New member here. Great site by the way....... Also I will test again this brake booster this weekend.  A few days ago I rented the vacuum tool thingy from Autozone and tried to pull a vacuum on the old, looks original, brake booster.  I did this first test with the brake master cylinder removed / unbolted from the booster on my work bench and got zero vacuum, needle did not move on the pump gun.  Question........Did I do the test right or does the master cylinder need to be bolted on the booster to seal that hole with push rod etc up airtight?  And if my brake booster is truly bad what are the options? Take it apart and try to fix if doable?  Repair kit if I can find one?  Or just buy one that fits?  I had the car for about a year and I just figured it was bad.  Have not driven the car yet lots of work still to get it back roadworthy.  Could be may need to wait til I drive it someday see how brakes feel.  If it ain't broke then don't fix it...said the wise man, right?.......... Thanks guys in advance.

Walter:

Welcome to our 'self-help' group.  Longtime member, Blue (now goes by '240260280', IIRC) has previously written a detailed article with dozens of photos, that explains the teardown and rebuild of the MasterVac unit.  Use the search function to find it.

Thanks Namerow. Most def I will follow ur advice and go read his post. Tanks man

If you choose to go the remanufactured route there are a few companies that have them in stock. The good thing is most take the core as an exchange. ZCAR Depot advertises (2) but there is a $100 price difference.

Edited October 31, 20177 yr by esmit208
Additional

I got mine (in 2015) from my local NAPA outlet.  6" canister, measured with my vernier caliper.  Might have just got lucky, but don't overlook the obvious.

When I bought mine it had been sitting so long after I got it running good the brakes went bad one part at a time. 

I put new calipers and vented rotors, ceramic pads then the booster took a dump.  About a year later the master cylinder started leaking.  Now I have all new parts and it stops good with no squealing. 

Advance has a reman 6" for $100, go to retailmenot.com and get a 30% coupon code, knocks it down to around $70.  It's unfinished so you'll have to paint it and send the old one back for the core charge.

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web/OrderDisplayPendingView?catalogId=10051&langId=-1&orderId=85876787&storeId=10151&krypto=3eNNGJCm7UNRQTpdk1uIzG9TdSGFjYMy3fZFeRjRwvrlS18yvNJdwImfh20F6UkIDdmuTUePcwIOzIZWk%2Fn2huKpAbUrG5cf5ZS2GJR9mRS%2Bu8qPYxxONY1p5lyGw2exaBFopnjZzfSLonCAZ0%2F6ivS%2FhrWSo7T8%2B6dA5PxQyuk6i4mNHkjAzmRoGhwAgO55AFDTMysYFoEnPwNAybrrAg%3D%3D

If you buy a remanufactured unit, inspect it carefully before you leave the store.  At least one member here (Grannyknot) reported that his remanufactured MasterVac showed damage to some of the 'teeth' on the lip of the housing (probably from poor handling during disassembly at the rebuild shop), to the point where he had concerns about its vacuum integrity.  I think one of the threaded studs was marginal, too.

Here's a link to the thread where we were discussing such matters.

My photo links are dead because Photobucket SUCKS!!! but there are some other pics in there that still work:
http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/56185-how-do-i-hate-rebuilt-components-brake-booster/

 

I recently had my 260z booster rebuilt from Power Brakes Exchange in San Jose, there were markings on the enclosure tabs, but it needs to be done to get to the internals, they also bead blasted it as well.

I was looking at auto zone, and noticed that they also sell remanufactured units through there. 

So far its great, I can stop the car again  funny that my brakes booster failed on me when I had to stop to avoid a truck that entered my lane....

I do wish I had the sticker on it however. :\ 

Im not sure that " if its not broken don't fix it" applies here, although I do follow the saying a lot. Mine failed at me in a shitty moment, at this point the internals are. 40+ years old, and really should be refurbished. esp considering the impact that it can have on drivability. Mine lasted 6-7 months? before failing.. 

I got one from autozone for about $100.  Advance is out of stock (it shows them, but you can't put it in your basket).  The core was $20 I think, but I kept mine since I'm weird like that.  I think my problem was that the plunger thing fell inside the booster, but I just went with a reman one since a 42 year old booster could prob. use it.

Cool thanks for the heads up. I'm gonna give my old booster a chance when I drive it someday. If I get a reman I will keep my old booster,  just like you did. I can't let go of some of that OEM stuff right now either.