I was planning on going with standard brakes but a friend of mine is trying to talk me into the vacuum pump. It has been many years since I have driven something with manual brakes but I don't remember them being all that hard to push. I suppose I could try getting one out of an old cadilac or a different vehicle. I saw them at summit for around $300 and don't really want a $300 experiment to find out I don't like the vacuum pump, that is why I may try the cadilac route first.