I have been thinking about it and I also don't see any way to get around the return spring. I guess this is a drawback to having an under-floor mount brake booster. I don't recall ever seeing one that would drop by itself when the engine starts. I can't really adjust the full travel until I get the carpet in the truck, I surely don't want the pedal to bottom out on the carpet before the brakes are applied.
this old truck has been one obstacle over another since the beginning, but it has been built the old school way, back when street rods were built with what was available instead of what can be bought and I am extremely proud of the way it has turned out so far. I need to upload some pictures, I think there are those here that would really appreciate it almost as much as I do. There has been no short-cuts in quality, but has been built with a lot of trips to salvage yards and integrating everything to make it look as factory installed as possible. It has taken many hours of head-scratching, cutting and welding.
My next obstacle is going to be installing the A/C condenser. The thought has come up to use a remote condenser instead of one in front of the radiator. There is room for a condenser but have been having trouble finding a vertical condenser that will fit the bill. Then there is a concern on my behalf of the radiator not cooling the LT1 383 Stroker. The radiator is a cross-flow that my friend had modified and changed tanks on over 20 years ago that now flows vertical instead of cross-flow and he wants to use it because it is already installed and fits. An alternative was a trip to the salvage yard to get a condenser and fan from a late model car that would fit under the bed. I should clarify that a bit. The main reason I really don't want to buy any particular condenser to go in front of the radiator is because, in-case of the radiator not cooling properly, I don't want to have spent a lot of money for a condenser that may not fit a new radiator. If you don't have a great deal of money invested it makes changing/replacing a lot easier to live with.
When we first started disassembling all he had done over the years and changing it he was insistent for it to be built the old school way rather than buying everything. We even bought several factory exhaust systems from 96-97 Cadillac Eldorado's (that are still rust free, I might add) cut and welding them to make the dual exhaust system. It sounds really good and total material cost from headers back is about $63, not including the tips. We cut the original LT1 serpentine belt system down, narrowed it and got it to stuff in between the 38 Chevy truck fender wells, AND, it looks factory and extremely clean. For $130 we purchased a complete rear frame portion from a 98 Chevy S-15 Blazer with a disc brake 373 posi rear end and integrated it into the stock 38 Chevy frame complete with the sway bar and springs and it looks like it is factory. I gotta download some pictures.