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5Bx is identified as the Kelsey-Hayes variant for 1954 Buick. Should be easy enough to confirm, that unit had a cast iron hydraulic section.

THis 5BF BTV master cylinder is Aluminium. The 'end cap' is not magnetic. THis entire BTV unit came from my very original and very clean 5672A. THis particular unit has not been disassembled yet.

Here is a pic of the entire unit with "5BF" on the "end cap". A magnet will not stick to it anywhere on the master cylinder housing nor "end cap" where the B5F is stamped.

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Thank-you Howard! Given your photo; I went to using a brass brush & "shazaam" numbers are indeed there. Trying to determine what they are and I'll post soon.

5BF remains a mystery to me.

Isn't the filler cap plate installed in reverse, with the filler cap on the wrong side, perhaps just meaning the cover was once removed and replaced incorrectly? Or the unit was serviced early in it's life?

Pic of study unit from other my other 5672:

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Yes Owen. The filler cap is in the wrong position. That is exactly the way it came on the car when i bought the car 12 years ago. The unit is very clean. Appears to have been rebuilt. THis BTV unit did not give me any trouble other than the infamous fluid loss problem and a minor hissing noise from the vacuum unit. I used it fo about 5K miles with minimal or negligible trouble. ABout 7 years i removed it from the car and sat it on the shelf with no disassembly whatsoever.

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I don't have a dog in this fight, but think O-D's suggestion is the way to go. To elaborate: Have someone who knows Ed Strain volunteer to serve as a spokesperson for this group (as has already been suggested), but have him ask Ed a set of specific questions to be developed by those who have an interest in the BTV. I would suggest no more than 10 questions to ask Ed. The spokesperson could then report back to the site and not get Ed involved directly in the discussion. Let the person who volunteers float a set of questions by the site and get comments, then iterate to finalize what will be asked. What do you think?

(o{I}o)

Looks like there's been a lot of good discussion, here, in my absence. If I'm reading things correctly, there seems to be some confusion regarding the numbers stamped on the end of the die-cast body of the hydraulic section.

So, I borrowed Howard's pic from post #31, highlighted the identifying symbol, and attached it below.

Yet, note the three-characters stamped below - "5AA". I'm thinking that's some sort of serialized stamping to identify when the unit was built. (Similarly, Chrysler puts a Month-Date-Hour (MDH) number on a vehicle safety certification label that was affixed to the end of the driver's door on vehicle for production tracking purposes.) I wonder if the the "5", here, represents the last digit of the year "1955"; not sure about the alpha characters.

I'm thinking the "5BF" that Keith is reporting is that kind of number. Perhaps the actual model identification stamping is faint or has otherwise been lost over the years.

Also, the top cover on many of the V8 Packards that I've purchased has been oriented incorrectly - that is, with the fill cap directly under the steering column. Though a bit tedious, it can be remove and re-installed 180-degrees, on-car, with the aid of an offset screwdriver.

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Interesting thoughts there Brian.

Here is what I got off the BTV that had been previously on my '55 parts Patrician. First line, "53K" and then it gets tricky. F-Frank or possibly P-Paul followed by a unreadable character or symbol and then a "2". I also tried using a 10X jewelry loop and I just cannot determine things any further.
Hydraulic portion is also non-metallic.

Does not the fill lid look different to you all too?

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