How do I take a Bendix disc brake booster apart?

I managed to separate the housing halves, remove the larger hex nut, the metal dish and first rubber diaphragm underneath. I also took out the push-rod (for the master cylinder).

Now I'm stuck: there is a black dish like separator between the two halves of the booster (seems to be a phenolic resin) I can't get out.
How do you remove it? I can move the cylinder in the center back and forth. Should the phenolic separator just fall out? There is quite a bit of rust in the booster - maybe it is rusted to the housing?

It should be part B in this drawing:



any ideas? Thanks

This is not a unit that is made to be serviced by the average guy. If you can get a rebuilt unit from a local auto parts store or www.rockauto.com I would do that.

FYI, I took apart the PB can on my '86 Ramcharger, but that was only to trim it down to where I could weld the halves together, less the guts. I needed to make the transition from the 4 bolt mounting on the firewall to the 2 bolt mount on the new race master cylinder. I don't have the ability to machine a pretty aluminum block to make the adaptation, so that is what I did to accomplish the job. It works for me.

Local autoparts stores don't stock these (I live in Europe).

I'm pretty good at fixing stuff an can build my own tools. What makes this PB booster so special/hard to rebuild? What tools are needed?

I don't really know what makes this special, because I never intended to reuse the one I took apart. It is likely that the way it is assembled in the factory makes it difficult to disassemble it and securely reassemble it. That is why it is best to buy a remanufactured part rather than try to repair it yourself.

You did not specify what year and make vehicle this came from (Mopar, I am sure) So I picked the '68 to '70 B-Body chassis and found on www.rockauto.com a listing for the booster with and without a new master cylinder and the outright prices are less than $150.00 + shipping for the most expensive unit. I quoted "Outright" because, since you have taken your "core" apart, I don't think they would take it as a core. Besides, shipping a $50.00 core from Europe does not seem to be a cost effective idea. Just my

I am sure that www.rockauto.com will ship to you. All you need is a shipping address and a credit card. UPS and FedEx make deliveries all over the world every day.

Those boosters have been unobtainable for a long time. If you order one from RockAuto, Advance Auto Parts, O'Riellys etc.. all you are going to get is a functional equivalent, probably off a truck or van. It won't look anything like the original and won't have anywhere near the power. The stores may have a picture of that Bendix booster, but you won't get one like it.

Best to send yours out to Booster Dewey, the RamMan, or others that offer rebuilding services.

The original booster on my 72 Imperial has super nice original plating. It is a dual diaphragm an one of the two had failed. I sent it to Booster Dewey and could not have been more pleased with the result.

billyfury 70-71 Fury collector, www.sportfurygt.com

I bought a rebuilt dual booster from Booster Dewey, might save on shipping instead of shipping back and forth.

Shipping back and forth doesn't make any sense for me.
Thanks for the suggestions but I would rather try to repair the booster myself. The first step is to assess the condition of all components - it doesn't make any sense to ship it to Dewey's just to find out that it can't be rebuild.
For the moment I just need to know how to get the black separator off..

Thanks!

If you can figure out where to buy new diaphragms please let us know. I had no luck with that.

billyfury

from what I can tell by the exploded view looks like you have to contended with the seconded diaphragm sealing agents the can,try heating the unit up & expanding the can to release the phenolic spacer ?

I poured some evaporust in the gap between the spacer and the can (figure 96) - maybe that will do the trick. Expanding the can isn't really doable and heat will probably damage the diaphragm.



The first one I took out looked fine - I hope that the second one is in good shape as well.

I don't mean over heat it or use a torch,let it set in the sun or an oven on low temp 125 deg. heck the eng. compartment temp can get pretty high & they don't get damaged.