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Galaxie Front Disc Brake Conversion.

70K views 37 replies 10 participants last post by  PSIG 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
With a 427 under the hood, my 1963 Galaxie's stopping power was not as good as the acceleration it was putting out, so I was in the search for a good value for money disc brake kit.
Although most kits would work the same, I settled for the Tom's Classics kit found on eBay. It seemed like a good all round kit at a good price, where everything was supplied, and I wouldn't have to go searching anywhere for parts to complete the conversion.

There are three kits that are on offer.
Complete kit including discs, calipers, master cylinder and booster.
Same kit but master cylinder only and no booster.
Same kit but no master cylinder and no booster.

Below is what you get in the complete kit.



I opted for the kit with master cylinder but no booster. The reason being that the 427 usually wont give enough vacuum for boosted brakes, and secondly I don't think there would have been enough clearance for the valve covers.

First thing to do when the kit arrived, was to compare the new monstrous master cylinder with the factory original.



I then compared the rotors and calipers with a spare set of '71 Galaxie ones I had in the shed. It turns out that the new rotors are in fact dimensionally the same as those for a '71 Galaxie, the only difference being the slots and drilled holes. The new calipers also were similar in a way, where the pistons are close enough each to being around 2 3/4 inches each.



Now to get started on the disassembly of the stock drum brake set up.
You need to remove everything right down to just leaving the stub axles.
If this is out of your reach, then it's time to leave this whole job for your mechanic.



Since this kit, and most others don't come with the rear dust shields, the first thing to do was to see how close my spare '71 Galaxie shields matched up. This shows how easily they will be to adapt.



Next up is to trial fit the caliper bracket and see what needs to be done. The instructions say that some small amount of grinding needs to be done at the lower mounting just behind where the bolt goes through.



While I was at it, I thought I'd see how the original backing plate would fit, to see if that could actually be made into a dust shield. I think it can, with some reworking and some cutting and trimming.



These kits are designed to suit both the small and larger bearing stub axles. My '63 uses the small bearings, so I'm assuming the larger ones are when the chassis was changed from 1965 up.

I then trial fit the small bearings on the stub axle.



Next, I fit larger bearings on my spare '71 stub axles to see the difference. I did this for those who might be reading this who have the larger stubs.



Next is a comparison between the two. There is a considerable difference.



Back to the bracket. I found it easier to do a little chamfering on the bracket first. Then if necessary, you might have to do a little bit of grinding in that same area on the back of the stub. It's not hard, but just needs to be trial fitted a couple of times. Just remove some metal along the length of this straight bit in the below picture.



Once that is done, mount the bracket up, and take some measurements from the bracket to the machined face to make sure it is parallel. Once it is, it is time to bolt it down.



Next up, fit the caliper momentarily, and trial fit the dust shield so you know where it needs to be trimmed. Here it is all trimmed and ready to paint.



One last thing that I wanted to do was to check the clearances inside the wheel which was going to be used. With this kit, and most other kits, you must use 15" wheels with the large center hole of around 70mm.
With the disc and caliper in place, there is roughly about 1/2 inch clearance from the caliper to the inside of the rim.



I also wanted to check the clearance between the dust shield and the caliper. A little trimming was needed.



Since I am satisfied that everything is now ready to be bolted up for good, the fun begins. It is worth taking the extra time to do a little bit of pre-planning, then when it comes time for final assembly, it is easy.
Here is the lot all bolted up and nearly complete. All that needed to be done was to set the bearings correctly, fit the split pin and grease cap.



That just about finishes it down here, so up under the hood to fit the master cylinder.
The instructions tell you how to bench bleed the master cylinder. It's easy enough. I tried it the traditional way where you run a couple of hoses from the two outlets back into the top of the master cylinder, but it didn't work. The master cylinder comes with two steel plugs. Use them and push the piston with a rod or screw driver for a minute or so until the air bubbles stop and the piston can't be depressed much anymore.

The bracket which came with my kit does not need to be used. The master cylinder can bolt direct to the firewall. Then attach the supplied combo valve.

Below is a comparison between the standard and new master cylinders.





All that needs to be done now is to make up a few lines, bend them and flare them. Then bleed the whole brake system and test drive the car.

This one last final picture shows how good this disc brake set up looks on the car.



Overall, this is a very good and simple enough kit to fit.
The only frustrating thing from this whole assembly was fitting those damn grease covers in the end of the hubs. If that was the only annoying thing, then life is good!
 
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#4 ·
I read here only a month or two ago that someone had the disc conversion without the booster, and they said it stopped very well.
I will be doing the small lines this weekend, and will hopefully bleed it and test it in the next few weeks. I'll definitely post up the results here when it's all done. Naturally I'm hoping it'll all be good.

Yes the kit is complete. In my case it had two sets of bearings, an extra bracket for the firewall, and an adjustable push rod which is way over length and can be cut down.
 
#6 ·
Very timely photoshoot for me!

I'd like to know how you plumbed into the original tubes down by the distribution block. Did you hand-bend the original tubes so they would point up or cut and re-flare?

Also, did the MC have a residual valve in one port? Finally, can you tell if that combination valve is the common 70's Chevy one sold all over e-bay like
1971-1977 GM Disc/Drum Combination Proportioning Valve Factory Street Rod | eBay
 

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#7 ·
Yep, the valve appears to be exactly the same, since the master cylinder and calipers are Chevy, then I reckon they must all work together.

As for the tubing, I bought myself a cheap double flare kit, tube bender, and tube cutter. Then went to the local coupling shop, ( they sell all sorts of brass, steel couplings for air , hydraulics etc ) and bought some brake fittings and brake tubing.
I will run the lines from the valve down to where the the original "Y" piece was, and fit proper brake line joiners to connect to the two individual front lines and the single rear line.

I'll post some pictures up on the weekend when I am doing this.
 
#8 ·
Thanks. That seems to me to be the most challenging part of the job, rebending or cutting & flaring and coupling those tubes way down in the bowels of the engine bay. I'm looking forward to your report!
 
#9 ·
Nice job, Dan. What are the original and new MC bore sizes? Are the directions easily readable and understandable for all levels of abilities (not including those that lack enough basic skill)? Good stuff.
:tup:
David
 
#10 ·
Easier than buying and double flairing tubing go to a well stocked NAPA store and they have various lengths of pre flaired tubing. The only thing I had to buy to install was a union to extend my rear line, an adapter to reduce to match a line to the prop valve and a flare fitting cap to plug the extra hole in the factory junction block.
Just be careful routing the rubber hoses, mine looked good on the lift but on the ground withe suspension loaded the drivers side robbed the tire on a sharp left turn.
Mike
 
#11 ·
I measured the piston on the caliper and it's close enough to 2 3/4". According to the info on the side of the box the master cylinder came in, it is 1" bore.
I figure that since they have sold hundreds of these kits which match the master cylinder, calipers and combo valves together, it's all got to work.

The instructions are simple enough, but could have been a little better for the novice mechanics.

The combo valve wont take the brake light switch as on the earlier Galaxies like mine, so I will be plumbing it in to a T piece going to the rear brakes, just away from the valve itself.
 
#12 ·
Dan, this may sound completely ridiculous, but I can't for the life of me get the master cylinder cap off! I'm just dummy assembling things on the bench and figured I'd have a go while I was there. I've pulled and pushed on the metal tangs but the damn things won't budge. I feel like such a novice...! Tips?
 
#17 ·
Thanks Mike. I am looking forward to making up some lines and then doing a test drive.
If I find that I need to add a booster, I think I might mount one under the dash right behind the engine.
 
#18 ·
Although this thread is about the fitting of the disc brake kit itself, I'll continue now with the fitment of the brake lines.

I bought a brake line double flaring kit, tube bending tool, and a tube cutter.

I also bought a bunch of fittings, as well as about 3 metres of 3/16" tube. They also gave me a small piece of 1/4" tube. There is one T piece for the brake switch, as well as 3 joiners and various fittings to join the whole lot together.



Here is the brake switch fitted to the rear line. The 1/4" tube is needed to be used from the rear line out of the combo valve, to the T piece. Then I used 3/16" line from the T piece onwards. The reason for the 1/4" is because the combo valve is sized that way.



Next up was to bend and flare the lines to join up to the existing lines on the car. I did some slight bending to the existing ends of the lines, fitted the joiners, and then fitted my made up lines to them.

This next picture is taken from above with the steering box on the right.



And another picture, but this time taken from below. Care must be taken to make sure there is clearance to the exhaust headers in my case.



Overall, I'm pretty happy with the lines. It took a bit of practice to get the flares right, but it all worked out in the end.
I'm glad I did it myself, as it involved a lot of crawling under the car, then back under the hood, then down to the shed etc. I figure it would have cost quite a bit of money if I paid someone to do what took me about 3 hours to get right. And I still have the tools for another day.
 
#19 ·
I have a question for the gurus.
Is it OK that I am running my brake light switch from the rear line? Or should it be one of the front lines?
 
#24 ·
when I bought the kit off eBay and I believe I saw them selling larger boosters and I inquired about getting the larger booster expecting to pay more but they just upgraded it for me at the same price. This was over 2 years ago.
I don't know if the smaller booster would be sufficient I just felt with the size of the Galaxie bigger would be better.
Mike
 
#26 ·
Well after 6 months of trying to get the brakes to work, I have discovered a major flaw in this kit. It appears that the calipers might be Chinese sourced, and they are flexing under pressure, so therefore not giving good braking.

PLEASE CONSIDER THIS BEFORE BUYING THIS DISC BRAKE CONVERSION KIT.
 
#29 ·
Dan is switching to a newer ford spindle with bracket and ford calipers.
I will change mine to cardone rebuilt oem Chevy k10 calipers this weekend if I have time...
I'll let you know how it works out...:)
 
#30 ·
Tomsclassic sent me this info about the kit some months ago

It uses 78 k10 calipers/pads and 71 ltd rotors

So cardone rebuilt oem Chevy k10 calipers should work I assume,

But its never 100% sure before it has been tested, so its great to get it confirmed Lars




 
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