Q&A

Glad you got stopped! It's scary losing your brake pedal. I am thinking it is probably the soft brake line that connects to the hard line on the rear axle. I couldn't help but notice you're in Las Vegas, so I doubt you have a rust problem (unless the truck is from somewhere else). If you wheel it or hit something in the road I guess it's possible you snagged a hard line but I'm betting on the flexible hose in the rear. You'll want to crawl under there with a flashlight and see if you can find a source. May be a proportioning valve but I'd put small odds on that

As far as performance goes, I'm not sure. Usually anything that helps your engine breath better helps with performance (intake/exhaust). My buddy had a V6 Ranger and an MSD ignition really helped but it's hard to say how much gain you'll get on the 4 cylinder. Be mindful of your smog/emissions laws!

Brake lines/hoses will eventually rust away or fail. At least once a year, one should do a complete brake inspection which includes a careful look at all the brake lines and hoses. Was it a hard line or the rubber hose above the differential?
Both should be available at a good parts store. More power from a 2.3 is a little tricky. It is basically a realiable little tractor engine and was not built for speed. There is a turbo on the late 80s T-Bird Super Coupes with the 2.3 liter that really hauls but, but this is a lot of work to replace your engine with that unit. It is a whole different engine with low compression for the Turbo. If you put a turbo on a stock 2.3, it might/will blow holes in the pistons. ( I used to work at Ford Dealerships )