Some time ago, I recall one of our members mentioned that modern CV joint boots could be made into an acceptable relacement for the now extinct equivelent on the vacuum booster. Unfortunately I don't recall where I saw that written or who I have to thank for that idea. Whoever you are, you are a lateral thinking genious!
'God Bless Ya' to your Mother. With the idea in mind, I bought one of those 'generic' boots that taper at both ends. The ones where you cut off the excess until the ends match the size for your job.
Here's how the original looks. I have never seen a usable original boot, and all the ones I have now resemble the texture and pliability of cheese, hence the need to substitute!
This is the bare front plate of the booster. The new boot will be attached to the three screw holes along the ring which is about 1&1/2" from the centre tube. It willl need to seal tightly around that rim, or it will
not work effectively.
This is showing the metal plate that bolts the boot on. I painted mine green when I was doing other stuff. It won't be seen at all, so you can paint it orange if you want, no-one will know
Here is the CV boot once I had cut off all excess rings from the ends. It will be a perfect fit for my needs. I got it from 'SupaCheap', but I would wager all auto parts stores will have them. Sorry, I didn't keep the plastic bag it was in, and can't quote the exact part. Don't get too interested in the holes you can see, just yet. They look to be in very odd places, until you get another two steps along.
As I said, the holes look to be in strange places, but heres why. The holes furtherest from the end will be where the attaching screws go through. The holes at the end will allow access to the screw for tightening. I did consider NOT punching the access holes, but if you don't, the rubber sits abnormally high when fully assembled and I didn't like the look of it.
You shouldn't punch the holes just yet. The next posting will explain why.
Cont'd...