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Brake boosters[120-130/67] posted by bob wennerstrom on
Friday, 23 April 1999, at 8:45 a.m.
I've heard that the factory brake boosters cannot be rebuit(no rebuilt kit available). Can anyone confirm or deny this rumor? I know where I can get one but it's certainly bad since it has been unhooked. I'm not really interested in installing an aftermarket unit.
Thanks
Bob
Re: Brake boosters[120-130/67] posted by Dan B on
Friday, 23 April 1999, at 11:54 a.m.
Ive heard the same. I believe Girling makes a very similar, though not Identical aftermarket unit(I have one-though it didnt help me stop fast enough to save my volvo from drilling a red chevy barretta with an apparently blind driver). Even when they work-they dont work great-and the power assist is very small compared to almost any othe car with power breaks. Id do like George suggested-and forget it. Its one more likely thing to fail in an already somewhat dangerous single circuit brake system. There is nothing like stepping on your breaks and having nothing happen except for a huge cloud of funny smelling white smoke come out the exhaust! This is what eventually will happen if you put in a remote brake booster. Its happened in my old Jag-unfortunatly, that car, with discs all around really needs some power assist-or it wont stop. The 122 does not-power assist on the brakes was an option-many 122's never had it. Without it-you've got a more reliable car with one less thing to break!
--Dan B (62 P-1800, 68 122 Wagon, 76 244, 61 Jag MK2)
Re: Brake boosters[120-130/67] posted by Ed on
Friday, 23 April 1999, at 1:04 p.m.
I'm flattered that George thinks I might have something to add to this discussion -- here's my take on it:
The 122 has an odd sort of booster system -- an outboard thing that sits on the fender away from the master cylinder. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how the one on my car worked, because there was no visible connection to the brake system. Only later on did I discover that it had been deliberately disconnected, no doubt because it stopped working. Once the owner discovered that a new unit would cost $500 and rebuilt ones were unavailable (presumably), I'm sure it was an easy decision!
BTW, the advantage of an outboard (remote) brake booster is that it can be easily disconnected without affecting manual braking. Try that on a 140 or later model!
If you really want to get your power brakes working, I recently saw a NOS 122 brake booster listed for sale somewhere on the net for $420 (yikes!). But I wonder how long it would last. It may be new old stock, but are any of the critical parts dried out from age? And if it does give you service for a few years, what do you do after it fails, which it seems they all do eventually, as the experience of George and others seems to indicate.
There's a nice little treatise on the subject of 122 power brakes on the
volvo classics interactive magazine web site --
http://www.vclassics.com/archive/qboostadd.htm
It discusses how tough it is to repair/replace the 122 booster, and alternative means for providing boost. You can use the booster from a 140, but it requires the 140 master cylinder, some reworking of the brake lines, and definitely does not look stock afterwards. Not bad, just not stock.
I have 2 boosters of unknown quality; the one that came on my car (no doubt bad) and one that I found in the trunk of a 122 at a junkyard, which had plastic plugs in the brake line inlets, suggesting that it may have been rebuilt (???). I just bought a Mity-Vac (on sale, $19.99) which I intend to use to test the ability of the booster tank to hold a vacuum. IF nothing else, I can take them apart and get a little education on how they (are supposed to) work.
Check out that web page, and good luck!
--Ed
Re: Brake boosters[120-130/67] posted by Ed on
Friday, 23 April 1999, at 1:55 p.m.
References source of new remote boosters:
http://www.team.net/www/rootes/sunbeam/alpine/mk1-5/archives/98_02/0052.html
--Ed