49 Cadillac Electronic Brake Conversion

[49 Caddy]

  Anyone out there familiar with an electronic power brake conversion?  Bought this set-up from a Cadillac parts vendor and it does not come with directions, other than how to bleed the system once installed.  Supposed to fit my car, but it seems to be too long for where it is supposed to mount on the frame.  Have tried Cadillac forums with no results.  Any info would greatly be appreciated.

[joe_padavano]

7 minutes ago, 49 Caddy said:

  Anyone out there familiar with an electronic power brake conversion?  Bought this set-up from a Cadillac parts vendor and it does not come with directions, other than how to bleed the system once installed.  Supposed to fit my car, but it seems to be too long for where it is supposed to mount on the frame.  Have tried Cadillac forums with no results.  Any info would greatly be appreciated.

 

What are you calling an "electronic power brake"? Is this a motor-driven pump that pressurizes a hydraulic power booster? How about a link to the vendor.

[49 Caddy]

You can GOOGLE Caddy Daddy electronic brake conversion & it will come up.  Sorry, I don't know how to post a link yet.  Supposed to generate approx. 6000 psi of pressure.  I need the power brakes on the car as my wife is into the car hobby and drives with hand controls.  Still have to figure out how to do power steering after that.  Hand control issues are taken care of already.  I know it's a boat, but she likes it.

[m-mman]

The Link https://www.caddydaddy.com/1957-1958-cadillac-electronic-high-power-brake-conversion-booster-master-cylinder-reproduction-free-shipping-in-the-usa.html 

 

Sadly too many aftermarket providers provide too little information about their products.

Proper installation should not be an afterthought, it is the most important thing. 

 

A problem that I see is that this kit is identified ad being for a 1957-58 not a 49.

Edited March 28, 2022 by m-mman (see edit history)

[joe_padavano]

OK, this is the aftermarket version of the Powermaster that GM offered in the 1980s. That vendor thinks pretty highly of it, apparently.

 

What part is "too long", the master cylinder or the pump? Note that the pump can go anywhere, it just needs to be lower than the M/C to ensure it gets brake fluid fed to it. FYI, the other vendor sites show that this system provides 2,000 PSI. I don't know where your 6,000 PSI number comes from.

 

Post photos of the problem. This is a generic aftermarket kit, so while they may claim that it fits your car, it also fits hundreds of other cars. All of them require fabrication. This is an aftermarket street rod item and the assumption is that the installer has some fabrication skills.

 

FYI, you post links by simply using COPY/PASTE. Copy the link and past it here in your response.

 

This is the company that actually makes them:

 

http://www.abspowerbrake.com/ehpm.html

 

 

 

These articles might help with the install:

 

https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/1007sr-abs-electric-power-brake-system/

 

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Compact-Electric-Brake-Power-Booster-Master-Cylinder-Disc-Disc,8335.html

 

I assume this is the bleeding instructions that you already have.

 

https://static.speedwaymotors.com/images/charts/highpowermaster.gif

 

 

Edited March 28, 2022 by joe_padavano (see edit history)

[joe_padavano]

By the way, the black plastic accumulator ball is the item that caused so many problems with the GM factory installations in the 1980s.

 

This is what the GM factory systems looked like.

 

Edited March 28, 2022 by joe_padavano (see edit history)

[joe_padavano]

I'll add one more note. If you google "abs power brake" (with the quotes), you'll find that most of the comments about that company on various automotive forums bemoan the lack of instructions and poor fitment of parts.

[49 Caddy]

  Thanks for the responses.  I will post photos of the pieces that are not fitting.  I was just out in the shop pulling the brake pedal so I have a clean runway to start.  Not too happy about a company (Caddy Daddy) claiming to have a kit to fit a 49 Cadillac when in fact it fits anything.  Could have just went to a Speed Shop & bought one for half the price.

[Barney Eaton]

The accumulator is a power storage unit.   very similar to the tank used on rural wells.  There is a heavy rubber 

divider between a nitrogen pre-charge and the pressurized brake fluid.  The accumulator stores power so the pump does not

run continuously.   Like many automotive components there can be a few bad one.   There are  test that can be run to 

evaluate its condition if the owner takes the time to do that. 

As technical advisor for Buick Reattas which came standard with a state of the art system in 1988, we field these questions

with regularity. 

[JACK M]

A suggestion, if you are going to add power steering any way you could can tap into that and use a hydroboost system for your brakes.

I put one of these hydroboost systems in one of my hot rods recently and it solved a long time brake frustration with no noticeable effect to my power steering.

I bought this kit from Classic Performance Products.

[joe_padavano]

5 minutes ago, JACK M said:

A suggestion, if you are going to add power steering any way you could can tap into that and use a hydroboost system for your brakes.

I put one of these hydroboost systems in one of my hot rods recently and it solved a long time brake frustration with no noticeable effect to my power steering.

I bought this kit from Classic Performance Products.

Good point, however we still don't know what part of the system is "too long" for the OP's car. I'm guessing it's the master cylinder, which mounts under the floor on a 49 Cad and is thus dimensionally constrained. Using a hydroboost will compound that problem since the unlike the electric booster, the hydroboost mounts between the pedal assembly and the master cylinder, making it even longer and less likely to fit. 

 

 

 

[49 Caddy]

  You guys seem pretty knowledgeable about this model year Caddy.  It is the frame mount master they sent me that is not giving me any wiggle room.  Any chance you've got any recommendations on how to modify the 54 power steering column & pump I have?  This brake set-up might make it impossible for me to do that now.  That gear assembly is larger than standard steering gearbox. 

[joe_padavano]

58 minutes ago, 49 Caddy said:

  You guys seem pretty knowledgeable about this model year Caddy.  It is the frame mount master they sent me that is not giving me any wiggle room.  Any chance you've got any recommendations on how to modify the 54 power steering column & pump I have?  This brake set-up might make it impossible for me to do that now.  That gear assembly is larger than standard steering gearbox. 

If you can live with a single circuit brake system, you can use a Bendix HydroVac system as used on the later-1950s Cadillacs. This is a vacuum-boosted master cylinder that used the original M/C only to pressurize the cylinder on the booster. The original M/C and brake pedal remain unmodified and the hydrovac can be mounted anywhere convenient. All it needs are brake lines to and from the secondary M/C and a vacuum line to the booster.

 

 

Edited March 29, 2022 by joe_padavano (see edit history)