removed the left side vent and have no problem deleting it -- i like these whole systems that you put in a kit car or fiberglass bodied car and it seems as though one would fit there -- i will research all the post on here since there has been plenty of talk about it and i will talk with my hot rod old guy gurus who can fix/do/fabricate anything and see what they think about it -- i have a budget but am willing to save up and get it done right -- and the saga continues.....LOL

If the fluid is found in the vacuum part, will be curious if the piston seal is cracked or if there is a pitted or rough ring around the shaft circumference at the exact spot where the lip normally sits.