Matatk

Well, I'm not sure if anyone is interested in this, but I thought I'd post it anyway just in case. The brake booster on my 1989 coupe was bad, so I had to put in a new one. Figured it looked like a simple job, so I went about looking for the part. I decided that I didn't want a rebuilt one from the parts stores, because I question their reliability, and I wasn't buying an OEM that is super expensive. I ended up finding an all new metal brake booster (p/n #PB9013) that cost me $120.50 shipped from an internet site called Piratejack.net. Apparently they sell a lot of brake related items for resto cars and hot rods. Anywho...I digress.

So the brake booster came today and I set about the steps for putting it in. This will not necessarily be step by step, but will document my experiences and/or frustrations.



First thing to do is remove the two nuts (13mm) holding the master cylinder to the booster, and remove the vacuum line.



Next, I went under the dash and removed the plastic cover under steering wheel to access the brake pedal.

After that, you will have to remove the cotter pin holding the brake booster lever onto the pedal itself (there is a washer here, too, so don't lose it)



If you look at the firewall, you can kinda see the nuts that hold the booster to the firewall, tucked up behind the brake pedal. These are a pain in the *** to get to. I ended up using a variety of sockets, extensions, and wobbles to get them out. If you have really big hands, you're screwed. I have big hands, but thin fingers so I was ok, but still scratched up my hands getting in there. Not to mention that you are in some half-assed weird positions from laying on your side to on your back, etc. It's not comfortable. Here are pictures of the nuts (one pic is upside down, only way I could take it.





So, after those nuts are removed, you can pull the booster away from the firewall without too much trouble at all.



Once the old one is removed, slide the new one into the same position. I then connected the connecting rod first and secured it with the cotter pin. If you don't, the booster gets pushed out when you try to put the new nuts on.

Here came the hardest part of the entire swap. Getting the new nuts onto the studs to secure the booster to the firewall. What a PIA. I ended up using the "tape-in-socket" method and a lot of patience. The nut on the passenger side wasn't too bad, but the opposite side was a killer. I think that nut alone took me 20 minutes! I was ready to throw something. So the next step is to stop, take a deep breath, grab a drink, and go back at it. I'm sure all of the blood rushing to my head from beind upside-down didn't help much, either. Eventually I got it on and tightened down. Then resecure the master cylinder and vacuum line and you're done. Now you can enjoy your new functioning brakes!



I understand it's kind of a long write-up, but that was how *I* did it. Maybe someone else has a better method.

Overall not a difficult job, just frustrating because of the cramped space and location of the nuts and bolts. If you're a real big guy, or have back problems, I don't recommend doing it yourself. This is a test of patience rather than automotive skill.

Take care,

Matthew

Aardwolf

Nice!

NEVRL8T

I know someone thats done three of those on the same car and he says its a major PITA. Nice work.

tobijohn

Thanks for taking the time to put that together....

86PACER

I noticed that you left the brake lines attached to the master cylinder and simply moved it aside. When I did this job, I could not move the master out of the way enough to fish the booster out, with lines still attached. I had to undo the brake lines, cap them, the bleed the system at the end.

shotchkiss

It also helps to pull the drivers seat out when doing this, just 1 clip and 4 bolts to remove it.

Matatk

Wish I woulda known this! My back would have thanked me

But that's why I posted this. I'm brand spankin' new to corvettes (ie, one week) and I know that there are other guys on here, too, who are new. So it helps to have little pieces of advice like that to help you out with the learning curve. Just hope my write up helps other guys, too.

Matthew

ps - I don't remember, is there a sticky for common repairs? I know on one of the other car forums I'm on there's a sticky and one of the moderators posts links to all of the "common repair" threads that have pictures and instructions - easier than searching through (and sometimes not finding) archives. I dunno, just a thought.

jimmers

Nice write up! I just replaced mine last week in 20min. I thought it was going to be hard to replace from what everyone says about the 2 bolts under the dash. I used a long extension and didn't even have to crawl under the dash. I was very surprised how easily I got it swapped out.

ITHZ

Sorry I couldn't help it!
Very nice write up indeed.

Matatk

ITHZ -

I'm glad you found pleasure in my pain

Matthew

ITHZ

This is something I'm going to have to do soon,so I was all in to your write up and then.... Well I don't know what happened????

Matatk

Well, good luck with it. Like I said, it wasn't extremely tough, just somewhat frustrating. If I had to do it again, I would pull the seat like shotchkiss suggested.

Matthew

ps - take pictures if you *do* throw a socket wrench through the wall

ITHZ

I am really interested in how the metal can replacement holds up! For the price compared to OEM.

Matatk

From the outside only, it looked to be constructed well. But only time will tell. Seems like they sell a lot of hot rod parts on the site, though, and I'm sure those guys would be pretty pissed and cause a fuss if they were crappy parts (?)

We'll see what happens.

Matthew

86PACER

I've had mine 5 years now. I paid less than $100 with a lifetime warranty I have not had to use. Never a single issue. I just wish I would have painted it with some black rustoleum before I installed it. It looks like crap now. Going to pull it just to paint it.

silver86

samsonb

I need a new metal black one. I don't want to have to paint one.

86PACER

I've never seen a black metal one. Only a shiny gold color.

1bdvet

NICE JOB!

NocarbutaVetteforme

Nice pictures and instructions.