I removed the abs unit this winter and the brakes on the car suck. The year before the abs didnt work because of the 9" but the brakes still worked awsome. Now I cant even get the brakes to lock up I push the pedel about half way and it feels like I hit a wall. No matter how hard I push it budges no more. Anyone have these problems after removal? The only thing that scares me if I ever have to stop fast im screwed. I would like to do something about this before pulling the car out of storage next year.

The way everything is setup. 2 lines out the master, the one closest to the nose of the car is run to a "T" then to each front calipar. The other out the master goes through a propotioning valve.

 

Get you a set of LS1 brakes front, and back. I have used this setup for a year now without ABS and brakes work fine.

 

My suggestion is that the system isn't isn't fully bled which is why you feel like the pedal is hitting a stop, or you have the wrong proportioning valve.


good luck, your gonna need those brakes
-brent

 

Question for you, do you still have the brake booster? If not how do the brakes feel compared to stock, does it feel like you have the stand on the brake pedal to stop normal, or is it pretty easy still?

 

My brakes feel better now then when I had ABS. My car doesn't see that much street duty though. Don't know how they would react if I had to slam on the brakes.

 

Do you have the booster still, I didnt mean without ABS that shouldnt really matter, but Im considering removing the booster but dont want to if its gonna make stopping a pain in the ****.

 

In the stock setup, the line from the rear of the master cylinder goes to the front brakes, and the one "closest to the nose of the car" is used for the rear brakes. Could that possibly be the issue?

 

Are you talking about the ABS motor?

ABS MOTOR

 

No, im talking about the booster, its the big black round thing that bolts to the firewall behind the master cylinder. It has the vacuum hose coming out of it to the intake manifold. It uses manifold pressure to "BOOST" the brakes. Its what makes the air releasing noise when you keep hitting the brakes when the car is off.

 

I would think that crossing those lines up would definately be a problem! I would imagine that the factory did not send equal amounts of pressure from front to rear, so reversing those lines would make the brakes work pretty funky.

 

No I am still running the booster pump. I was running a comp cam xe 230/236 110 lsa cam with no vacuum issues either.

 

Yes I have them backward, but im not convinced this would cause my problem. From what I understand is the master distributes equal pressure out of both exits then the ABS box was the "proportioning valve" for say. Im I wrong?

 

There "was" a proportioning setup (I think it might be better described as a pressure distribution block) in the block on the side of the ABS unit that both lines screwed into. That block also contained the differential pressure switch that identified failure of front or rear braking circuits.

I'm just thinking that it may be an issue not of the pressure developed by the master cylinder relative to the front and rear circuits, but the "volume" of fluid that each part of the master is designed to move. The front brakes have larger pistons than the rear brakes.

I'm just guessing on this and suggesting something you might want to consider. I am not "positive" that is it the issue... just trying to help.

I've seen an "ABS delete" setup that was done on a 4th Gen F-Body by an ex-Formula 1 mechanic, and he incorporated the stock style pressure distribution block, although the one he chose was from an Impala SS. He then installed an adjustable proportioning valve in the rear circuit. This "ABS delete" setup was used in a 30th SS convert, and it had no problem pulling the 3,900# car down from 155MPH trap speeds, with fairly skimpy Mark Williaims front brakes.

 

Maybe I will try swapping the lines and re- bleeding the system hoping for a better outcome.

 

if you decide to put your abs back on there is a post about how to make working ABS for a ford rear end in the drivetrain forum.