Ok,
I am seriously looking at a done hemi B body.
Problem for me is its manual drum brakes. I may / probably will convert it to disc brakes.
I'm pretty sure its possible to add the normal non hemi specific booster and still clear the valve cover ( car has a hydraulic cam so to R+R the valve cover on a regular basis isnt really a concern )
What about going manual disc brakes and forgo the booster and any issues it MAY bring with it . is the stopping power ok ,
Reason I ask ,,, is we have a few mountain roads that I would like to take the car for a cruise where I think drum brakes may become an issue with fade / getting hot. I'm talking a route where the road is approx 20 miles, mostly down hill .

Ive had drum brake fade happen before and its a very scary feeling.

and btw, Im not worried so much as to retain 100% stock appearing for the rotor and caliper style brakes but would like to keep it reasonably close to stock looking under hood,,,,at least to the casual observer anyway. So the tiny GM looking booster and master cylinder look is 100% put of the question for me. Odds are very slim I will NOT be doing a nationwide search fro the OEM 4 piston caliper stuff

If you have 15 inch wheels that will clear the late model 11.75 B body brakes then you should be good to go. All of the parts for the conversion are available as long as your wheels will clear the calipers. You should be able to get everything you need from Doctor Diff. Manual disc brakes will work okay if you have the big 11.75 rotors and big drum brakes on the rear. If you have the smaller drums on the rear then you might want to upgrade them.

Thanks, the car does have 15x7 chrome magnums on it . But the option of going back to the original 14" wheels and hubcaps would be nice option at some point

Would it happen to be my old Q1 '68 coupe 4-speed car ?
I've been wondering where it is.
The guy that bought it removed the steelies & put magnums on it.
The drums were pretty good on that, though one did have to plan ahead by the top of 3rd gear.

Sorry to report. but its a 1966 Satellite. I'm afraid the 68 and later hemi cars are well out of my budget .

You can't have your cake and eat it too. If you want to run manual disc brakes on a B body your only choice is the big 11.75 rotors. Even they are marginal but you can make it work with soft pads and big rear drums. So that means you'll need 15 inch wheels. If you go with a power booster then you can use the smaller 11 inch disc brakes but then you'll have to deal with finding the correct booster to clear the valve covers and all of that jazz.

That stock late 70s disc stuff is all I have ever ran. It works good and is cheap. The junk yards still get the occasional Diplomat, Fury, Cordoba, etc. And the disc stuff can be had off the front of them for $100 or so. Everything that would need replaced is readily available at any parts store or Rockauto. There are plenty of tutorials, donor car lists, and preferred parts lists here and on the web elsewhere. I don't use boosters on my cars so they take more pedal pressure, but that is not a problem for most adults.

I have ran the smaller rotors and they are still better than the drum crap. Not great, but better. And if the OP goes with the larger rotors and then decides to run his 14" wheels, all he needs to do is swap the caliper adapters and the rotors. Assuming he stays with the same style caliper adapters (pin vs slider). No need to even break the system open. The swap could be done in a couple of hours.

This aftermarket booster clears on an E-body. I have the factory disc and calipers.

thanks for the replies so far.
using the larger rotors then swapping to smaller ones when I want to swap to stock 14" wheels is a no go for me. I would like to be able to pull it in the garage swap wheels and roll it back out when the urge strikes me.


And as for the twin bail wire GM looking master cylinder,,,,,,,that is out of the question, I will leave the car manual drum brakes first

I built a Hemi Cuda clone for a client a few years ago and he brought me what I think were repop brake booster brackets to convert his car to the hemi style power brake booster system,, Not sure where he got them

Anyone know of who or if these were avail.?

the RAMMAN had/has the offset booster brackets & push rod (I believe he has the complete engine side set-up)

Good luck with that. The last thing I tried to buy from him was a master cly piston kit for a 70 e body. They returned my phone call after a week and said they had it in stock. Three weeks later, still no part and they would not answer or return my call. I finally got PayPal to return my money.

I make a Hemi/Bendix style brake booster conversion. See below:

https://www.doctordiff.com/bendix-style-dual-diaphragm-booster.html

Cass, Is your offset bracket to hemi booster dimensions or to the standard B body booster stud pattern? Some of the folks who made the replica hemi to hemi booster spec are no longer making them. Some of the newer stuff is standardized at the B body non hemi dimensions.

If you go original 66-69 B body, the rotor is available, but you need to find good hubs and you would need the 66-69 spindles and the 4 piston Bendix caliper. Not impossible but harder and more expensive.

If you go 70-72 KH type that is easier to source spindles, calipers, brackets, rotor. Rotors are one piece and Calipers are cheap even new. Rotors are 10.98". This would mimic a 70 B body with disc, uses same Bendix booster and MC type. If you go hemi booster and bracket you get the MC with Ports to the fender. This would probably be the least expensive route that meets your needs to swap wheels and would look OEM though not 69 OEM. If not full OEM, going with DR Diff assembly is OEM like at reduced cost of the OEM Booster and linkage.

Odds are I will go 1970 and later setup or later A body arrangement if for nothing but the simple fact of parts availability in the long run.

I want the stock looks and feel but safety is paramount. Some of the most beautiful cruises around here involve mountain drives .Which equates into long up hill followed by long down hill return runs.
My plan is keep it stock appearing to the casual observer. Yet the keen eye will catch its a manual brake car originally so the non hemi booster will be the easy part ( car has already been converted to 67 and later dual reservoir brake system simply for safety reasons.) The car was built with manual drum brakes and manual steering ( steering has been converted to power already ( HUGE bonus in my book )

Cass, I thought someone was making the brackets , And this will be perfect . So when this deal goes down, I'll be in touch.

73 A Body and later, have bigger pads...
Spindles bolt right up and use a Dakota master cylinder no power booster required...

Just my $0.02...

I used to reproduce brackets for the special Hemi Bendix booster.

When MBM released the wedge style Bendix booster, I tweaked the bracket's design to fit the reproduction booster. As such, the assembly is not intended for a concourse restoration. It is a cost effective alternative for a clone or a power brake conversion that retains the OEM Mopar look, however.

Because the unit is slightly longer than the OEM Hemi booster assembly it will not clear a '69 B-body AIR GRABBER. As far as I know, this is the only application that interferes.

Is the booster longer, or the bracket assembly?

The new Bendix style boosters were intended for a wedge engine application with a long input rod and under-dash linkage.

Because the input rod is shorter on an OEM Hemi booster, I made the brackets longer to compensate.

Thank you. So would your bracket work with an OEM Wedge Booster?