So, picking up from the same day, I actually removed my brake booster in the afternoon, but by the time I had it rebuilt, it was dark. So I spent about 2 hours the next morning to install the booster, fill the fluids and then test it all. Spoiler alert - everything worked out wonderfully! But, let's get through the steps.
Removing the Brake Booster wasn't so difficult. I found ways to access all the bolts with the various tools I had. Also, I discovered that I could move the master brake cylinder back and get enough clearance to take out the brake booster. I didn't have to remove the brake master cylinder, thus saving me the hassle of bleeding all the brakes. Then metal brake lines are actually pretty flexible. When removing the brake booster, the trick was to angle it
down to remove it. There's plenty of room going downwards.
I created a tool for containing the spring pressure using a few bolts and a wire protection plate, normally used to protect electrical wires as they pass through 2 x 4 wooden studs in homebuilding. That plate was only $0.99. All the parts for this tool totaled less than $8.
- Removing the brake booster.
- Step 1.png (1.22 MiB) Viewed 15553 times
After I got the booster apart, replacing all of the o-rings and seals was pretty easy. This was especially made simple because I used the upgraded aluminum piece, which already had the seal installed. I didn't want to mess with dremeling the old plastic piece and creating another tool to remove that seal. Incidentally, I have a spare plastic piece for the brake booster if anyone needs it.
My front seal was also leaking. Replacing it was simple with the picking tool. I made sure and installed it below the white split nylon ring. It all fit together very quickly.
- Apart and reassembling.
- Step 2.png (1.52 MiB) Viewed 15553 times
It was about this time that it got dark. It had taken me about 1.5 hours up to this point. I removed the booster, took it apart and replaced all the seals. It'd be the next morning before I finished everything else.
So the next morning, I noticed the tiny filter in the high pressure hole of the booster. I cleaned it out well, although it did not look clogged at all. I also used some self adhesive neoprene to create a gasket to seal where the brake booster would meet the firewall.
- Final before install.
- Step 3.png (1.47 MiB) Viewed 15553 times
Getting the booster back into the car wasn't difficult. All of the parts lined up well and the only tricky bolt (very tight space) was handled with a simple socket extension and a 13mm socket. In the picture below you can see where the shackle connects to the the brake pedal. In the picture to the right, I am accessing that bolt in very tight quarters.
- Final installation.
- Step 4.png (1.5 MiB) Viewed 15553 times
Another observation was that the rubber seal that goes between the brake booster and the brake master cylinder should be included in some of the rebuild kits. Since it took me the course of 2 days to do this, the master cylinder seal sat open to the air overnight. It must of swollen of something because the seal expanded to where it no longer fit in the recess when I was trying to reassemble it. I pressed it in the best I could, but ended up crushing bits of the rubber between the brake master cylinder and booster when I tightened it. As far as I can tell, no fluids are in the space between the two parts. It seems like it's ok if it's not perfectly sealed. In the end, I think it's still sealed up, but just the rubber is now deformed. I'm planning on replacing that rubber seal in the not-too-distant future. Since I can do this without much more than removing the two 13mm bolts holding the parts together, this shouldn't be a big deal.
After all this was in place, I filled the reservoir with Liquid Moly fluid and then cranked up the car. It took a few moments for the pump to start moving the fluid, but once it did, I could tell things were much better. There was no screech at all. I also drove the car around and tested the braking, which all worked splendidly.
So in the end, all looks well. In the next days I'll see if any leaks appear, but I am confident that things will be very good. A big shoutout to Jay for his excellent instructions and pictures. Also to the folks on this forum who continue to give me the confidence to do anything to this car!