Fox Leaking Brake Booster On Ratrod Fox - Replace Or Delete?

[Chance EG]

Hey Stangnet, hope you guys are doing good.

I hopefully won't be bothering you guys with too many questions here, but I recently picked up a 1988 5.0 LX Rustbucket that I'll soon be converting into a drift missile. For right now though my main car is in a paint booth, so I need to drive this to/from work for a couple months.

I've already been driving the car for awhile with the leaking booster, and if I were intending to drive this long term every day I wouldn't even question replacing it. Since this will soon be a missile though, I'm really just looking for the cheapest/easiest solution to get rid of the vacuum leak so I can help the engine run a bit smoother.

If anyone knows of a cheap source for either a replacement booster or booster delete, I'd appreciate some insight. Otherwise I'm going to start looking up guides on replacement procedures.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Cheapest easiest solution is to replace the brake booster. Remans on rockauto are $70-100 plus core.

To delete the booster and swap to manual brakes will require a new master cylinder, and a delete kit such as this

http://www.maximummotorsports.com/Manual-Brake-Conversion-Kit-1979-93-P677.aspx



You can also try and pick up a used booster from someone who's swapped theirs out for a larger booster. I know mine is sitting collecting dust, but shipping is probably more than what it's worth. You might be able to find someone locally who has one. However, given the fun job that is swapping out out, I would swap in a new/reman one

 

[Chance EG]

Cheapest easiest solution is to replace the brake booster. Remans on rockauto are $70-100 plus core.

To delete the booster and swap to manual brakes will require a new master cylinder, and a delete kit such as this

http://www.maximummotorsports.com/Manual-Brake-Conversion-Kit-1979-93-P677.aspx



You can also try and pick up a used booster from someone who's swapped theirs out for a larger booster. I know mine is sitting collecting dust, but shipping is probably more than what it's worth. You might be able to find someone locally who has one. However, given the fun job that is swapping out out, I would swap in a new/reman one

Thank you for the insight, definitely appreciated.

I'll put a remanufactured booster on order. Like you said I don't want to go through the trouble of putting in a used/junkyard one to only find out it also has a diaphragm or line leak somewhere.

/thread, thanks guys! Sorry this was so brief, I thought there may be some cheaper delete kits out there.

 

[90sickfox]

So...let me get this straight....you want a drift missile without brake assist ? Always thought you'd want as much brake as possible on a drift car.

 

[Chance EG]

So...let me get this straight....you want a drift missile without brake assist ? Always thought you'd want as much brake as possible on a drift car.

I don't think the brake booster does anything to assist the e-brake? E-brake is just a cable connected to the rear drums (which I'll probably try to do a budget disc conversion on at some point).

 

[General karthief]

E brake on a drift car? Gonna have to esplain tat one. I know very little about drift'n 'cept kik'n out your rear and roast'n the tires all the while negotiating a small road course in tandem with another car do'n the same thing. I would think you would need brake bias in the front. I'm probably wrong so esplain it

 

[90sickfox]

You need front brakes, too. Most drift guys I know run hydraulic e brake handles with calipers in the rear.

Some even have two brake handles...one for actual parking brake...and one for drifting using caliper.

I'm not a drifter...

A powerful car needs powerful brakes...it isn't like drag racing.

All my friends that drift have huge brake kits...so figured it was important.

 

[Chance EG]

E brake on a drift car? Gonna have to esplain tat one. I know very little about drift'n 'cept kik'n out your rear and roast'n the tires all the while negotiating a small road course in tandem with another car do'n the same thing. I would think you would need brake bias in the front. I'm probably wrong so esplain it

My knowledge on drifting is fairly minimal as well. I'm not taking this build too seriously, it's low budget and just intended for fun. Basic plans are just to stiffen the chassis up all around (especially the rear) and do some weight reduction, then abuse the hell out of 2nd and 3rd gear.

The big iron block up front will already give me some bias up at the front as far as weight goes (it would actually probably be better to have the bias in the rear for kicking the end out), but I think it'll work regardless.

I probably wouldn't use the E-Brake half the time anyway unless I start to get more serious on courses. Torque alone on this should be plenty for initiating a drift, the e-brake would just be used to change the direction of the slide or link turns together.

I'll still be doing some modest brake upgrades, and sounds like I'll still be running a booster too. Should work out pretty decently

 

[General karthief]

Can't figure why the emphasis on rear brakes, I would think you would want to slow the front down to make it easy to keep the rear kicked out, I wouldn't build one but it is interesting to watch for little while. Guess I'll have to do some research on this.
New members are always welcome no matter what insanity they subscribe to, they let me in here, go figure.

 

[Chance EG]

New members are always welcome no matter what insanity they subscribe to, they let me in here, go figure.

hehehe.

I've read a few websites/build threads on Fox drifting platforms. From what I've gathered they're excellent for beginner to intermediate drifting. Steering angle will also need to be increased, pretty sure I can accomplish that with some different control arms and modified knuckles. Maybe tie rods?

I'll be sure to post results once I have the car going sideways.

 

[General karthief]

Tie rod extenders.
Drift'n looks like fun for a couple minutes but I think I'm gonna go road racing.

 

[Chance EG]

Tie rod extenders.
Drift'n looks like fun for a couple minutes but I think I'm gonna go road racing.

I've got another car cooking for some legitimate track days .

Drag/roll racing doesn't honestly interest me too much, minus whatever I may run into on the street. Later in my life I may do a full drag build, but I have other toys to play with first.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Can't figure why the emphasis on rear brakes, I would think you would want to slow the front down to make it easy to keep the rear kicked out, I wouldn't build one but it is interesting to watch for little while. Guess I'll have to do some research on this.
New members are always welcome no matter what insanity they subscribe to, they let me in here, go figure.

The emphasis on rear brakes is to lock up the rears.

Even with my Cobra brakes out back, if I yank my e-brake yard i'll just slow the car down, not actually lock them. Back when I had drums, I actually could lock the rear brakes at 50MPH if I pulled it.


But yes, a lot of the fox builds I am aware of have ditched the cable setup and use hydraulic e-brake to activate the rear brakes for inducing a slide.

Of course, enough HP and short enough gearing and you can do the same thing really just by using the right foot.

I believe the OP just wanted a cheap booster replacement option, and got his answer anyway, so this convo is a little off-topic

 

[Chance EG]

Of course, enough HP and short enough gearing and you can do the same thing really just by using the right foot.

Yep. Plans are just bolt ons, straight pipes, and a 4.10 rear gear. That's all I'm doing in the power department.

I'll have to look into hydraulic ebrake setups more, but I'm planning on running one of those too. From what I've seen 350z guys doing it shouldn't be too hard to run the lines.

 

[Mustang5L5]

From what I've seen 350z guys doing it shouldn't be too hard to run the lines.

Problem is the fox mustang only has one brake line to the rear, so if you want an individual brake line to each rear brake, you'll need to split it before the axle and then tie in the hydraulic handles if you want two