Good day. When I bought my '55 FrankenFairlane, it already had power front disc brake conversion. It has a Maverick booster, which I had rebuilt by RockAuto/Cardone. Problem is, the pushrod adjustable end WILL NOT adjust, and there is a gap of about .12" between pushrod end and master cylinder piston bottom. Seems the common recommendation is to adjust for a .02" gap, but this adjusting nut is either all the way out, or locked....will not budge. Is there a safe way to shim it, maybe a washer that I concave, or a nylon washer or spacer heated and molded, so it fits on the rod end? Or should I just live with the slightly spongy brakes? Thanks in advance.
Yeah I had gotten a kit from Speedway & it had different plungers you could switch for a 64 Belair I had at the time.The biggest thing I noticed was at the pedal,there was 2 different holes to locate it.If it was in the wrong hole the angle of the plunger was wrong & it wouldn't go straight into the master cylinder.But it would operate,drove me crazy for a couple of days til I figured it out.
I take it that you are talking about the front push rod that goes into the M/C if it should be adjustable and will not move I would get in touch with Rockauto as that should have sorted it out when the booster was rebuilt. With brakes always do it right, no boges.
I experienced a similar problem, the pushrod between the booster and MC had what I felt was inadequate thread engagement when properly adjusted. I found a grade 8 socket head cap screw with the appropriate thread size, cut it to length and rounded the end to match the contour of the original. This simple tool from Baer brakes really simplified the adjustment process...
** Edit looks like ^^someone else^^ replied with the same answer already. I used a wire hanger to measure what I needed. From there I ordered a bolt from McMaster Carr and made my own with a grinder. Eventually I massaged the top of that bolt round like the one it was replacing. What size do you need I have extras?
That's why I really want to use this Maverick booster if at all possible....the holes in the firewall and the brake pedal pushrod are all good, booster now rebuilt....I just need to sort out the pushrod end deal.
Gentlemen, thanks all for your suggestions, y'all are very helpful. As it turns out... I re-measured, 5 times, and re-did the math....turns out that gap between booster pushrod end and master cylinder piston (at the deepest indentation) is only .01 +/_ .004, so I actually needed to file a tiny bit off the pushrod end....which I did, and smoothed it and all. Reinstalled this weekend and it seems to work just fine, no brake drag, and no excessive sponginess. Now I just need to find some 3/8" id vacuum hose...you'd think in a city the size of San Diego there would be ONE auto parts store that stocks that! Ebay.
That is a great idea. I did not know the booster pushrod comes out easily, I didn't want to take a chance on damaging the rubber seal. As you can see below, I figured out that I'm good to go with the booster after all, but I'll keep your suggestion in mind for future projects, thanks!
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