We spent the weekend in two places basically. The first was parked in front of our computer monitoring the live video feed from the 2010 Street Car Super Nationals in Las Vegas that we broadcast and the other was under Goliath wrenching on the Hydrovac brake system. This was a brake setup developed in the 1940s for use on large trucks. While our specific equipment (mainly the booster and slave cylinder) may be different, the principle and physical workings of the system are very much the same.
Pulling vacuum directly from the intake manifold, using both a standard single pot master cylinder and a remote mounted booster/slave cylinder along with a remote mounted vacuum tank, it is all new to us. We made lots of positive progress in rebuilding the Hydrovac unit and actually getting some semblance of brakes back in the truck, but another round of bleeding is due for next weekend.
Hit the video below to learn about an odd, complex, and Rube Golberg inspired braking system that lived for decades on all manner of medium and heavy duty trucks across the country…Goliath included!
