VK removing brake booster?

[Pie-VK]

Hi.

A fe days ago my brake booster finally packed it in and i need a new one, but everyone i've talked to says that the brake booster is extremely hard to remove, I don;t really know how to remove it and all I've found are instructions on how to remove the brake boosters from 100's of otehr cars.

anyone got a tutorial for a VK?

[ari666]

not a tutorial, but its pretty easy.

1. undo the master cylinder support bracket and master cyl nuts to booster, bend it out of the way but dont kink your hoses
2. unside the car you need a ratchet spanner or tube socket. from memory they are 13mm i think there are two, but may be 4
3. the hard part is undoing the clip from the brake pedal to the booster. make sure you dont lose the washer when you pop the clip off. push out the pin.
4. remove the booster.

[DANNY8]

Yeah I'd say the hardest part is removing the clip and pin from where the rod goes to the pedal. Other then that it's pretty straight forward. Maybe do that bit first, then the hardest part is over!

[Staggie]

I agree with Danny and Ari, the clip is the pain in the ass, the 2 nuts going thru the firewall to the pedal box are 1/2" one either side of the brake pedal.

[ari666]

the 2 nuts going thru the firewall to the pedal box are 1/2"

ah yes. soz for the bad info. hate how the VK swaps metric to imperial

[VK SL 3800]

When is did it found the hardest part was getting the boosters pushrod off the pedal pin as the pin wouldnt come out, it was either seized in there pretty damn good or not removable. i couldnt see well enough to know which.

[Darren_L]

I would say it's not a very 'pleasant' job
but I wouldn't say it's overly difficult

[Pie-VK]

Awesome, thanks for that guys.

just went to the wrechers and i found a bunch of booster and master cylinders, and i thought, while I'm replacing the booster, might as well do a bit of an upgrade. But I got a few questions before i go through with it.

Do I really need a brake upgrade if I still have the stock front disks and the rear drums?

And what boosters/MC's can I fit in with no modifications needed?

Basically there are basically all commodores from VC's to VE's sitting at the wrechers and msot of them have boosters, what ones can I put in?

Edit: The pin doesnt worry me because I can get a pair of small bolt cutters in there to cut it off, and those pins I can get from most hardware stored.

[VK SL 3800]

pin would be hardened so it doesnt snap with fatigue i would assume, but anything up to VS booster will bolt straight in, and VT/VX masters will bolt to vs boosters, but doing anything is useless while you still have drums on the rear as any newer master is proportioned to suit discs and will not have a residual pressure valve which is need for drums, leave it stock unless you give the whole setup a revamp.

[Staggie]

ah yes. soz for the bad info. hate how the VK swaps metric to imperial

I feel your pain mate, gets worse when your doing conversions when you have to deal with metric and imperial theads as well.. got well versed with the tap and die set doing mine.

as VK 3800 said, anything up to a vs master will bolt straight up, but def get a rear disc setup or you will be waisting ur time.

[Pie-VK]

as VK 3800 said, anything up to a vs master will bolt straight up, but def get a rear disc setup or you will be waisting ur time.

But would it still work with a VS booster and VT MC? I will eventually do a rear brake upgrade, but at the moment, I'm strapped for cash.

-EDIT- i did notice a VK that had some old disk brakes, I think they were stock because it had the JM8 option code on it. What would I need to do to get those disk brakes to replace my drums?

[Dirbatua]

Just look for a 1" Master from VB-VP (not sure about the VR/VS ones) is generally the best upgrade since it will work with the drums and if you later put larger brakes on the front or change to a disc diff you won't get a dead spot on the brake pedal, no point in getting a VT master since the 1" works better for the old girls compared to the VT with the quick fill and just bolts up without having to #### around with anything since you need to find one without ABS, if you look on the front right of yours it will say 15/16 which is the standard, if it just has a big 1 don't bother changing it, as for the booster just try and find a V8 one otherwise a standard one works just fine.

[ari666]

Edit: The pin doesnt worry me because I can get a pair of small bolt cutters in there to cut it off, and those pins I can get from most hardware stored.

lol GOOD LUCK. we are not talking about a cheap split pin here. its a locking pin that doubles as a spring keeping the pin tight. replace that with out the washer or with a different pin and you are asking for trouble. no the only way to do that job is to do it properley.

and dont mess with your brakes if you are "strapped for cash" everything soon adds up and your brakes are the most important thing on your car.

[hainzy]

lol GOOD LUCK. we are not talking about a cheap split pin here. its a locking pin that doubles as a spring keeping the pin tight. replace that with out the washer or with a different pin and you are asking for trouble. no the only way to do that job is to do it properley.

and dont mess with your brakes if you are "strapped for cash" everything soon adds up and your brakes are the most important thing on your car.

AGREED!!!

Use the factory stuff. Putting some cheap chinese made P.O.S pin between you and your brakes is a stupid idea. Do it properly or kill someone.

[Staggie]

But would it still work with a VS booster and VT MC? I will eventually do a rear brake upgrade, but at the moment, I'm strapped for cash.

-EDIT- i did notice a VK that had some old disk brakes, I think they were stock because it had the JM8 option code on it. What would I need to do to get those disk brakes to replace my drums?

Do you want the easy way or hard way?

Easy way - Swap the whole diff

Hard way - swap axles, bearings and brakes over to your housing.

*EDIT* if your that tight on cash, just swap the booster to fix your problem and leave it at that. As ari & other have said DONT do a half assed job on your brakes or you may end up killing yourself or someone else, and being in a whole world of trouble.

[Pie-VK]

Thansk for your help guys.

I did get a booster from a VL, fit straight in, and it was one of the old one's at the wreckers that wasn't rusted to bits.

Somehow I did snap the pin, and it was actually pretty easy. I think the pin might have been worn anyway. but I got another pin, exacly the same from the same VL and it fit perfectly.

I have yet to do a brake bleed, I think I'll do that in the morning. But i'd have to say the hardest part was either the pin before it snapped trying to wiggle off the booster fromt he brake pedal.

also, aren't there kits for converting drums to disk instead of having to remove a whole diff? Are they any good or is it just better to replace the diff?

[Dirbatua]

its easier just to get a VH\VK Salisbury Disc to Disc diff or a VL Borgwarner Disc to Disc then trying to convert a Drum to a Disc.

If you get a VL Diff though you need to use 2 different pieces of tail-shaft, Vk front and VL rear, im pretty sure but someone will correct me if i am wrong.

You can get a disc to disc diff with the handbrake cable on it through ebay from anywhere from $50 if your lucky for a VH\VK one or around $200 for a VL 3.45 Open Diff up to $800 for a VL Turbo 3.45 LSD diff.

[Hangman]

lol GOOD LUCK. we are not talking about a cheap split pin here. its a locking pin that doubles as a spring keeping the pin tight. replace that with out the washer or with a different pin and you are asking for trouble. no the only way to do that job is to do it properley.

and dont mess with your brakes if you are "strapped for cash" everything soon adds up and your brakes are the most important thing on your car.

There ya go Ari, forget all that nonsense about original engine numbers , I agree with you on this. If you don't worry about the brakes, you won't have to worry about the rest of the car (or yourself) either...

[vh-holden]

Any suggestions on how to get the pin out, other than that it is hard? I've tried slamming the door, bonnet and boot in frustration but it is still there.

[vh-holden]

I persevered. For anyone reading this who is struggling to get it out, the pin is a weird shape and that can cause some confusion. I thought it was just a normal R shaped pin, but it isn't. A picture says a thousand words so here is a picture -

On mine, the loop was at the bottom around the edge of the washer. I levered it up with a small screwdriver, then pulled it out with long nose pliers.

[fullysick33]

4 bolts up under dash and you will need to disconnect the brake pedal under the dash 2 bolts on master cylinder un do it should come out easy if it is a six if it is and 8 bit harder

[magnetvh]

Mate as the other guys have said in here on how 2 remove it. Once u done it, u b like' gee, that was a piece of piss. Any1 else wana remove there's, ill do it, cause I know it easy'. That's wot u be sayin afta u do 1.