Was your friend talking about synthetic fluid or silicon fluid? Most DOT fluids are synthetic, unless it's incredibly old. If the fluid is that old, you should flush it regardless and you can mix synthetic with conventional. What you can't do is mix silicon fluid with synthetic or conventional brake fluid. Silicon fluids are labeled as DOT 5.
You can mix DOT 3, 4 and 5.1 as you wish.
If the fluid you have in the car now is so old and unused that it's caused a wheel cylinder to fail, suspect that there is corrosion elsewhere in the system as well, particularly the brake hard lines. A complete inspection of the brake system is probably warranted.
In regards to the steering gear, I believe that you should be able to get a slightly more modern gear in there without too much fuss. I'm fairly certain the mounting provisions are the same for a car in 61 vs 71 for instance. What you may need is to use a different rag joint to mate it to your column. A Borgeson box should have a 12.7:1 ratio and provide much quicker steering. I am not 100% positive on this though, so you may want to consult elsewhere.
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-Jason
1969 Pontiac Firebird
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