Brake Booster reconditioning.

Hey all,

I dug out the factory brake booster and master cylinder from the garage the other day. Car has factory power discs in front and the usual power drums in rear. I would like to see if I can have the booster reconditioned and buy a new master cylinder.

Initially I was going to buy a re-pop booster, but I think I read somewhere on here that the current offerings aren't that good. The issues i recall are poor plating on them.

Any-who, I thought maybe the better route would be to have mine redone. I had the AC components redone for my car by Musclecarz here on the board and the parts came out great.

Does anyone know if there is someone on here that can recondition the booster? Or if there is a company that offers such a service? I would really like to get the quality plating for durability and then obviously have the internals checked over.

Or is there a company that does in fact offer a quality re-pop that i may have missed?

Thanks guys!

~Scott

 

Booster Dewey is the clear answer.

http://boosterdeweyexchange.com/

 

I used Bush Power Brake Service in National City for my unit rebuild. Very happy with the workmanship and price as they did both the booster and master in like one day. They may not do "restorations", but certainly worth the call. Hot day in San Diego huh?

 

Thanks guys!

I’ll give both a good look over.

Mike, how is the plating? I know restrictions in Cali with EPA stuff don’t always allow us the best methods for those things. Not really concerned with “concours” level stuff. Just looking for good and durable.

Yes it is quite the warm one, hope you’re not in Alpine!!

 

Scott, Mine just needed cleaning. Not sure and doubt they do cleaning but you should call. The other place looks reasonable to me as well. La Mesa, how about you? I told my wife it's cooled off, only 92* on the thermometer that reads 6* high.

 

Mine cost $90 for both. Cheers, Mike

 

Gotcha, I’ll definitely call them and see what they can do.

I’m in the UTC area. Hot here with no ac lol. Yet it’s getting better.

 

Work two miles from there. How long in SD?

 

Booster Dewey / Booster Steve is the best way to go... period. Tell Steve that Eric sent you...503-238-8882.

 

Been here my whole life, how about you?

 

I'd like to add another very well known and highly regarded pwr brake service,
I worked with Ron Karp, before he opened this shop 25 yrs ago, he is very competent,
and knowledgeable . business is family owned, and operated, In Upland.CA.
http://www.karpspb.com/

 

That dude in Upland wanted 225 to do just my master cylinder.
Hot oh yeah 117 here yesterday was outside in garage all day working on the engine....sneak peek photos attached

 

Hey Guys,

Thought i would give an update. Sent the booster up to Booster Dewey in Oregon. The thing came back great!!! The cost for replating and rebuild plus shipping back was $208.00. All in all i am very happy with it and wanted to thank y'all for the advise and help!

Regards,

Scott

 

I received my rebuilt and plated booster back from Booster Steve (before & after pics here). I did talk to Frank (I believe) about this before posting here, but since he came highly recommended by the board, I just wanted to share that it was a bit discouraging. I didn't come on here to bad-mouth them, no bashing intended. Perhaps just a lack of clear communication on both parts. Extra fees beyond the quote, rebuild pitting issues I was not made aware of prior to proceeding, and expensive shipping to get it there, resulted in this being a pretty expensive project in my opinion. Especially considering how much surface pitting is still visible on the booster. The booster works fine. So certainly not poor quality of workmanship. Just wanted the next guy to know so you're clear about the quote and what is included/excluded. And also the 3 month+ turn around time. Again, nothing personal. Had I known it would have ended up costing me over $350 I would have maybe gone another route is all I'm saying.

 

I was surprised by your before pictures and knew from dealing with Booster Dewey prior that you need a pit free unit to start with. I am guessing communication was lacking from Dewey. I know he used to offer better cores for additional money but that was popular A-body stuff years ago.

 

Seems like it could have turned out better than that..

 

Brakeboosters.com fixed my pitted original.

 

Do you remember if it cost more or less?

 

I have used Brakeboosters.com in the past when Steve still owned it. It does cost extra for them to remove the pits. If they are deep they cannot completely be removed. One I had done had an internal vacuum leak, Steve repaired it at no cost except I had to pay for shipping to him.

The best place was oldschool plating, his name was also Steve but we lost him a few years back.

 

I was told pits could not be fixed. Grinding would make the shell too thin.