1978 k30 hydroboost

[derekhisle]

$3000 is the “I don’t want to work it” price. I bought an AC Delco master for $50 from Amazon for my 1987 V3500 and my hydroboost unit from Napa for $500. Shops will typically double the price on parts.

When I owned my shop I would not work on anything older than 10 years. Parts are hard to get, aftermarket stuff is subpar, everything you touch is brittle, rusted, and the hacks that were there before you made things fun. Much of the time to make parts fit, fix other people’s handwork, hunt down parts, etc is not billable.

Junk parts cost time having to redo the job and damage your reputation. You need to find a shop that specializes in classic cars.

I live in small town nothing and want to learn to work on it myself if possible

 

[derekhisle]

A brand-new Hydro unit specifically for a square is under $600

Street Beast HydraStop Booster Assembly for 1973-87 Chevy Truck

1973-87 Chevy Truck Street Beast HydraStop booster assembly with direct mount bracket

classicperform.com

This looks different from mine

 

[derekhisle]

Check the accumulator can on the booster...they get loose sometimes, and then the unit has NO reserve power. But it sounds more like a bad MC to me too. Also check all your lines for cracks, leakage, damage....

Not loose and no leaking

 

[derekhisle]

Uh; $3,000 for a master cylinder?

More like $75 bucks and 15 bucks of brake fluid.

Pedal doesn’t go to the floor because of a bad hydro boost. There’s a mechanical link from the brake pedal to the master cylinder that the hydro boost only amplifies. That’s either a busted brake line, a blown caliper or wheel cylinder, or bad master cylinder.

I just redid the entire brake system EXCEPT the hydro boost (rebuilt it) on a k35 and figure the cost of brakes was maybe $750, mainly because I bought new drums and rotors.

Can't find any leaks or anything broken

 

[edgephoto]

I bought a reman hydro boost unit unit from NAPA. Master Cylinder, I bought, an AC Delco, from Amazon.