manual brakes

[getnpsi]

wow that wilwood one is perdy. I have used wilwood stuff on other cars. Only issue there is maybe having to get two wilwood rods to make it work because the chances of it using a fox body part i actually have here is remote (I've owned close to 10 foxes since 1994)

If your brake system as a whole is healthy stop and go traffic will make your passenger get mad at you for braking too hard, and would make everything at speed even more predictable, which i personally want with a festiva. I want it to behave the same engine on or off--like a go kart--for gas nerd hypermiling OR intense mountain driving. A bonus of doing this is you will bleed your system again when you are done so even if you thought it was fine it may work out inherent air that you wouldn't notice with power assist.

[getnpsi]

Wait a minute. There is a booster in that pic with a vac line hooked to it. Am I missing something?

Its just a slight tangent of if you have it apart might as well upgrade...like instead of the $50 escort cylider lets blow 4x as much LOL

[sketchman]

So you're saying manual is actually easier on the foot, while giving more feedback?

[getnpsi]

No, power brakes will always be easier on the foot, but on a festiva it wont be something youd complain about vs classic american iron examples that didn't have a power option installed. I had to stand on the pedal of my 1967 fairlane and it was the first year of front and rear divided master cylider and it still was pretty bad compared to hopping in any vehicle old or new with power assist. I have a minimilist car I dont want to load it up with every option and then need a b6 to get it to run with a stripped 1.3!

I started this thread when i still had a carb festiva too. I now have two EFI's, the only reason id do it would be for weight reduction and the cleaner underhood visual appeal. A carb with a nasty cam would benefit of next to zero vacuum connections to hassle with. Actually turbo applications experience vacuum/boost line issues too from time to time and they should consider manual brakes as well, and you can get at fuel lines easier with another piece out of your way on that side of the engine.

[sketchman]

OK, I got it. There was a guy on the Neon forum that had adapter plates available to delete the booster with a stock MC, and he described it as easier than an unpowered vac assist setup IIRC, but that's really as specific as he got. That's in a 2300lb car with 185/65/14s as standard too, but the pad design the Neon uses gives buttloads more area to work with as well. Probably 2.5-3x as much as the Festiva/Aspire design as a guess.

I guess I'll just have to try it and see what's what.

[getnpsi]

I have 2gn neon too, there is nothing easy about underhood working on that car. Its all muscle memory and remembering just where to bend your arm around obstacles, and what extention socket u-joint frankenstein you used last time. I do notice the guys who upgraded brakes were doing it because they were after the suspension/drivetrain mods and the brakes came along for the ride if you will.

[Christ]

It's always easier to run without a booster than to run with an unpowered booster. Remember, there's a heavy spring and a huge diaphragm in there, and if it's not under vacuum, you're now pressurizing the area in front of the diaphragm. You can make it easier by drilling several holes in the booster or poking the crap out of the diaphragm, but that's not ideal by any means, unless [maybe] if you cut a decorative design into the booster housing or gutted it and put it back together.