[Chris1750]

Rossano,
I bought mine from Chris Sweetapple at Highwood, England (Alfa Romeo Parts and Spares www.highwoodalfa.com) as I could not get anything similar in Australia. The boosters cost 165 pounds each plus a bit to get them posted to the other side of the Earth They are expensive, but my old car is like one of the family - a bit like paying for your Dads hip replacement
I can see, nor measure, no significant external difference between the current Bonaldi/Bendix boosters in my car and the new Bosch/Benditalia ones I just purchased. As you see from the pictures they are a coppery-gold colour.
In general, I have dealt with Chris a fair bit recently, as I have with Max Banks at Alfaholics, and found them both to be knowledgeable and easy to do business with. Anything I order gets posted promptly and arrives in perfect condition.
Hope this helps,
Chris

 

[1750GT]

Thanks Chris, those pics are very informative. It sure is nice knowing components like these are still being remanufactured for our cars. I never would have expected that Bosch would have an involvement here...but that goes to show you how poorly (or intentionally) they market themselves to the general public in our part of the hemisphere. I spent quite a bit of time on their web site and could not find a link that would point me to these parts or a supplier of these re-manufactured units. Yes I agree, they are identical to the original Bonaldi units but pricey! Right now I'm pursuing the reconditioning option on my Boosters.....but am having difficulty sourcing the plastics bits inside. Seems a shame to have to toss out a usable component (as many apparently are doing) just because a $10 part cannot be sourced doesn't it?

 

[Chris1750]

Glad to be of help - do you think that they might be cheaper if they weren't electroplated with gold
When I remove my old ones I intend to strip one myself and take the other to a good mate of mine (Dave) who runs a local hydraulics shop - he said he was interested in pulling one apart. Dave does a lot of rallying and is constantly having bits and pieces made up in all sorts of base compounds from plastics to metals, so he may be able to help. From what I read, people either have no problems with rebuilding these units (so long as they can source the parts) or describe it as some sort of miserable journey through hell. Surely it can't be all doom and gloom - these are mechanical parts and so long as they were OK to begin (mine have lasted nearly 38 years) and haven't been too badly abused, they should be able to be brought back to original condition. That's the theory at least
I'll keep you posted,
Chris

 

[bjfrantz@charte]

Due to the unavailability of those little plastic pieces sought by Rossano, I bought 2 of the Bosch/Bentitalia boosters from centerline. They are pricey, but a nice replacement. Strangely, although everything else in identical, the mounting studs were 5/16 by 20 SAE. Were these originally ordered by some American car maker, do think? Any one know?

Another related issue. I once put 1750 ATEs under my Giulia 1300 TI, but retained the single circuit MC rather than install the 2 circuit tandem MC. I had rear lock up at the limits of braking. Those thinking of reverting back to a single circuit system should think about why the 1750 MC has different bore sizes for front and rear.

 

[Anfanuts]

The rear brakes activation (pressure/delay) should be governed by the proportioning valve, no? Not the size of the hole in the MC. That may need to have been reset for a different brake set-up. Just a thought. Bruce

 

[Alfajay]

bjfranz@charte had written: "Strangely, although everything else in identical, the mounting studs were 5/16 by 20 SAE. Were these originally ordered by some American car maker, do think? Any one know?

Another related issue. I once put 1750 ATEs under my Giulia 1300 TI, but retained the single circuit MC rather than install the 2 circuit tandem MC. I had rear lock up at the limits of braking. Those thinking of reverting back to a single circuit system should think about why the 1750 MC has different bore sizes for front and rear."

bj:

Yea, the Bosch booster that I got recently (I think mine came via IAP) also used 5/16 studs. Weird. My guess is that since the original Bendatalia boosters went on cars with Girling (or is it Dunlop?) brakes, that they probably also used inch-sized hardware, and Bosch chose to duplicate that thread on their replacement product.

Were you running a pressure limiting valve on the rear circuit? Without one, I would expect your rear brakes to lock up before the fronts. Keep in mind that the hanging pedal Alfas, cars that also use ATE brakes, have a single bore in the MC. Yes, it is a 2 circuit MC, but with the same bore, and thus the same pressure, front and rear.

 

[Chris1750]

The mounting studs on my new Bosch boosters (ordered from UK) are a standard metric thread using 13mm nuts - the same as the original Bonaldi units on the car at present. Go figure
Anyone with Whitworth threads?

Also the bore on my twin circuit brake m/c is the same throughout.

Chris

 

[bjfrantz@charte]

Chris,
I think I'm wrong on the MC bore diameter. It takes rebuild kits for two single circuit cylinders, I assumed they were of different bore size. I had a mechanic with a proper lift do the job, so O never really looked inside. I also thought I had figured out the brake problem on the TI, because no matter what I did with the proportioning valve, I still had rear lock up..I was about to buy a proportioning valve from Pegasus, but sold the car to someone in the NY area and never heard if they got it sorted.

Has anyone out there tried Brithish sources for the boosters. Minis used an identical unit but with a cast iron cylinder made by Girling, I believe.

Barry

Barry

 

[Chris1750]

Barry,
My boosters came from the UK, but if you mean less expensive non-Bendix substitutes, then I don't know. I fitted my little gold numbers today and surprise, surprise when I went to thread my new 13x8mm nuts onto the studs, they didn't fit. So I took one of the old boosters down to the shop where I'd purchased the nuts to have the thread measured properly and yep, you guessed, it's imperial - 5/16" More nuts and my first non-metric ring spanner (1/2") later and the boosters were fitted. So, I was wrong - sorry about the rush of blood to the head the other day. As they say, measure twice, cut once ..... When I reread my post, I thought it a little odd that Bosch would remake boosters for a limited market with two different threaded mounts. You live & learn - in my case slowly
Chris

 

[1750GT]

Chris,
I think I'm wrong on the MC bore diameter. It takes rebuild kits for two single circuit cylinders, I assumed they were of different bore size. I had a mechanic with a proper lift do the job, so O never really looked inside. I also thought I had figured out the brake problem on the TI, because no matter what I did with the proportioning valve, I still had rear lock up..I was about to buy a proportioning valve from Pegasus, but sold the car to someone in the NY area and never heard if they got it sorted.

Has anyone out there tried Brithish sources for the boosters. Minis used an identical unit but with a cast iron cylinder made by Girling, I believe.

Barry

Barry

Well, I might want to pursue this further....

Mini Spares - Product......and at 133 BP (about $266 each )...cheaper than what I've seen so far and they sure look like Benditalia's or the new Bosch units. Also,

Mini Spares - Product..... I wonder if those rebuild kits includes these hard to find plastic pieces. If so, will they fit the Bonaldi's? I guess a few phone calls will be required in order to find out.

 

[1750GT]

Source for plastic pieces

A while back (last year) I was searching for the little plastic spring seat and seal backings (or guides) for my boosters and came across J&L Spares a UK re-builder of boosters and other brake components for numerous makes of vehicles. I sent out an e-mail inquiry to them (to which I never received a reply) but didn't follow that up with a phone call...and so I completely forgot about them till recently. So, I decided to try again but this time I made a phone call to them first and spoke to gent called Phil (I should have asked for his last name) then sent photos of the booster and of the parts I was looking for. I phoned back the following day and Phil replied saying yes they have spare pieces available that although not identical to the original ones, would work just as well. These are the parts that arrived today..

The filter elements are of new construction, but the plastic pieces are not and have probably been reclaimed from existing boosters. However they are in very good condition and very usable. The red spring seats I actually didn't need at all but was curious as to what Phil had available for these...so I bought them anyways...it turns out that these are identical to the original Bonaldi parts. I now have 4 extras of these red pieces available so if anyone is in need of these....just send me a PM. The seal backings (the white parts) seems to be a better design than the original ones in that they are not as fragile looking and sit further inside the end of the spring, which I think will provide better support to both parts.

So with these parts and the rebuild kits I picked up last year, my remaining task is to get the metal parts re-plated and the housings cleaned up. But I was sure glad to finally get these pieces.

To contact Phil at J&L Spares, go to the link below...

J and L Spares Ltd

 

[bjfrantz@charte]

Congratulations, Rossano, and thanks for sharing your research

Barry

 

[1750GT]

Barry, sometimes it's these little successful finds that sure help make it feel like I'm actually accomplishing something.

 

[maxbg]

where can we get the banjos and bolts without the check valves?

 

[bjfrantz@charte]

Rossano,

A local vintage car mechanic just showed me a rebuilt booster for a British car that looks identical to our Benditalia units. I will ask who did the rebuild, which included stainless sleeves. Could be these guys have a source for the hard-to-find parts.

Barry

 

[1750GT]

Barry,
yes it's always good find pros willing to rebuild these and will be of service to someone in the future I'm sure. In my case I've sourced all the replacement parts and rebuild kits I need for a complete set. I won't be doing the rebuild till after replating the steel parts....so I'll probably get to this sometime in the new year.

 

[105GTV]

A while back (last year) I was searching for the little plastic spring seat and seal backings (or guides) for my boosters and came across J&L Spares a UK re-builder of boosters and other brake components for numerous makes of vehicles. I sent out an e-mail inquiry to them (to which I never received a reply) but didn't follow that up with a phone call...and so I completely forgot about them till recently. So, I decided to try again but this time I made a phone call to them first and spoke to gent called Phil (I should have asked for his last name) then sent photos of the booster and of the parts I was looking for. I phoned back the following day and Phil replied saying yes they have spare pieces available that although not identical to the original ones, would work just as well. These are the parts that arrived today..

View attachment 98687

The filter elements are of new construction, but the plastic pieces are not and have probably been reclaimed from existing boosters. However they are in very good condition and very usable. The red spring seats I actually didn't need at all but was curious as to what Phil had available for these...so I bought them anyways...it turns out that these are identical to the original Bonaldi parts. I now have 4 extras of these red pieces available so if anyone is in need of these....just send me a PM. The seal backings (the white parts) seems to be a better design than the original ones in that they are not as fragile looking and sit further inside the end of the spring, which I think will provide better support to both parts.

So with these parts and the rebuild kits I picked up last year, my remaining task is to get the metal parts re-plated and the housings cleaned up. But I was sure glad to finally get these pieces.

To contact Phil at J&L Spares, go to the link below...

J and L Spares Ltd

Hi Rossano I just pulled my booster air valve apart but I can only find the brown tube thingy (on top of your pic) is this the filter element as it doesn't look like a filter to me? I can't find the white part (on bottom of pic) you mentioned, can you advise what is the use of this part and where exactly it goes?

Thanks for any help in advance

 

[1750GT]

Hi Rossano I just pulled my booster air valve apart but I can only find the brown tube thingy (on top of your pic) is this the filter element as it doesn't look like a filter to me? I can't find the white part (on bottom of pic) you mentioned, can you advise what is the use of this part and where exactly it goes?

Thanks for any help in advance

The brown cylinder is the filter (it's perforated) and allows the penta valve diaphragm to "breathe". The white piece is the spring seat (this in turn pushes up against the main seal) and is found inside the body of the cylinder...refer to item 9 table 60 exploded diagram of post #19.

 

[105GTV]

I know this is kind of an old thread but I thought I would post what I learned this weekend. I have been rebuilding the boosters on my '69 Spider and didn't see any way to remove the air valve piston. While fooling around I found that if you run the booster plunger back and forth in the right sequence the air valve piston will pop out. It's easier to describe with pictures:

View attachment 67964
How the heck do you get this out? And what the heck does it look like?

View attachment 67965
So I inserted the booster plunger and ran it up and down to see that the spring was working and see which port was drawing air.

View attachment 67966
With the piston in the fully compressed position I covered the side port with my thumb and drew the plunger back and...

View attachment 67972
Out popped the piston! Actually this is re-inactment of the actual event. In truth, It shot out about 3 feet - I was lucky it didn't go down the floor drain...

View attachment 67973
ANd this is what it looks like. It has a small rubber seal on the end.

That's it. Hope this helps someone...

Hi gprocket I am trying to get that little air valve out to replace the seal but hardly any luck, just wondering to where if I can apply compressed air to blow it out?

Thanks for any help in advance

 

[105GTV]

thanks rossano and I might need to get hold of Phil you mentioned cheers