We shuttled the Olds over to KA Custom, in Huntington Beach, CA, so shop owner
Kevin Francis could tackle the pedal and booster bracket fabrication chores. The Olds'
original master was mounted ahead of the brake pedal, while the only open space to
mount an updated master and booster was behind the pedal, farther back on the frame.
Fortunately, Kevin had an old under-floor pedal and bracket assembly sitting around that
he could cut apart to make the necessary pieces. Fire up the plasma cutter!
Here's the front portion-the pedal pivot-mocked in place on the frame's X-
member. This placement put the new pedal in essentially the same location as the original
one.
Kevin also cut the booster mount off the donor pedal assembly and used it as the
centerpiece for a bracket that was welded between the framerail and X-member.
The
bracket was carved from 3/16-inch plate, and positioned so it would mount the booster
higher than the framerail's lowest edge to avoid possible damage. Kevin also welded a
perpendicular top brace to the bracket to prevent flex.
From there, it was a matter of mounting the booster and master cylinder, plumbing in
the combination valve and necessary residual pressure valves (a 2lb valve to the front
brakes, and a 10lb one to the rears), and building new brake lines to tie the new
equipment into the Olds brake line system.
It's a little difficult to see here, but the actuating rod required a slight S-curve bend
(arrow) to properly link the pedal and power booster.
Since the Olds originally had a 5x5-inch bolt pattern, and the new disc brakes use a
more modern GM 5x4.75-inch bolt pattern, we had to round up new wheels to get it
rolling again. Wheel Smith was able to quickly build a new pair of chrome wheels to our
specs, which perfectly matched the existing chrome steelies in the rear.
© 1998 - 2008
