I have considered this carefully. There is a reason todays vehicles have dual systems. I have personally experienced failure of one side of such a system (a hose that showed no visible signs prior to failure) and was happy to have the split system. My '59 Anglia has a single system, and I will keep it as such for authenticity in the restoration, but then, it has a 36hp flathead four and a three speed and only weighs 1664#s. How many deuces is that?
The deuce brake system is typical of the era and not hard to understand. The airpack is a bit more complex, but its just a booster, similar to a vauum or hyroboost in effect.
I value all the comments made regarding inspections, maintenance and proper technique and second them strongly, especially on something as old and as big as a deuce. This is why I have all new hoses, WCs with new shoes and hard lines were applicable. After rebuilding the airpack and ordering a new MC, I'm reasonably pleased that the health of the stock single system on my M36 will be up to snuff.
However, Mudguppy is spot on on the redundancy factor. I'm a mining engineer; we have systems on top of systems on top of systems underground.
The comments from Stumps about MC failure point back to my concept of using two stock deuce MCs. The only common point of failure at that point is the mechnical brake pedal/actuation. 'Course, the fact that there a brand new MC sittin on the work bench is driving that motivation a bit too. Guess I could sell the extra MC and buy the dual.
I still think the dual MC is more convenient with less fabrication. Would love to have the Bendix Number is anyone finds it. I was on the Raybestos site looking at the Ford F800 MCs and some chevys. Matching pressure calcs/capacity at the MC and WCs through the system should ensure original design integrity.
MC piston stroke is the one question I am considering. Ignoring differnces in line lengths, etc for a moment. if you use the same MC to activate 4 WCs instead of 6 (focusing on the rear axles), you only need 2/3 the fluid volume to fully brake. Worse only 1/3 for the front. Would the stock MC be too big for service in a split system X 2? I've got a brake/hydraulics ref in the shop I'll need to dig up and dust off the cobwebs, but off the top of my head, I think this is an issue. Would you lose pedal travel before full lock up with two deuce MCs supplying the same spec WCs or does the valving in the two airpacs accomodate that? I'll have to study some more. You could alter the pedal mechanical ratio however to accomdate. Some calcs are in order I think...