Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Alright Gentlemen.

Lets clean it up , stop the bickering and move on before it turns into

What??? I leave the house for the 6 hours and miss all of the fun???? How do u all know when i'm 'out of pocket' anyway????? Gufwah hah hah ha ha ha.

Kev writes:
"I have always thought that a new master cylinder casting in the same outward cosmetic shape, but new convention internal design would be a no brainer and make everyone happy"

YES! SUPERB idea.

QUite possibly an original casting could be sleeved and fitted with a cup type piston.

Thanks for getting back to us Packard34. we're all glad that u are willing to do some forensics on this problem.

Sorry if anyone objects to my saying a dual master cylinder is a backup brake system. All I know is that is with a dual master cylinder it is possible that the rear brakes may stop you even if the front brakes do not, or vice versa. In addition to BTV and the emergency brake my Packard has a special emergency braking device. It is called shoe leather. You stick your feet through the rusted out floorboard and press your feet down very hard on the road. It is very inefficient but it is better than nothing!
Ken

Guess shoe leather works--just look out for the potholes. Wasn't it Hudson that kept a true back up brake system for a few years. Hydraulic for normal but if that failed, they still had the mechanical linkage in place as a backup.

Actually the Hudson system was clever and inexpensive; if the hydraulics failed, just before the pedal hit the floorboards, it engaged the parking brake cables. Since your foot was already on the pedal, it saved all that "oh s..., what do I do now?" reflex and reaction time, and also gave the better mechanical advantage of your foot rather than your arm.

The one object lesson in the beginning of this thread which I hope we've all picked up on is, don't drive with an inoperative hand brake. All that damage might have been averted.

PS - though I've never had occasion to use it in an emergency, on each car I've owned I've cautiously applied the hand/parking brake while moving to get a sense of the stopping power, and I would recommend everyone do this in some isolated, safe stretch of pavement or parking lot. Of course the 1936 and back Packard mechanical brake systems are the best in this regard as they engage the brakes on all 4 wheels, but then again mechanical brake systems like the Classics used are the least likely of any brake system to have a complete failure.

Was the later, and similar, Delco Morrain unit any better? reading through this thread i see mention of the BTV being replaced later with a similar DM unit. Would one of these be an acceptible substitue? close enough in outside appearence, mounting location and leverage?

....Offensive posts removed....

Eric,
I was looking through my parts book and found the attached pictures of the '56 manual brake setup. Can this brake pedal setup be installed in a '56 400? If so, then it looks like a small MC with remote booster and reservoir could be installed in the same location as the manual brake MC.

Having never seen a '56 manual brake setup I'm wondering if there's other issues with installing the manual brake pedal setup. Is there a similar panel where the BTV comes through the floor? Or does the manual brake pedal just go through a hole in the floor? Is there a component of the torsion level system mounted in this area of the frame that would preclude me from using this setup?

This looks too easy.

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