How To Install a Power Brake Booster

Back underhood, the master is easily removed by undoing the two bolts that hold it in place. Carefully pull the master away from the firewall while at the same time bringing the pushrod out along with the master.

On our '70, the stock junction block is attached to the inner fender with two nuts. With the left-side wheel removed, unbolt the block from the inner fender and remove it from the car. Also disconnect the dash brake-light switch wire.

The pedal support must be removed before installing the booster and new pedal. To remove it, the steering column also has to come out, which is done here by detaching the bolts that hold it in place in the dashboard. Also, disconnect the column from the steering box underhood by loosening the nut in the rag joint that holds the column's steering shaft and steering box together.

The bolts that hold the pedal support in place to the firewall are removed from underhood.

With everything disconnected and the wiring harnesses unplugged, the steering column can be removed.

We further determined that to access and remove the various fasteners that hold the pedal support in place, we also had to remove the gauge cluster, and in turn, the dashpad. As we've said, this is a fairly involved procedure, but if you want power brakes, you have to change the pedal with the Master Power system. Here, the dashpad and gauge cluster are already out and the final bolts that hold the pedal support in place are removed. For this work, consider removing the driver seat to make it more comfortable to access underneath the dashboard.

With everything out, the pedal support can finally be removed.

With the pedal support on the bench, remove the clip that holds the manual brake pedal in place. Then remove the pedal shaft and pedal.

When upgrading to power brakes, you have to replace the manual brake pedal with the supplied power-brake pedal. The power-brake pedal is considerably longer and mounts to the pedal support higher up, providing a little less leverage due to the power assist. While the power-brake pedal mounts higher onto the pedal support, it hangs down the same distance to the car's floor due to its longer length.

With the pedal in position, use the supplied bolt to secure it to the pedal support. Note that the new pedal attaches to a different hole higher up on the pedal support. Master Power's instructions note the positioning hole in the top of the support toward the front of the car; they say that most cars have this 3/8-inch diameter hole. If the hole isn't there, it will need to be drilled, which is easy to do because there's an indent where the hole needs to be. Our car's pedal support already had the hole in place.

Master Power's instructions say to remove three of the four clinch nuts attached to the pedal support so separate nuts can be fitted to the studs that are attached to the new power-brake booster. These studs pass through the firewall and pedal support. With the pedal support in a vice, we were able to quickly grind the clinch nuts down before knocking them out with a hammer and a punch. Using the same fasteners, the pedal support can now be reinstalled in the car.

The steering column is reinstalled and the shaft's rag joint is tapped back into place on the steering-box shaft, as shown here. Securely retighten the bolt that holds the steering-shaft rag joint to the steering box.