Vacuum Canisters!!

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12-16-2009, 03:20 PM

#11

109jb

3rd Gear Member

Join Date: Oct 2007

Location: Illinois

Posts: 584

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2+2GT

Gothcha, that's not really "stop and go", that's just "stop". If your idle vacuum is inadequate, something's got to give. The Rhodes lifters will bring the vacuum up 2-4", and give you a wider power band to boot. Or you could ditch the booster and go with the MICO master cylinder, the downside is it's a single cylinder, the upside is the pedal effort is almost as low as a stock booster. Shelby used them on the GT350H so rental customers wouldn't have high pedal effort, and they avoided using a booster to do it.

I'm not a big fan of vacuum generators, always seems like just one more thing to have brake problems with. My Mustang doesn't have power boost, either. Just power.

Yep. The Rhodes lifters do work. I had them on a 1970 Monte Carlo many moons ago. If the idle vacuum is marginal, the Rhodes lifters may tip the scale to where you don't even need anything else.

I also agree that the vacuum pumps are another thing that can go wrong, but they have been made very reliable with the turbo cars running around these days. Reliable enough now that I wouldn't be too concerned about it anymore.

Two other options not mentioned are the hyrda-boost systems, which run off of your power steering pump pressure, and the manual brake option. Converting to hydra-boost could involve adapting an OEM design, but there are aftermarket versions. Not sure how much they cost though. Could be pricey.

Going to manual brakes is a possibility too. This can be a simple as installing a manual master cylinder that is compatible with the brakes at the hubs, or again the aftermarket has many complete systems with manual option.

Bottom line is that there are many options available, but I wouldn't get my hopes up for a canister alone to make up for low vacuum from the engine. Been there and although they do help a little I would recommend a different course myself.

12-16-2009, 09:21 PM

#12

67t5ponycoupe

5th Gear Member

Join Date: Jan 2006

Location: Colorado

Posts: 3,946

I would say build the car first and see how things work. You may be wasting your money. I have driven many a power boosted car with a super luppy cam and the brakes worked fine.

12-17-2009, 02:50 PM

#13

Starfury

6th Gear Member

Join Date: Aug 2007

Location: Elk Grove, CA

Posts: 5,896

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2+2GT

Since two of my cars have actual "solid" lifters, with the actual noise they make, I tend to laugh at the folks who complain the Rhodes is noisy. Especially the ones with 2 1/2" exhaust and Flowmasters. Worrying about mechanical noise from the engine was where those stupid nylon cam gears came from.

Well, I like to give the disclaimer

They're definitely audible, and it could bother some people that aren't used to a bunch of clatter under the hood. It really doesn't bother me, but I've had lots of people ask me if I run solid lifters.

Although, the last guy I warned about the added noise listened to my car when he was in town and commented that it wasn't half as bad as he was expecting. *shrug*