Disk brake kits

[Capt Dan]

I am looking to do a disk brake conversion on the front of my '66 coupe. I don't have a lot of money to spend so I would like to avoid having to get larger wheels at this time. It is going to be a nice daily driver with a little pep, but no real racing. Is the SSBC kit a good way to go? Don't want to mess w/ junkyard conversions.

here

Is the stopping power an upgrade over stock drums?

Can I add a power booster later?

 

[rbohm]

check out www.scarebird.com for brackets. they are less expansive than the ssb kit, and you can get the parts needed fairly quickly as they are late model parts.

 

[bnickel]

www.discbrakeswap.com Dennis has a kit with a 65-66 specific spindle that uses granada rotors, calipers, and associated parts. he sell the complete kit for a little over $500 and you don't have to chase down any parts at all, everything is in the kit already, including spindles, calipers, rotors, bearings, seals, master cylinder, brake lines, etc. it's all there and you can't beat the price.

 

[red302]

www.discbrakeswap.com Dennis has a kit with a 65-66 specific spindle that uses granada rotors, calipers, and associated parts. he sell the complete kit for a little over $500 and you don't have to chase down any parts at all, everything is in the kit already, including spindles, calipers, rotors, bearings, seals, master cylinder, brake lines, etc. it's all there and you can't beat the price.

I agree. I put this kit on my '68, and am really happy with it. Dennis is great to work with, and he'll help right away if you should run into any problems. Kit is complete, and works fine.

 

[BarnStang]

WHat wheels do you have on the car now? I have used two of the the kits from Dennis and think they are the greatest, but you may need to have the rotor hub machined to clear your wheels. Can someone post what wheels are affected please? I can't remember exactly. I think original 14" wheels are too small in the center. You said you didn't want to get bigger wheels yet. Let us know what wheels are on the car now.

 

[Capt Dan]

WHat wheels do you have on the car now? I have used two of the the kits from Dennis and think they are the greatest, but you may need to have the rotor hub machined to clear your wheels. Can someone post what wheels are affected please? I can't remember exactly. I think original 14" wheels are too small in the center. You said you didn't want to get bigger wheels yet. Let us know what wheels are on the car now.

Stock steel wheels w/ hubcaps. Will be going to 17" wheels later, after paint and body.

 

[Mels65]

This is the kit I just installed on my 65, works great and everything you need but the MC in one kit $349

http://rcmotorsportsparts.homestead.com/132.html

 

[blown65]

I have the Granada conversion on mine also, works just fine for what I do. (Track stuff it wouldn't though, but the strip its just fine)

Should be the same as that RC kit just posted.

 

[5.0ina66]

This is the kit I just installed on my 65, works great and everything you need but the MC in one kit $349

http://rcmotorsportsparts.homestead.com/132.html

I'm not the worlds biggest fan of that, they eliminate the steering stops so the caliper will clear, and that's only because they clock the calipers up and centered instead of forward and top, as my Scarebird kit has them, and it uses the same parts. Right before I *almost* bought that RC kit, I was in contact with a guy who they had sent flex lines that were WAY TOO short and had the nuts to blame it on him. When the wheels wont turn any farther because the flex line is tight as a drum, I don't think the installer is the problem!

 

[turtle99]

Here's my vote. I just bought a kit off a guy on Ebay (chockostang is the seller's name). Alll he sells are brake and steering parts for Ford cars. It was for my 67 Cougar. It's a stock set-up he sells, he has them for 65-66 as well. You get new calipers, rotors, bearings, brackets etc. It is the way Ford engineers intended your car to stop when new. Honestly, I had a 4 wheel Baer set-up on my car and for regular driving use I preffered the stock power set-up over my Baer set-up. I know it won't be better at the track , but I am not taking it to the track anyways, maybe just a cruise for ice cream next week. Oh yeah and the price: $750 for everything. He'll sell you a master cylinder as well for $50. I can feel the comments coming already !

 

[BullittStangV8]

How did you guys order from Denis? His website doesn't mention a way to order, only to contact the email address.

 

[red302]

Just E-mail him. He'll take care of ya.

 

[BarnStang]

Just drop an email. He always responds.
From the "About Us" link on the website:
If you wish to place an order, please email us at [email protected] . Your inquiry will be answered promptly. Please indicate the year and model of your car. Also indicate if the car has power or manual brakes and steering. Thanks for visiting our website.

 

[BullittStangV8]

Yeah I got in contact with him through the email account. Everything is fine.
Thanks guys.

 

[degins]

Thanks for the support guys. I appreciate the kind words. For those of you wanting to retain the original wheels, I will soon offer the SWAP.1 kit. It is identical to the original KH type 65-67 system (the same kit mentioned above from Chockostang for $750 + $50 for master cylinder). It will cost about $500. For 68-73 cars, I currently offer the $550 70-73 Mustang based (kit same as 68-69 except the spindle pin is the large variant like 70-73). It allows the use of original 68-73 wheels.

 

[Rusty67]

The SSBC kit isn't a bad way to go but IMO you are not geting your moneys worth out of it. I think the setup from diskbrakeswap.com (degins) is provably the best in terms of real world performance per dollar spent for a daily driver.

When I did my swap, I had to have the K/H 4 piston setup (I HATE floating calipers) so I ended up sourcing an original set and rebuilding the hell out of it. If you don't want to have factory correct brakes and you don't mind a floating caliper then I'd go with degins setup.

 

[chris82369]

I suggest you also upgrade to the later style 70-73 beefier spindles if you will be driving the car much. Over the last two years both of the original spindles on my 1968 daily driver broke. I was lucky there was no major damage to myself, others or car. Ford increased the spindle size for good reason. At a minimum have your existing spindles magnafluxed.

Here is a link to a recent posting I made to the classic-mustangs mailing list on this topic. Sorry for the crazy formatting - the formatting was mangled by the classic-mustangs mailing list archiver.

http://tinyurl.com/2vgp92
http://tinyurl.com/38kg6w

Chris

 

[chris82369]

Also, as recently suggested over on the classic-mustangs list, going with a stock mustang setup might be a reasonably priced option as well -- most of the parts can be found used, new or rebuilt now (including spindles). Again, for safety, I would suggest using the later/beefier 70-73 mustang style spindle (or Granada spindle).
http://lists.twistedpair.ca/pipermail/classic-mustangs/2007-November/046095.html

 

[bnickel]

Also, as recently suggested over on the classic-mustangs list, going with a stock mustang setup might be a reasonably priced option as well -- most of the parts can be found used, new or rebuilt now (including spindles). Again, for safety, I would suggest using the later/beefier 70-73 mustang style spindle (or Granada spindle).
http://lists.twistedpair.ca/pipermail/classic-mustangs/2007-November/046095.html

by the time you're done finding, buying and rebuilding an original set of any 65-73 mustang or granada brakes you will have spent more than what you can get a new kit from www.discbrakeswap.com for and you'll still have old used spindles, his kits have BRAND NEW spindles and i mean BRAND NEW has has the cast and machined himself these are not old restored or left over spindles.

 

[palerider94]

I've got a 70 with power drums asnd plan on upgrading. My power drums are real touchy and is a little diffcult for my wife and daughter to drive. Will the power disk be less touchy and feel more like modern disk brakes?