Falcon Power Brakes


Manual To Power Brakes
Note: You MIGHT need to slightly modify the shock tower to firewall brace to fit the unit. The instructions on this swap call for "massaging" the brace with a hammer to gain clearance. You can opted to cut a semicircle out of the brace, which you will see below. The necessity of modifying the brace depends on what angle you mount the brake booster at. The steeper the angle, the less necessary the brace mod.
Here we Go.....
The booster is small, and seals with the help of recessed O-rings where the master plugs into the booster. The booster also has an adjustable rod: it can be adjusted at the pedal or slightly on the other side of the rod before the master is installed into it.
The directions do the brunt of the explaining, but since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are some photos of the installation:


Top photo shows the original master cylinder removed, and the paper template taped in. Use a grinding wheel and metal cutting hole saw to enlarge the original master cylinder's hole, as seen in the top right photo. The bottom photo is showing the use of the grinding wheel to clean up the semicircle cut into the brace.
After the hole in the firewall and the trimming of the brace, installed the booster/master combo. One of the most important things one must do when installing a master cylinder is to bench bleed it. There are generally two ways to do this: with the master on or off the car. I prefer to bleed the master while it is installed. Before the brake lines are connected to the master, go to the auto parts store and buy a master cylinder bleeding kit. It is simply plastic fittings that thread into the master with hoses that are placed into the reservoir. By pumping the brake pedal, all the air is expelled out of the master and fresh fluid fills the space.


The next picture is the removal of the pin out of the brake pedal. After grinding the pin flush with the pedal, a quick salvo of raps with a punch removes the pin, leaving a nice hole for the booster's pushrod.


The third photo shows the system plumbed and ready to go. Below are shots of the unit installed, but not yet plumbed:





Parts Required:
1.) Brake booster/master cylinder. Make sure to use the pin that attaches the booster to the pedal and the nuts that mount the booster to the firewall.
Foam gasket that goes on the fire wall (its already on the back of your booster, trace this onto a piece of poster board to make a template for installing.
Parts required from the Auto Parts Store:
1.) One 3/16"x 2" cotter pin
2.) Two feet of 3/8" vacuum hose
3.) Two 3/8" x 1 1/4" bolts
4.) Twelve 5/16" flat washers
5.) One 8" piece of 3/16" steel brake line
6.) One 3/16" brake line coupler
7.)One pint of brake fluid
8.) One brake light switch for a 1974 Ford F150
9.)A master cylinder bleeding kit

Installation: 1) Disconnect battery.
2) Remove hood and left hood hinge.( '60-'63 with prop rod may be able to leave hinge in place.)
3) Remove brake pedal (you probably needed to lube the pivot anyway)
4) Disconnect brake lines from junction at master cylinder. Remove the master cylinder. Install the two bolts that you bought in the holes where the master cylinder was. Loosen the two bolts that are above the master cylinder mounting holes. Give them a sharp rap with a hammer to loosen the spring clip type nuts that they are screwed into. Remove these bolts and the nuts that are inside of the car.
5) '60- '64 connect the two green wires together that were on the brake light switch. Cut and soldered them. '65 can disregard this step.
6) Tape template to firewall; upper holes in template line up with upper holes on fire wall. Drill two 3/8" holes at bottom of template. Remove metal from firewall that is in center hole of template. This should be about 3/4" of metal.
7) Remove master cylinder from booster. Remove reservoir from master cylinder by pushing out rollpin.
8) Hold booster up to firewall. It should sit at a slight upward angle because of the two bolts that are in the old master cylinder holes. Figure out how many 5/16" washers are needed on the lower studs to hold the booster off of these bolts. I used 6 on each lower stud. This will vary as it depends on the thickness of the washers that you bought. On the inside of car, trim enough metal from the pedal support to allow the lower nuts to fit. When you get the spacing right, bolt the booster to the firewall.
9) While the master cylinder is still off of the car, screw the piece off 3/16" brake line into the front port that points up. Bend the line to the right and then under the master cylinder so that it points to the left side of the car. Attach the coupling to the free end of the line. Remove the line and set aside for the moment. It is much easier to bend this line while the master cylinder is still off of the car.
10) Install the master cylinder to the booster. Attach the line that comes from the right front wheel of the car to the front-side port. There is enough line on the car to do this if you bend carefully. Install the line you made and attach this to the line that comes from the left front wheel. Attach the remaining line that runs to the rear of the car to the rear port in the master cylinder. (Run all new lines, since kinking a brake line is BAD. It doesn't take much to kink a brake line, and this can cause restriction of the brake fluid's flow or worse: a leak. This system also uses 3/16" line like the stock Falcon, HOWEVER, it has METRIC threaded fittings. Someone explained to me that he was able to thread the standard lines into the Master without any leaks developing. This Master has three lines running from it. The top line that feeds the front driver's side brake is a tight fit because of the brace running overhead. Nevertheless, the standard line did thread into the metric port and tightened down.) 11.) Set the reservoir in place and use the 3/16" cotter pin to hold it in place. (You can use the original rollpin as long as it is not damage.) You may have to indent the edge of the cowl brace slightly with a hammer. It doesn't need to move very far and is not noticeable when you are done. There are two wires that come out of the reservoir that worked a low fluid light. They can be cut off or left on.
12) Remove the pin on the brake pedal that the old push rod connected to. This can be easily done by grinding the back of the pin flush with the pedal, and using a drift punch to drive it out. Remove the rubber bumper at the top of the pedal. Temporarily install the pedal. Mark the hole where the rod attaches. Remove the pedal and drill a 7/16" hole in this location. The hole should be about 3/4" below the hole that the pin was removed from. Install the pedal and connect the new push rod with the pin from the.
13) In '60-'64s, reconnect the battery. The brake lamps should be on. Find the dark green wire where the wires exit the steering column. Disconnect this wire and the brake lamps will go off. Crimp the "bullet" connectors on the Ford truck pigtail. Plug the pigtail into the green wire that you disconnected. Plug the stop light switch into the pigtail. The lights should now be on . Test the switch by pushing the button. The lights should go on and off. Install the switch into the hole that the rubber bumper was removed from. Adjust the two nuts until the lights are off. On '65 crimp the "spade" connectors onto the pigtail. Plug these wires into the plug that was on the old brake light switch. Everything else installs the same as the early cars.
14) Bleed the brake system now. It's a lot easier to do it with the hood off.
15) Connect the vacuum hose to an unused port on the engine and to the booster. Reinstall the hood hinge and hood.
16) Take it for a test drive. This swap is such an improvement over the old system that it takes a little getting used to. The Falcon did not use a proportioning valve and some people don't see the need to use one with this setup. (Please note: a Wilwood adjustable proportioning valve installed will be able to get much better braking out of this system.) Disclaimer:I cannot assume any responsibility for errors, misuse or improper installation of the parts listed here for sale. Adherence to all manufacturer's vehicle safety are concerned.