My apologies Dr Terry, I know the post below was in 2009 and much has changed since then and our memories fading as well but I thought I would paste it below as a reference an adjunct to this thread.
Sorry I forgot to add this is from the GMH-Torana forum
Posted 23 March 2009 - 07:21 PM
Hi Guys.
This lot is stretching my memory a fair bit, but anyway here's what comes to mind. This info only applies to the 'big' Holdens & most Toranas & not the 4-cyl HB/LC/LJ/TA series or Geminis. Stuff for those cars was sourced from Lockheed, Girling & later Girlock.
AFAIK, all brake & clutch master cylinders as well as drum brake wheel cylinders, from the 48 (FX) up to the late 70s were made in-house by GM-H. The only exception I can think of would be the small number of 'no-nut' early HK units imported from the USA (the Delco-Moraine div. of GM). The first non-GM-H master cylinder to be seen regularly in production, was the PBR alloy type with the large plastic reservoir & which also incorporated the proportioning valve. These units were first seen (on Holdens) on the A9X, then the Commodore & the later (1979) UC Toranas & then finally the WB.
The current company known as ABS, formed in 1981 was a different entity to that which produced aftermarket brake parts in the 50s?, 60s & 70s. The most common-place old ABS item seen these days is the replacement plastic reservoir, with the black plastic lid, seen on FE-HR master cylinders. They also made replacement brake drums for pre-HK Holdens.
That no-nut cast iron cylinder shown in an earlier post is not a GM item. I'm not sure what brand it is, because even ABS had their logo cast into their cylinders.
Someone mentioned 'special' brake master cylinders used on Broughams, Statesmans or cars with factory a/cond. They did make a different version in early HK, to suit the old relay lever type booster. Early on, they attempted to get extra clearance for the Frigidaire compressor, on 307 V8s, by using a banjo & bolt fitting at the front port instead of a normal brake pipe & flare nut. This still caused dramas, so they made a batch of cylinders with the front port left un-drilled & the pipe exiting thru the centre of the big nut. I've occasionally seen these at swap meets, leaving plenty of guys scratching their heads. You should've heard some of the 'expert' theories.
Holden didn't make any disc calipers, they were all made by either Girling, PBR or Girlock.
I'm not sure about if it was 'all' hoses, but PBR certainly did supply a lot a brake hoses to GM-H for production. I'm not sure if any other companies supplied any brake parts for Holden but I can't think of any that would've been big enough to supply GM-H's huge demand in those days.
Dr Terry.
Edited by user Monday, 12 February 2024 8:32:31 PM(UTC)
| Reason: Not specified
