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I wa able to clean it out with an ice-pick and it became a white powdery residue so Ijm guessing it was dried sludge from barke fluid.

Not btv related but listen CLOSE to what he is saying. Then apply his claims to the btv 50 years earlier. Think it so impossible?????

youtube.com/watch?v=NGAoaEVpXuc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Here is a picture of the inside of the BTV lid I was referring to. The spot (just to the left of the 2nd hole from the right) above the relief port is actually cleaner than the rest of the lid. If I had to make a guess, I'd say that the relief port was very busy prior to the engine blow - which probably explains why there was fluid there to solidify when the car was towed to the field and left in 1966. I'd also guess that when I opened it the first time, it was the first time it had seen light since being inside the factory.

My thoughts of intentionally plugging this little item is this. I personally, would never plug anything that had "relief" anywhere in it's description. That to me is like locking an emergency exit.

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It's pretty obvious that the practice of using parts that hadn't been fully vetted didn't stop in 1955.

'86-'87 Turbo Buicks? I nearly bought one of those Grand National style Regals back when they were new. This affinity for questionably braked cars seems to be following me around!

Just for the record, I went to the website www.powerbrakeservice.net shown in the YouTube video PackardV8 posted. It was presented on a page that bills itself as "Speed Products". I searched there for "Bendix Treadle Vac" and "BTV". Not on there. Then I searched for just plain "Bendix". Not on there either. Apparently they deal in exotica.

I'm not sure if what the fellow in the video said about electric brake boosters (apparently "featured" in some late '80s early '90s GM products) had anything that directly related to the BTV, but the video does point out that major auto manufactures have, through the years, made cars with questionable, if not downright dangerous, braking systems. Wonder how it never got into the popular press that these things were going on in the age of runaway litigation, 30 years post-BTV?

Interestingly, there doesn't seem to be much evidence of current day problems back when these cars were new & late model daily drivers though a friend had a BTV equipted 56 Olds 98 Holliday 2 dr that had sudden brake failure in the 60s.
Of course these were times when a politician cojld lay everything but the Atlantic Cable and the press would keep his secret. Car companies spent lots of advertising dollars.

BTV RELATED: See the you tube link in post 59 of previous page. He warns of the compensator port.

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Thanks for your thoughts on the thread, Jim. And for keeping it light. I'm interested in whether or not you had it in mind to rebuild that crusty BTV out of the car with the blown engine, or if you've had experience with any other BTV rebuild?

PackardV8,

The video on the BTV is interesting. He lays full blame on the compensator valve. The location of the BTV on the Lincoln is also interesting. Note how the firewall mounting, basically putting the vacuum section "level" required the reservoir cover to be slanted to offset the pitch of the reservoir, which sits at quite an angle with the rest of the MC in that position.

I still wonder if there aren't two conditions going on when the pedal goes to the floor and no amount of pumping can get pressure. It seems possible that this is such an occasional occurrence that it requires a "perfect storm" of a stuck compensator valve and vacuum pulling fluid into the vacuum section. That's only an opinion, but how many people who have reported firsthand on these failures are looking for smoke in the rear view while they're struggling to grab the emergency brake? The smoke may be an "underreported" symptome in firsthand accounts of BTV failure.

See post 35, an article that recommends rebuilding every 3 to. 5 years among other recommendations

packardinfo.com/xoops/html/uploads/newbb/553_4afeeb215dbf2.jpg

Heres the thread
packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb ... lat&order=ASC&type=&mode=0&start=30