Hydrovac Rebuild Info

[steve1973]

I've been getting some emails on this so here is the info I have when I had mine rebuilt.

So the place I had mine done is:

Power Brake Exchang, Inc.
260 Phelan Ave.
San Jose, CA 95112-6109
phone (408) 292-1305
fax (408) 294-6817

To have your hydrovac rebuilt you will need to send them yours along with a hydrovac rebuild kit from Gary Hebding, Rod Shaver or from someone else. They do not carry these. They will inspect your hydrovac for rebuildability the open the kit and rehydrate the parts and check to see if those are usable. If everything checks out then they will rebuild the unit and bench test it to make sure everything works before shipping it out to you. Last I talked to them they may have some usable cores laying around off commercial vehicles of the day if yours is bad or they can set you up with a more modern unit. I think they charged me $5-600 to have mine done 3 years ago. Hope this helps you out.

Steve A.

[Thundercat97]

A place I have used over the years for my hydrovacs (in the different MVs I have) is White Post Restorations.  There address and contact info is the following:

White Post Restorations
One Old Car Drive
White Post, VA 22663
(540) 837-1140

[SDEREN]

I thought I would update this thread with my recent disappointments :

White Post can not rebuild an original unit. Apparently there is a seal that is just not obtainable. He said he sent that seal to somebody in CA to see if they could produce it. No luck. Even a supplier in the UK. No Luck.

I will be going the same route we took for our CCKW, a modern and readily available unit.

Does anybody have any suggestions of ones they used?

SD

[steve1973]

If you buy a rebuild kit and take it in with the hydrovac then you have a good chance of success. That is what I did and it works great. Rebuild kits are still available from suppliers.

Steve A.

[Thundercat97]

White owl couldn't do mine with the rebuild kit since the inside was pitted.  I sent it to Gary and he has a connection that re-sleeved it and it has been working great for over a year.   Most of the time they can be rebuilt so don't just junk them.   

[ida34]

How much was the rebuild kit from Gary?

Chuck

[steve1973]

My guess $100 or more. Try Rod Shaver or David Yamulla first. Their prices are better.

[ida34]

I have a rebuilt unit that was never installed. I hope it is just dry but want to take it apart to be sure. Thanks for the info.

Chuck

[steve1973]

You can always take it to a rebuilder and they have a machine that they can hook it up to to bench test it to make sure everything works. The place that did mine did that.

Steve A.

[Thundercat97]

I had gotten my rebuild kit locally from a guy for $60 bucks.   Gary had the source to rebuild it and as someone noted here, there are some other sources also.  White Owl was a deadend for me, usually they are not.

[ida34]

This is the early style model so testing should be real easy. I just hope there is not too much rust inside. It may just be a job of lubing it and it would be good. The early one is much simpler then the actual hydrovac on the later models. I appreciate input. I have found some other stuff on the track that is taking my attention. I think the booster may get relegated until later.

Chuck

[col.halftrack]

 Does anyone know the name of who will rebuild/re-sleeve these units. Apparently Gary has a go to guy but anyone else have someone or know who Gary uses?

[yd328]

I have tried White Post and Karps. White post just took the nut off the end and said no, Karps tried to hone the cylinder and thought it may be ok for slow/parade use. I don't like that so I am still hunting for someone to resleeve. The problem seems to be the threads in the front and lock ring grooves in the rear of the cylinder. I have 2 to rebuild, one is apart on my bench now.

Gary

[SDEREN]

We sent ours to White Post. He had it for some time trying to get the "ONE" seal that apparently is impossible to get and or make. He said he sent that seal all over to different sources of his to see if anyone could come up with a workable option....No Luck. He put it back together and sent it back to me.

A funny thing I came across on another thread here about Hydrovacs. Steve posted that the CCKW guys are using more modern and readily available equivalents in their trucks.

Among those links posted was this one:

http://www.cckw.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3802

....which is actually ME when my dad and I were going through our CCKW!!!  Funny how it has come back full circle to Me!!

I'll keep y'all posted on what we come up with. The one we put in our truk work well. But it does seam to all of a sudden kick in! But she'll Stop!!

Sean

[steve-0]

....which is actually ME when my dad and I were going through our CCKW!!! 

  small world

i think the best option may be to have the hydrovac chrome plated.
this is done often with hydraulic cylinders. it doesn't cost that much and is much better than a sleeve.