Manual Brake Coversion - Pros And Cons?

[FoxMustangLvr]

Thanks for talking me off the ledge guys! There is no way I'll be happy with manual brakes, so the power brakes will stay. I'll look into vacuum pumps and canisters to help with the assist. I need to stop trying to eliminate everything, some stuff has to stay in the bay! lol

I'm glad you're changing your mind on manual brakes. There are plenty of easy ways to make big HP either boosted or NA while keeping AC, PS, PB, etc. The days of sacrificing is over. You can have your windows up, AC blowing cold, music cranking, and blow the doors off newer cars if done right. Please do not put all this work into your beautiful car only to hate how it drives on the street when it's all done.

 

[cleanLX]

its Lobe separation/centerline that makes a difference in how much vacuum an engine will make with a particular cam.
If your cam wasn't so N/A friendly, and was ground on something like a 110/112 CL, you'd be complaining about not being able to stop as well.

Look, I'm no cam expert, but there has to be more to it than that...
My previous cam was pretty snorty (273/273, 224/224, 507/507 109* installed at 106*) and had no power brake issues.
Cam in my dad's 5.0 is pretty sporty (263/265, 214/216, 507/507 111* installed at 106*) and has no power brake issues.
Stock cam, varies, 112-115*, and can be advanced/retarded up to 4*... no power brake issues.

So when it gets into the nitty gritty regarding cams, and folks are unsure what exactly determines vacuum (and for me all things) I say if you don't have a thorough understanding, spend the extra $40 and get a custom from a reputable designer.

 

[7991LXnSHO]

When companies sold the same model car with power or manual brakes, they either had a pedal with two spots to for the Master cylinder push rod or different pedals. The manual brakes should have the rod in a spot that lets you have more mechanical advantage. (Hot Rod or CC reviewed that more than once in recent history, so maybe an article is online.) In exchange for the mechanical advantage, you theoretically need more pedal range of movement.
One of my toys has factory manual Drums, and standing it on it’s nose is not a problem. The feel is different, but I do not think it is that hard of a pedal to push.

 

[revhead347]

It's pretty rare to see folks running a cam "bigger" than what I am on the street (286/286, 250/254, 673/648 107* installed at 105*), and my factory power brakes work just fine.
So, I'll ask, just how much cam are you looking to run?
Give Buddy Rawls a call, and tell him you want to keep the power brakes. Done.

How much vacuum does the engine pull at idle? That's all that really matters.

Kurt