Inliners International Forums General Discussion Drive Train Power brake conversion

I am going to put a power brake booster on my '79 C10 that presently does not have power brakes. The pickup has stock front discs and rear drums. Drawing on your experiences what issues am I likely to encounter. What new parts would you all suggest I install in addition to the power booster and master cylinder? Any comments and or advise is much appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
Ken

If I were doing that I would pick up a fresh combination valve too.

I don't know that they are any different, but if yours decides to screw up, it can be frustrating trying to troubleshoot it to that, with a new booster and M/C it is the knee jerk to suspect that first.

Is your plan to use the M/C and booster that would have been in there if it had power brakes from the factory?

Nex,
Yes. I plan on using the stock master c and booster unless you have another idea or experience that I should consider. I want to take my brakes up a level now, but I am considering converting the rear brakes to discs in the future.
Thanks for getting back to me.
Regards,
Ken

Dear Ken;

Tom's Truck Parts (Miami, Ok)
should have everything (stock)
in good used condition for that.

Good luck.

When you switch to rear discs make sure you don't have a residual valve in the system for the drums (10 Psi for drum, 2 Psi for disc, if equipped) as they will make the brakes (discs) drag.

Some are in the combination valve, some are in the MC, I think by that late of a model year it would be in the combi valve, but it's easy enough to check (hook a presure gauge to that side of the system, lightly actuate the brakes and see what the pressure drops to when released).

Oh yeah, I don't know of a "better" system (as that's what's designed to be there) but I've found I like the pedal feel of the Hydrobooster setups that some of the diesels came with, if not the price. (kinda spendy to retrofit)

All good info; two other things to consider-- do you have low vacuum or limited firewall space? -hydroboost is great if you don't have much engine vacuum or want a small unit compared to big canister. Actually, there are low bucks approaches--go over to 67-72chevytrucks.com and do a search-recent thread on how to set one up using NAPA parts for $150.

Nothing wrong with drums on the rear.