Still trying to get my 1970 Cougar XR-7 convertible M-Code 351C 4V out of the shop where it’s languished for four years. The latest problem is the power brake booster was a source of vacuum leak. They pulled it and sent it to a shop, where is was rebuilt and sand blasted(?).
Now the shop wants to paint it (it had been a corroded black). This shop knows nothing of restoration, and is fixing to paint it black. I’d like to keep its correct stock finish, but I don’t want any more delay.
I guess the only way to know if ( early ) 1970 production had a '69 booster rod, is to visually determine what you have on your car. Have a look at this WCCC video, and you can see what a 1969 vs. a 1970 brake booster rod looks like:
The 1969 power brake booster was installed on my 1970 Cougar, and when I finally got it out of the shop (after four years), the brakes barely worked. There was no power!
I informed the shop that the Cougar Forum had ID’d this booster as a 1969. So the shop sourced another rebuilt booster from Nevada.
It looks to be a 1970, but it’s got no identification of make. The 1969 booster in my car now is Bendix.
Any ideas what type of booster, probably aftermarket, this is? The shop’s going to try to find out from the Nevada vendor.
The thing is, my brakes worked okay for >10 years prior to bringing it in the shop, but now everything’s freshly rebuilt and it doesn’t. The booster rebuild shop in San Carlos denies any possibility a 1970 was switched out for a 1969.
I wish there was proof of what booster came out. If it was a 1970 Bendix I’ve really been screwed, because now I’m getting a mystery meet booster.
We might be able to tell more about that booster from a picture of the front side. It looks like the remanufactured one my car had on it when I bought it. It worked fine for 10 yrs or so.
