65 Thunderbird dual master cylinder conversion.

B

BigAl

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Feb 8, 2019
Thunderbird Year
2005
I've seen several posts regarding converting the stock MC to a dual bowl version but it seemed like they all have some sort of issue, such as either requiring the cutting of, or even eliminating the cowl brace.
Has anyone done the conversion without altering the brace?
Is there a complete kit and who makes it?
I have the Bendix crimp style booster. Not sure if I need to reuse the same style or will others fit?
The name and model of the conversion would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Al
 

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I'm sure there has been some mention of this before. I recently considered fitting a dual master cylinder which has a remote resevoir as many kit cars use them allowing for that to be positioned elsewhere. Sorry I had other issues to sort before actually finding the sizes of the bore and servo bolt pattern.
 
I bought this guy a while back but haven't installed it yet. It's designed to clear the shock tower brace.

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When I saw the post from Doug (64zcode) I got all excited that he found the answer to my question.
I just hung up from ABS. I called to verify and order that master cylinder that looked like it would do the trick. Unfortunately it will only work on the 64. According to ABS it will not work on the 65 because they said that the vacuum booster is just a little longer on the 65 and the m/c will probably hit the tower brace. I told them that I have a Bendix booster not a Midland. They said the Bendix booster was a little shorter than the Midland and recommended an aluminum dual bowl m/c that they have but could not guarantee that the m/c would clear the brace.
Kinda back to square one.
Al
 
Hey Big Al. Maybe this will help. The perspective in this photo is wonky, so try to ignore that. The metal ruler is even with the flange of the dual master, so essentially the surface of your booster will be where the metal ruler is. The black cap of the reservoir extends 2 7/8 inches from that surface. So in other words, as long as there is a minimum distance of 2 7/8 inches from the surface of your booster to the shock brace, it should work. If you don't quite have enough clearance, you could grind away some of the brace, which to my mind would be better than taking it out altogether.

One assumption in the above is that this dual master will bolt onto the booster you have, and the internal actuating rod will work as well. You might want to check that with the ABS folks.

If you'd like to compare notes on this, feel free to call me at **************.

Good luck!

Doug


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64ZCODE said:
Hey Big Al. Maybe this will help. The perspective in this photo is wonky, so try to ignore that. The metal ruler is even with the flange of the dual master, so essentially the surface of your booster will be where the metal ruler is. The black cap of the reservoir extends 2 7/8 inches from that surface. So in other words, as long as there is a minimum distance of 2 7/8 inches from the surface of your booster to the shock brace, it should work. If you don't quite have enough clearance, you could grind away some of the brace, which to my mind would be better than taking it out altogether.

One assumption in the above is that this dual master will bolt onto the booster you have, and the internal actuating rod will work as well. You might want to check that with the ABS folks.

If you'd like to compare notes on this, feel free to call me at **************.

Good luck!

Doug


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Doug!
You have me intrigued! Did you ever get around to installing this? My father absolutely hates that my Tbird has a single bowl, really wants me to convert if I can. To keep things running smoothly at home, I have been researching this. Just wanted to see what you thought of yours. Their site is a little hard to navigate - not sure where you found this. Do you still have the part number? Also, what was the price? Oh - and I forgot, what about the brake light switch, does this come with a provision for one? Looks very cool!

Thank!
Don
 
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Hi there Don. Glad you're interested, it appears Big Al was not. Anyway, the booster is on page 100 of the ABS catalogue. I haven't installed mine yet. Appears the brake light switch will have to be added with a T fitting. I think this sucker was around $130 or so but it's been a year or so since I bought it.

There may be other options so recommend you take a good look around. And, of course, let us know what you find:)

Doug

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64ZCODE said:
Hi there Don. Glad you're interested, it appears Big Al was not. Anyway, the booster is on page 100 of the ABS catalogue. I haven't installed mine yet. Appears the brake light switch will have to be added with a T fitting. I think this sucker was around $130 or so but it's been a year or so since I bought it.

There may be other options so recommend you take a good look around. And, of course, let us know what you find:)

Doug

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Thanks for the help and advice Doug, as always! This would be a very interesting conversion. I'm not real keen on converting to disc up front, but this modification would add a nice level of saftey. My main concern about updating to disc is losing the ability to use stock rims.... however, maybe it might be cool to convert the whole car over and get some superior braking power. I must say though, stock brakes are pretty darn nice. I'll do some shopping around and post links and such.
Thanks!
Don
 
Just having to re-think mine, I've re-built all the drums brake system apart from the servo (brake booster) and master cylinder. Both these seemed fine so were clean up and painted. Now after bleeding and running the engine the booster is leaking vaccum and the master cylinder isn't good! So after brake failure just by moving back and forth on my driveway, the garage wall took the brunt of the slow but determind stroll of my bird whilst attempting to hit the parking brake and kill the ignition. I think it should be noted that having no seats installed, no dash board with wiring hanging down, the ignition switch also hanging loose makes the simple job of turning the key or getting you foot onto the parking brake extremley hard!! Don't try that at home lol! My wife was very impressed that the wall tiles fell off due to the addition of a large crack in the wall so I haven't done much on the brakes yet due to this bit of DIY repairs!
Sorry for the slide off topic - so being in the UK parts are expensive to obtain mainly due to shipping and duty. I'm going to look at a servo and MC off something else but dual reservoir for safety. I've also seen on some you can have a remote reservoir which is piped to the MC so may go for that.
 
s1nemesis1s said:
Thanks for the help and advice Doug, as always! This would be a very interesting conversion. I'm not real keen on converting to disc up front, but this modification would add a nice level of saftey. My main concern about updating to disc is losing the ability to use stock rims.... however, maybe it might be cool to convert the whole car over and get some superior braking power. I must say though, stock brakes are pretty darn nice. I'll do some shopping around and post links and such.
Thanks!
Don
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You might want to get the disc brake setup off of a '65 or '66. I would think (hope?) that you could run the stock rims with that. Doug
 
64ZCODE said:
You might want to get the disc brake setup off of a '65 or '66. I would think (hope?) that you could run the stock rims with that. Doug
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Doug, this sounds like an excuse to buy another flairbird, err uhh, I mean "parts car.' everyone in the household would poop a brick if I did that lol. But yes, that is an excellent idea.
 
64ZCODE said:
You might want to get the disc brake setup off of a '65 or '66. I would think (hope?) that you could run the stock rims with that. Doug
Click to expand...

Just a little side note and food for thought. I have a 65 1st year, front disc brakes. I obtained some OE Thunderbird Kelsey Hayes wire wheels, not designed for disc brakes, and found that by adding quarter inch wheel spacer, no need for longer wheel studs or anything, everything cleared nicely.
 
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