72 brake booster

[Jeff Y.]

I assume it's a bad thing when you push the brake peddle and hear vacuum rushing inside the car and there is no power assist. After the car had been sitting for a few weeks, started it up for a drive and noticed lots of air rushing when I pushed the brake peddle, it's a '72 with power brakes. Drove it around the block and had brakes but no power assist. Interesting that after a few minutes, maybe 15, it stopped leaking and power assist came back. I assume I have a booster going bad. Who restores them and how hard of a job is it to get it out of the car?

[Russ S.]

Re: 72 brake booster

Booster Dewey. He advertises in the driveline and it is very hard to get out unless you are small and limber.

[Jeff Y.]

Re: 72 brake booster

Anybody have photos or description on how to attack getting it out because I am neither small nor limber and will need all the help I can get.

[Lawrence M.]

Re: 72 brake booster

Hi Jeff,
Removing the booster can be hard. 4 bolts hold it in place on the passenger side of the firewall. There have been threads about the removal in the past so try searching the archives to find them. When I did mine I removed the drivers seat so I could lay on the floor. It's very tight up there and you'll be there a while. Wear safety glasses if you don't wear prescription glasses in case you drop a tool or one of the bolts.

[Patrick H.]

Re: 72 brake booster

Anybody have photos or description on how to attack getting it out because I am neither small nor limber and will need all the help I can get.

Removing and reinstalling a power brake booster is one of the most difficult jobs you can find on a Corvette. I've done it twice, once on a 71 and once on a 72, and don't care if I never do it again.

The basics are in the service manual, but the difficult part is accessing and removing the 4 nuts that hold the booster to the firewall. They are locking nuts, so they are never loose and you need to use a socket to remove every bit of them. Access is extremely limited, and if you get vertigo at all laying on your back for a long time, this is not the job for you. You will need extensions, u-joint adapters and similar tools to remove the nuts if you do it yourself. In addition a flexible flashlight and safety goggles are recommended because you can't see up in there and you WILL drop a socket or tool on your face.

Best of luck. If it were me I'd check everything else including the check valve on the front of the booster before I would just remove the booster and send it off.

Patrick

[Steve L.]

Re: 72 brake booster

This has been archived many times. I 4 speed is much worse because of the clutch pedal and rod.
I would remove the IP and steering column. It makes it much easier.
The worst nut is the upper left. When putting it back together I replaced that one nut with a hex coupling nut that is about 1 3/4 inch long with a bit of blue locktit on it.. It makes it a lot easier to put back and take out