I have a 68 coupe with manual drum brakes on all four. I am looking at a cost effecitve way to upgrade to power disc. What car would I be able to pull parts from that would be easiest to fit. I do not mind having to do a little fab but need to know which spindles would be necessary and ball joints.
Find another '68 or a '67 if you don't mind 4 piston Kelsey Hayes. No need to swap spindles. I had the same setup on my '68 and found a '67 that a took everything off off to make a power disc setup. The problem with finding another car to take the stuff off of is that most times the stuff is in pretty bad shape to begin with. Bad rotors, calipers, lines, etc. It's just an age thing and when you are dealing with brakes, anything marginal needs to be thrown in the garbage. Truthfully, the SSBC kits are the best way to go and everything is new and goes on easily and quickly. They are not a lot of money and the time you save not hunting parts down is well worth the aggravation factor. Been there, done that. -Mike
All you need are the spindles off of one of the cars that ckelly listed. Everything else ( calipers, rotors, pads, bearings seals, hoses) can be bought new (or rebuilt) over the counter at Autozone. The core deposits don't cost much on any of it and you will have a brand new system.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: carsnguitars on 12/20/06 4:54am ]</font>
And the parts are way cheaper than original Mustang parts. I've done three swaps, only saved the rotors on one. On the rest, everything except the spindles and backing plates were trashed. That should be considered normal - when you buy the parts, expect that you are paying for a good set of spindles. New spindles are also available.
I don't know if the 4 piston Kelsey Hayes provide more stopping power, but the 4 piston design seems like a better design than the 2. I don't know why Ford went to a 2 piston setup in '68 because today multi-piston setups are commonplace in performance braking applications. I know that my car brakes very well and it would seem that if you are spreading the clamping load over the calipers more evenly and had smaller pistons which would mean higher hydraulic pressure, you would have better stopping ability.
4 piston typically have more apply area than two. Two 10" fans on a radiator cover more area than a single 16". Just depends on the diameter of the pistons.
Anything from 68-73 Stangs, Cougars, 68-71 Fairlanes Torinos, Montegos, Cyclones. After that you get into the Granada,Monarch, Maverick, Comet disc brake systems. Any and all will work. That way the parts can be hard at any parts stors in the country.
I HAD JUST BOUGHT A SET OF AEROSPACE DISC BRAKES FOR THE FRONT OF MY 68 MUSTANG. THE CONVERSION IS SUPER EASY. I HAD GOT A SET OF DISC BRAKES OFF OF A 70 MUSTANG TO PUT ON MY CAR, BUT THEY WERE JUST TOO HEAVY. I WANT TO KEEP MY CAR LIGHT FOR DRAG RACING.
FYI: Until the end of he year, the Discbrakeswap.com kits are $460+shipping through stangnet forums (special price). Even at the regular price of $545, it is a pretty good deal.
I just purchased mine through Dennis, this past week for my 66 =)
Just in case anyone is interested in Dennis's kit at Discbrakeswap.com, I spoke with him today and the $460+S&H special ends tonight at midnight! He is answering his email today because I'm buying my kit now. So email him if you want to order before the special ends.
I just did an SSBC manual upgrade on my 66, and the result is incredible. I layed on these brakes at 60+ MPH, and they stop staight and true. Easy to install, all parts were there. The only issue was the caliper to wheel clearance (style steel wheels) which required some minor machining on the outside edge of the caliper, easily done in the garage. Spend the money and get a good brake system, your life may depend on it.
I'm currently doing the upgrade myself. I got the whole spindle set up of a donor 80 Granada. The rotors are still available at a local parts store and the bolt up is with out modification to body or frame. My study and experience is that older dual caliper systems wear pads out unevenly. I personally went with the Granada for the single piston and the easy to get replacment parts issue. Another thing I did was used a dual reservoir master cylinder from a 78 or 79 ford pick-up. I'll check my notes later on the exact dates if you are still interested. I did do a lot of research time into my conversion and just thought it to be fun this way. If you are not up for the challenges and time you would be better off with a kit. They can save time and money depending on the status of your suspension and engine size. Good luck with your decision.
Opposed piston calipers are more complex, but you don't have to run a floating caliper if you use them. The Granada's have single piston floating calipers.
The Granada brakes stop wonderfully. SSBC is unneccesary unless you're planning on some roadracing.
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