Re: BTV Replacement that should work for everyone

Posted by Dave Brownell On 2014/2/16 9:55:04

I'd like to suggest some broadening of your power brake horizons. My 56 still has its BTV system (I am told that it was rebuilt once, years ago) and it's working well. So I have no immediate plans to replace it. One pedal to the floor will quickly change my mind, if I am that lucky. But all the discussion about later model GM master/boosters got me looking around the family fleet (14 trucks/cars) to do some imagining.

From this thread, some of the bigger problems appear to be fitting in the booster diaphragm assembly. The family fleet includes both gas and diesel trucks (some with upwards of 600K miles) and those with the GM Hydroboost caught my attention. Hydroboost uses the belt-driven power steering pump to provide hydraulic push to the master cylinder, replacing the lack of vacuum inherent in diesel engines. Since the 1980s, we must have had dozens of vehicles with this system and I cannot remember ever replacing the booster portion (but do the regular master cylinders). Of course, the system adds a bit of plumbing and length to the MC assembly. Whether or not the GM pump would be a match for the Bendix or Monroe steering parts would be for better Packard mechanics than I. But the width and clutter of a vacuum booster would no longer be an issue. Besides, there's a good supply of Hydroboost parts in salvage yards, waiting for a good home and they don't require a computer connection either.