Re: 54' pacific brakes??

Posted by DavidPackard On 2016/7/24 11:46:00

I hate to admit this, but one day my BTV equipped '54 Cavalier brakes became almost non-existent. Poor maintenance on my part was the cause. Not only was the fluid level extremely low the brake adjustment was far from being correct. Filling the reservoir and adjusting the brake shoes on all four wheels corrected the poor brake condition. It's been about two years since my little episode of both feet on the brake pedal, and there have been no problems since. I suspect lack of maintenance and a rush to condemn has given the BTV sub-system a bad name. While the master cylinder reservoir cap can be reached from above (with lots of extensions on the socket), I find it easier to add fluid with the car elevated. Just be sure to clean the area before removing the cap. For starters I would inspect and correct the fluid level followed by adjusting the shoes on all four wheels, and while the car 'in the air' I would also bleed the system.
Now for a bit more of the story: As a teen I owned a '55 Chevy and as this was my first car I purchased a 'GM approved' shop manual to have a bit of good technical advice when I was learning about cars. While researching my '54 Packard situation I pulled out the Chevy manual, and much to my surprise in the power brake section was a BTV unit. Unlike the Packard application the Chevy mounted the entire unit horizontally high of the fire wall, and used a 'suspended' pedal assembly. In approximately 1/2 of the manual illustrations there is a reservoir cover shown that restored the Chevy reservoir service cap to the horizontal. I have also seen 'toe board mounted' GM BTV reservoir covers with a long 'filler tube' with a dipstick built into the cap. From this I've concluded the BTV was designed to be quite adaptable to either 'fire wall' mounted, or below the toe board mounting, and if mounted low some manufactures made maintenance a bit easier by installing a filler tube. I'm not sure that a '3 on the tree' equipped car could use the GM filler tube, but any design that makes servicing the master cylinder a bit easier would be beneficial.
dp