Hydroboost Nightmare!!

The hydro setup is already so long that it interfere's (or VERY nearly so) with the PS reservoir.... so I don't believe there is room for a spacer. Of course, I guess you could modify/relocate the PS reservoir... :rolleyes: Along with the OP's problem of brakes not releasing.... I have 'READ/HEARD' that you can have that problem when you 'T' the two return lines to the reservoir. I think in some cases, it results in too much backpressure in the return line from the hydro, causing brake non-release/dragging issues. It's preferable to have a seperate return for each piece (PS rack/h-boost) dumping into the reservoir.... which requires a different reservoir, or modification of the stock one.... :rolleyes: A few of the MANY reasons I went vacuum 5 years ago... :redface:
 
i can understand not wanting to change anything but if your not going to take everything back off your car and send it to him to get your money back then is it really worth the down time this is causing?what if he doesnt have a solution?i also understand you not wanting to modify brakes for fear of brake faliure.its a double edged sword.my hydro on my 87 t sits the same as the one in the pics above the same distance from the steering res.is yours in the same spot as well?are you sure you installed everything correctly?im just askin cause you said there were very limited instructions so dont get offended.i was just wondering on the pic how the rod looked under the dash thats the pic i was curious about.
 
Beware of Bobs finished braided hose sets that he sends out. After 2-1/2 months of not getting parts delivered, wrong parts sent, Service Tech that doesnt exist over there, and an attitude from Bob, I was finally able to button the Hydroboost System up and pull the car out of the garage to clean up the mess that was under the car. I backed into the garage, and was making a final cut to straighten the car out and I heard a loud POP, followed by loosing my power steering. Turns out the supplied banjo fitting that Bob sold me was not pressed on nearly enough and the hose blew off, pushing a full quart of power steering fluid through the hose all over the engine and floor. 2-1/2 months and again I am sidelined because he is selling crappy hose fittings. Sent him pics and and an ultimatum to correct the problem by the 24th, and have not heard from him yet.

BE CAUTIOUS OF HIS HOSE SETS..... He has complained about not making money on those sets, and I believe he is outsourcing the manufacturing of them to a cheaper outfit. Aeroquip and Russell stamp their fittings with a logo, the fittings I got with my set have no stamp on them. If I am able to blow a compression fitting off a hose while at idle, something is terribly wrong. If I do not receive a new set from him by tomorrow, I will have to go elsewhere for hoses and fittings, I will not be a happy camper.....

Nuff said.
 
Can anyone tell me what the thread size is on the two high pressure openings of the Hydroboost? This would be the opening that Bobs banjo fittings got installed in. I think the size was mentioned in the instructions, but after I thought I had everything figured out, I threw them away. (they were pretty much useless anyway)

Any info would be greatly appreciated.
 
does it look like this?
 

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I feel for you guys, PowerbrakeBob is always on here tauting the benefits of Hydroboost and how we all need to run and get it and he hasn't worked out any issues for the GN guys??

I know what it's like to have your car sit and not drive it, it's my new nightmare so I do what I can to limit this. I'd personally just ditch the system and go vacuum. You can get a new kit for $150 from the 87 NA Regal and get the pedal from Gbody or anyone else and call it a day.

You can get a Stage Right Transbrake for cheap and hold as much boost as you want if the vacuum's not cutting it and if it was a big reason why you went to the Hydro.
 
I only went with the hydroboost because it sounded like the most sensible solution. I used to work for GM and if they didn't feel they could make vacuum brakes work back in 1986-87 there was no reason for me to think I could make it work. With the hydroboost working off the PS pump seemed fairly logical; what I hadn't expected was braided lines that don't seal then finding out the rod and clevis are 1/2" too long. Had the rod/clevis been the right size I would have had the car running last weekend. All I can say is Bob needs to step it up a little bit to support part of the Turbo Buick community that is bringing him business. Keeping a car down for 3-4 weeks or more is nonsense for a company that is supposedly known for power brake service! :confused: :eek: :rolleyes:
 
Well I'm glad someone had an easy install. It probably serves me right; this car has been flawless for the four years I have owned it. The PowerMaster failure is the first issue I have had to correct... needless to say if I had known the Hydroboost was going to be a month long adventure I would have simply purchased a NOS or reman'd PowerMaster and been done with it. I don't relish doing engineering work and not be paid for it. Still no call from PBS Bobby since yesterday late morning... amazing he still sells anything.
 
Dont give up , once you get it sorted out you'll be thrilled with the performance just too bad you had to go through all this. People should pay more attention to customer service because that is the bread & butter of any company.
 
I'm hoping that is the case. I just spoke with his admin and apparently he sent a spacer to move the Hydroboost pump out from the firewall. That may solve the clevis to brake pedal problem but adds another 1/2 inch to the front of the master cylinder which means the power steering pump reservoir now must come off. These brakes better knock my socks off after all this nonsense...
 
Too bad there is'nt a way to make the rod adjustable like in the pic above , they must be grabbing different parts to make up this kit , cause these inconsistancies dont add up.
 
I think a 1/2" spacer from the firewall is unacceptable.....you need to be sent the correct unit/parts for your application. At this point I'd cut Bob out of the picture and have the right size rod made locally if possible. JMO.

My install was a PITA and the instructions weren't great. Aside from the initial parts wait dealing with Bob's company wasn't too bad for me. Lots of uncertainty as to when my parts would be ready but once I was told they were shipping all went well. A special fitting was missing but was rushed out to me when I called and reported the problem. The supplied suction hose was wrong but the rest of the hoses have been fine. I ended up making my own suction hose because I was sick of all of the delays. Fortunately for me my Power Master was only beginning to have minor issues so I was able to drive my car until all of the conversion parts arrived.

My time to work on the project was slim and I had some install issues but nothing was wrong with the engineering of my "kit". With the Hydroboost and Baer disk brakes on all four corners the car stops on demand (and then some) so I'm very happy with the "kit" and project. That being said I would recommend others to source their system from elsewhere due to the problems I had getting parts and the attitude I got from Bob when I called about a p/s pump issue. He was helped with the issue but something about the way he dealt with me left me unimpressed. Again, JMO.
 
Giving up on the Hydroboost. I received the spacers on Friday and had time this morning to take a look. What was proposed by Hydroboost Bobby was taking the 4 bolt bracket off the back of the Hydroboost, using the factory firewall bracket with two posts headed out, sliding the spacers in and bolting it up. Well guess what, there isn't anything on the back of the hydroboost to bolt to the factory firewall bracket. I'm tired of the experiment call Power Brake Service and will be calling them tomorrow to send the whole mess back. The factory 4 bolt bracket going into the passenger compartment has a bit of a step to it. It does not mount flush to the firewall since the firewall has a bit of an angle to it. Power Brake Service Bobby must not have ever taken a look at this when considering his equipment as being "bolt in" for the 87 Turbo Buick. I want brakes that I can count on with this car; the reality is the PowerMaster system is crap, converting over to vacuum brakes is crap due to the inability to consistently maintain vacuum pressure in the system (GM figured this out so who am I to challenge) plus having to change the brake pedal which is a PITA, and the Hydroboost with high pressure lines leaking and not having a matching brake pedal rod. I personally think GM should be ashamed for engineering such a poor braking system and the vendors who are hawking shabbily engineered braking systems better make sure their liability insurance is up to date. Brakes are nothing to fool with and I'm sure DAMN tired of spending my summer trying to get brakes under the Buick. It really changes my attitude toward these cars... fun to drive, fun to look at but not terribly fun to work on. Working on my 68 Camaro was enjoyable, these Buick's much less so... my plan is to buy a reman'd PowerMaster stick the bitch in and probably drive it even less than I do now...:mad: Thanks for a great summer Power Brake Service Bobby...
 
my hydrooost

My kit is supposed to be here today. I'm hoping i wont be too bad to install. will know for sure next weekend. wish me luck.
 
Windmill, hope your install goes better than mine. I normally can sort these things out; just figured out there were too many compromises and wasn't willing to risk having additional issues once the system was installed and potentially running. You get a sense of when something isn't right or ever going to be right and that's where I was at on Monday. For those that were able to overcome the challenges or were able to pop in with no problems ... bravo. I suspect Bob tweaks what he sends out every couple of months and his current iteration isn't quite where it needs to be... vacuum setup will be here next week and I suspect I will be driving the car (finally!!! :eek: :D ) next weekend... in the mean time I'll have to go commiserate with my buddy while he is showing his 427 66 Impala SS convertible at Meadowbrook this weekend...
 
Windmill....good luck on the install!

Like I've said, now that I'm past my install issues (minor compared to some) I couldn't be happier with my brakes. I really am floored by how well my car slows/stops.

I was close to calling it quits part way through my fiasco but running the Power Master again was not an option and after driving my buddy's GN with vacuum brakes and being unimpressed that didn't seem like the way to go either. So I really had no choice but to tough it out and get it working properly.
 
dz28 said:
vacuum setup will be here next week and I suspect I will be driving the car (finally!!! :eek: :D ) next weekend...
Click to expand...

BRAVO!!! :) I've been following your nightmare, and was hoping you'd come to this conclusion on your own. You mentioned back a bit that 'GM engineers weren't confident in the vac. system for these cars', which is truly not the case. GM was, at the time, looking for a platform to 'debut/test/prove' the Powermonster system and the Turbo Buick, being a good candidate (reletively low production, able to justify by lack of vac. at boost, etc.), won the lottery. GM could have put the hydroboost or powermaster on TTA's, but chose the simpler, more reliable vac. booster system. The only thing you are going to be sorry about is that you didn't just swap to vac. to begin with.... Post up if you have ANY problems.... bet you don't.... :)
 
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