brake booster on 1954 Kaiser Special

[Living the Kaiser dream]

I'm looking for advice and expertise on brake system on a 1954 Kaiser Special.  My car has a vacuum brake booster but I'm not sure if it is working or working properly.  I'm not sure that it is even necessary? I was told that the booster is not factory and could be eliminated? The brake pedal is VERY hard and braking is hard as well.  I have replaced the master cylinder, all wheel cylinders and brake hoses, ALL new.  I've bench bled the master and bled the vacuum booster and all wheel cylinders, running about a gallon of DOT 5.1 fluid through the system.  Another possible issue is the hand brake doesn't seem to be releasing fully?  Any thoughts from the forum would be helpful!

For some odd reason, when shifted in gear, the rpm's rise to about 2000 rpm and makes the braking very scary to say the least.  If i step down rapidly on the accelerator, the rpm's drop back to idle and eases the stress on the driver?  I'm not sure if I have a throttle linkage issue as well as a brake issue.

I guess I'm asking for advice to 1) bypass the booster or 2) eliminate it completely?

Any advice on the throttle linkage issue as well?

Thanks to all for any/all assistance.

[joefrazer]

A defective brake booster will cause a hard pedal and difficulty stopping the car. KF experimented with power assist brakes but if memory serves only one or two cars were equipped with power brakes. My guess is that your car has an aftermarket unit, probably Bendix. They were available - I have an NOS kit for the 54-55 Kaisers.

You might want to consider having the unit removed and the entire braking system inspected to be sure there's nothing else causing trouble as well.

Most power brake boosters use engine vacuum...that could be causing issues with your engine idle although I suspect the problem lies with the linkage based on your description.

[Living the Kaiser dream]

Thanks Joe!!!

I have plenty of vacuum to the booster, so I don't believe the vacuum is the issue.  I visited with another Ole Timer, and suggested removing it as well.  I think that is what i will do.  At the very least, re-route the lines and test it, if that fixes the hard pedal, then remove it completely.
Thanks again!!

[kenneth]

Regarding Your problems with the  throttle linkage You should check the motor mounts and the transmission mount, on my Kaiser the engine reved up every time i braked it turned out being bad motor mounts letting the engine move forward when braking.

[Living the Kaiser dream]

Thank You for the heads up......I never would have given that a thought

Thumbs up to you for your input!

[HJ-ETEX]

A reminder on hard braking. For several decades now, if you find relined brake shoes, they use kevlar based material which is very hard, You may find it necessary to either find old asbestos linings or rebuild the Bendix HydraVac unit. As Jim indicated these were common add-on units and were popular because they could be mounted remotely, an important feature if the brake master cylinder is under the floor. Up until recent years medium trucks used similar units.  If you can figure what you have, I believe it can be rebuilt.