electric power brakes

[Lloyd]

Has anyone heard anything about abs power brakes having an electric powered booster.

This would solve a multitude of problems with its compact size and non-reliance on engine vaccuum. its suppose to generate 2500 lb of pressure

ABS Power Brake, Inc.


it comes in several flavors the one i'm looking at has a remote reservoir so you don't need direct access to the master cylinder
LLoyd

 

[Jon Metrick]

thats news to me and im pretty fresh out of school and never heard anything about an electronic brake booster so it must be a new trend. ive heard of electronic integrated calipers but nothing for boosters. interesting though, but the question is... why?

 

[René]

looks interesting in some cases...
say doing a engine conversion in a BMW E30 and make it a V8 you almost have no room for the big iron booster, and so the then mount that thing far in front of the car...
with this system no need to do that, and weight saving to.
Page 1 tells a bit more, although i do not understand it all it looks nice

here some more

http://abspowerbrake.com/ehpm.html

 

[Bill Musarra]

If this works for brakes, then why couldn't it be adapted to the clutch and take the 50# pedal out of the equation???? I guess it comes down to the size and travel of the Master cylinder. Wonder if shortening the lever arm would make it possible?? Hhmmmm...

Bill

 

[Phil]

Gents:
Some of Fords trucks with diesels I have seen are using a booster powered from the power steering pump. Also, GM had a booster in the early 90's used in some of the turbo cars like the Grand National, and I have a friend who has a Syclone that has it ....no vacuum on these engines most of the time. Both of these systems have some reserve via an accumulator.
I would think the idea is a good one, but not seeing the quality of the pump and other components it would be a stretch to buy something that is probably expensive, and depending on popularity may become obsolete and hard to get parts for.
Probably better to run a remote servo/booster in a place where it will fit.
Just my 2c
Cheers
Phil

 

[Mark]

Fo a GT40 application, I am with Jon on this.

Why?

 

[Lloyd]

space is the main concern. to put a large diameter booster on the floor would raise it up too high. pedal box is very tight. only area would be the area under the front snout. this would require custom brackets and one long push rod. vacuum is a concern.

i've seen the setup in an elenore clone. nice unit. the one i saw had the reservoir on top
all billet aluminum.

this is expensive its $1100.00 for the master cylinder and electric booster pump.

LLoyd

 

[Ian Anderson]

There are other possibilities

Remote mounted single or dual boosters.
Here is a neat dual circuit remote booster and also a single remote servo booster

Servos - Classic &AMP Vintage Car Parts from SVC - The Best Prices

And a lot of the diesel / turbo diesel vans etc have no vacuum from the manifold (especially on a turbo motor) so they have a small electric powered vacuum unit that would drive these units

Ian

 

[Seymour Snerd]

Servos - Classic &AMP Vintage Car Parts from SVC - The Best Prices

The Lockheed type shown is a common replacement for failed Girling remote boosters in old Lamborghinis and Europas, and works quite well, although old Lamborghinis don't generate much vacuum so sometimes you end up putting in an electric vacuum pump as well. That combination is certainly cheaper than the pure-electric version this thread starts with, but is also relatively quite bulky since you need two of the Lockheed boosters per car.

I have purchased the Lockheed booster in the past from Dave Bean Engineering, Inc. The Official Vintage Lotus Car Parts Distributor in California and recall the price being in the same range as is shown at Ian's link above.

Regarding Bill's question about a power-assisted clutch, it would certainly be an interesting experiment to try the Lockheed booster in that application. As Bill says I think the main concern is whether the booster can supply the fluid volume needed for a single clutch disengagement. I also suspect you would need an electric vacuum pump since a series of upshifts under full throttle might not keep the vacuum reservoir "full". But if it didn't work out of the box, reducing the mechanical advantage as he suggests would be the next thing to try. If I remember correctly the boost ratio of those servos is in the 2.5 to 3 range so you probably have up to about 1/2 of the advantage to give away before you're working at cross-purposes.

As to the (perhaps rhetorical) question of "why" I'm tempted to say "to reduce required brake pedal force" but somehow doubt that is a satisfactory answer. OK, how about "some people like less brake force" or "Colin Chapman put two brake boosters in his 1,600 lb Europas, which have disc brakes only in the front, so possibly it's needed depending on the coefficient of friction of your particular brake pads."

 

[Mike Drew]

If this works for brakes, then why couldn't it be adapted to the clutch and take the 50# pedal out of the equation????

I have a friend who is handicapped and drives his Pantera with hand controls. He actually removed all the pedals from his car so only he can drive it! :laugh:

He uses a tiny Mitsubishi setup for the power clutch--he can actuate his clutch easily by hand as a result. Something to consider if you're a GT40 owner with a bum left leg...