isn't the master cylinder part of the clutch mechanism? maybe you could mount a second single m/c and add a balance bar...
I have no clue what you are starting with for a master cylinder, but I put a 67 Mustang (and alot of other years, too) Mustang Dual Master (4 drum) in my '55 a few months ago and it was pretty simple. Picked it up at (gulp) Autozone for about $25 or something. I've got some pics of the process if you want me to post them.
Go to autozone and ask for prices on a new master cylinder, scope out what's available, pick one that's cheapest. If that's too much, go to junk yard and hope you find one that's good, but remember what it's off of so you can buy a new one later on. If your old one has a power booster, get a new one with. Take the old one out. Figure out how to mount the new one, usually it'll be easy, the length of the pushrod might need to be altered. Don't fuck it up, so if it won't work at all, you can return it. If that happens, remember what wouldn't work and try to find one with that feature. Remove the lines from your old master cylinder down to the splitter block, Where one line goes to the front brakes and one to the rear brakes, on some cars that's right there at the master cylinder. Run one line from the new master cylinder to the front brakes, the other to the rear. Same/same either/or, don't matter, if you have all 4 drums.
Please bear with me as I have never worked on an Econoline and so I'll assume it has a single "fruit jar" type of master that you want to update to dual for the added safety. Good so far.......ok ASSUMING you are keeping your current pedla assembly then the best place to start is to MEASURE the Bore Diameter of your current master. By selecting a NEW MASTER with the SAME PISTON DIAMETER as your old one & you will keep the pedal effort the SAME. Now if you want to change your pedal effort you can go up/down in master cylinder piston diameter - a smaller piston will be EASIER to push, but will travel MORE. A larger piston will be harder to push and will travel less. BE CAREFUL that you have enough pedal travel IF you change sizes!!!!!!! AS far as hooking the lines up this is where it CAN (or cannot) get interesting. If you simply want the benefit of the dual cylinder - meaning you are totally HAPPY with your current brake performance then simply hook up the system as is. BUT!!! You are gonna want to FIRST find out where the origional Residual Pressure Valve was mounted - quite probably in the single master. Your NEW modern master will likely NOT have a RPV installed internally AND if it does it will likely onyl be on one side!!! So you may want to consider adding separate RPV's on each OUT line (10# each for Drum brakes). See it get's kinda involved IF you want to have all the bells and whistles that the factory deemed mandatory. And if your gonna go this far you might decide that further optimization might be worth the effort. You might want to look into your current system and see what all is there. You might consider adding Disc brakes, Proportioning valve - maybe even a power booster. All depends on what your goals are. Good Luck Keep askign questions until YOU are satisfied that you have a complete understanding of what you are about to modify - Nothing more important than stopping!!!
Caffeine, This should be an easy swap if there is enough room for the increased length of a dual master cylinder. Post a picture if you can. I would add RPV's and a proportioning valve, but this conversion should be way less that $100. If you need some help doing the conversion I am in Roxbury NJ. David
With the original 4 point drums there is absolutely no need for a proportioning valve. Keep it simple.
does anybody have a picture of the m/c assembly? it's been a couple of years since i had one, but i remember that the m/c was not what you'd call 'easily replacable'. part of the clutch mechanism ran through the actual m/c body. maybe i'm crazy, but show me a picture to prove it...
Aren't there a lot of Econofreaks on here? No one knows?! I know that you can have a stock, under the floor, chevy car MC converted to a dual MC even though it also serves as the mount for the brake and clutch pedals. Basically the MC gets gutted, push rod extended and a modern dual MC attached to the back of it. All mounting points stay the same. But that's a Chevy car. Maybe something like that is possible on a Ford truck.
The easiest way to swap to a dual is to use the complete dual master cylinder setup from a 67 Econoline. It's a bolt in if you are using drum brakes up front. If you go with front discs you'll have to change the front residual valve from 10 to 2 pounds. It's not cheap though. A good core is $150.00 and add about $25.00 for the correct pedal, cambolt, rod and rake light switch. They are almost always no good and need to have a sleeve put in along with the rebuild, another $150.00. The cores are hard to find since it's a 1 year only part. No parts stores sell rebuilt units or new ones. Sierra in CA and White Post in VA can do the complete sleeve and rebuild job. Another option is to use a Maverick/Granada manual master cylinder and make a bracket to bolt it and your pedal to. you will also have to switch to a mechanical brake light switch or tee off either the front or rear brake line to use the original fluid pressure switch. I've done both . I have a couple of 67 setups for sale. Fred
Ok, really old thread... but I'll post a site that has some alternative details (And the owner sells a kit I guess???). Haven't used it, and I'm not the seller, so buyer beware... Looks good though. http://www.themodernform.com/econoline/econoline_master.html
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