I have a friend with a 67 camaro. He has manual brakes on it. We have tried two different power boosters and master cylinders from part stores. We have a brake pump and have oil erupting in the master cylinder from all wheel cylinders, but We cant seem to get a brake pedal to pump up at all. Its done the same thing with both boosters and master cylinders. We have also tried shimming the master cylinder away from the booster like the instuctions say, but still nothing. If someone can give me advise on what to try next, it would be very much appreciated. Thank You! Ed

You shouldn't have to bleed the brakes to add a new booster but did you attach the plunger to the brake pedal's lower hole (power) instead of the upper one (manual)? I did this conversion last year and the entire process took less than one hour.

If you're installing a new master cylinder you need to "bench bleed" it. This is a very simple thing to do but is often overlooked by novices. All you do is clamp the cylinder in a suitable holder(vise) connect 2 short lines to each of the outputs with the other end sticking in the cylinder fluid chamber. Fill the chamber, then using short strokes on the plunger, pumping the air bubbles out of the cylinder and back into the fluid chamber. Keep pumping until you see no more bubbles(sometimes it takes a while). A clear line makes it easier to see your progress. Leave the bleeder lines attached or use plugs to minimize fluid loss and install the cylinder. Quickly hook up the brake lines(to minimize fluid loss). Now do a normal bleed, you should be OK. Remember, whenever you "open up" your lines you should bleed the system.

We figured it out!! Finally.. Or I should say a friend did. We were shimming the master cylinder away from the power booster, because the instuctions were saying if the rod is to long if we can't get a pedal to pump up. Come to find out it was just the opposite of the instuctions. The rod was to short and non-ajustable, so me made a spacer to lenghtin the rod about 1/4 in. That fixed the problem!! My brother and I have done this conversion on a 63 Nova, 2 55 Chevys, 66 Chevelle. This is the first time we have ever had to even mess with the lenght of the rod between the cylinder and booster. I want to Thank everyone for the helpful information. Especially about the two holes in the brake pedal...I didnt know there was two different holes. One manual and one power. Thank You Very Much!!! Ed Althouse