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Hello all,

Asking for a friend. He's looking for a dual circuit master cylinder that he can install on his packard.

I had contacted someone on a website that was selling Packard car parts and he advised me that as far as he knows, they never made this for the 36 Packard but that I need to find one that would work with that year/model car

Can anyone help me out with this please?

Nothing out of the box for this or any Packard as far as I know. If you're keen on it, whatever you end up with will be cobbled together so you’re best bet is to keep it stock and simply follow proper maintenance of annual flushing.

As Don said, don't believe anyone has done this with manual brakes. There is one pre 40 model belonging to a frequent forum poster that has had power brakes with a dual master installed but that undoubtedly required a lot more mods.

Believe the biggest issue you will find is how to mount a modern master cylinder because of where Packard placed theirs next to the frame. I don't think there are any modern car dual masters made that use bolts thru the body that would go sideways into the frame. Most cylinders made today have mounting ears on one end and the vast majority have them horizontally oriented. With the horizontal bolt holes being widely spaced plus the need for some kind of mounting bracket the center line of the master and center line of the push rod coming off the pedal will be an inch or two offset and not workable without some significant pedal mods. Second issue will be where the ports are located since the frame will interfere with any tubing connections on quite a few of the units available.

Having said that I did find one that MIGHT work but at the least it would take some fabrication for a mounting bracket that could bolt into the frame using the original holes and accommodate the end of the master mount. Wilwood makes a 1" dual master with vertical mounting ears and ports that are on the bottom of the cylinder. Willwood shows it as a kit that also includes remote plastic reservoirs although if it were my car I would try to find a reservoir more age appropriate looking. If the center lines would work out without requiring extensive mods to the pedal or pushrod takeoff pin, I think it would be fairly simple to make a 90 degree bracket with a reinforcing piece to keep the master mounting side from bending with pedal pressure. Made out of 1/8 steel plate it would be fairly thin. With the bottom ports, making a tubing connection should be fairly easy but it would need adapters for connecting the larger tubing used then. If 36 used the louvered sheetmetal covers at the bottom of the engine compartment there might need to be some mods to one of them for tubing clearance.

I have a friend with a 36*120 with a dual master cylinder and a small vacuum booster. However....

The answer is NO. Nobody makes a kit to do this. Every one I have seen (and I've seen at least a half dozen) has been slightly different, the result of personal engineering skills. Think about the liability to sell a kit to retrofit brakes on an automobile. Not a territory I would want to get into.

Can it be done, definitely.

Should it be done? What's wrong with the brakes the way they are? Up into the 60's Ford and Chrysler were still using single master cylinders...My 120's are perfectly safe and drivable with factory setups...

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My 1965 Imperial LeBaron, which is a full luxury car, has a tiny single chamber master and drum brakes all around but never an issue with stopping it. Even my former 1964 Ghia-Imperial limousine had the same configuration! Unless you are an automotive brake engineer, I would not make any changes to the system. Otherwise you're opening yourself to all sorts of issues should there be an accident even if not directly related to the brakes.

120s (pleural???)

is this my next project on the 37? nah...it works fine and there is the E-brake as well.


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