1964 Imperial Disc Brake Advice

[moparproject]

Hi Imperial experts. I have a Budd Disc Brake system supposedly taken from a 66 Imperial that I want to put on my 64 Imperial. The rotors are new and the calipers have been rebuilt professionally. So the assembly looks great. The steering knuckles look like they will mount up perfectly. However, the wheel lug spacing is different on the disc hubs. They seem to be spaced a little narrower (3.0 inches vs 3.1 Inches on the drums (center to center). Also, the wheel studs are a little smaller on the disc than on the drums. Finally, the center hub is smaller on the disc than on the drum. In short, it looks like a different disc hub is needed. Does anyone know if there is a 64-compatible disc hub available? Or are the wheels different on a 66 Imperial with discs?

Thank you for any advice!

 

[detmatt]

Disc brakes did not become available on the Imperial until 1967. ‘66 has a 5.5” bolt circle that changed to 5” in 1967.

 

[moparproject]

Thank you. That makes sense. I suspect these discs I have are from a 67 after all. They have a 5-inch bolt pattern. I guess the only way to use them would be to get 67 Wheels for the front. Wonder if anyone has done this? I guess the tires would not interchange with the back of course.

 

[detmatt]

Thank you. That makes sense. I suspect these discs I have are from a 67 after all. They have a 5-inch bolt pattern. I guess the only way to use them would be to get 67 Wheels for the front. Wonder if anyone has done this? I guess the tires would not interchange with the back of course.

I can’t say for sure because I have no experience with this but do you have the booster and master for the Budd system? Would that even mount up with the brake hardware under the dash? I guess I would also be surprised if you could just install the knuckle/spindle from ‘67 on a ‘66 without any other mods but again I have no experience with that.

 

[moparproject]

Hi, Yes I have a disc/drum master cylinder installed and plumbed. I did that in anticipation of getting front discs of some sort installed. Measuring the 67 knuckles seems to be an exact fit from the existing 64. But there always seems to be some unknown when you do these kinds of things. Hoping someone else had tried it before I invested a bunch of time and money in the endeavor.

 

[detmatt]

Did you get anywhere on this? @moparproject

 

[SGT FURY]

What I can say about this swap comes from a demo derby guy. He would use drum brakes and spindles from 64-66 on 67 later imperials for derby use.
He did this because of the difficulty in finding working brakes on 67-up imperials.
Also was done to avoid getting a bent wheel in derby which would jam up easy on large 67 calipers.
I imagine it would work in reverse for 67 to 66?
I believe he said it was a direct bolt on without modification.
Of course your wheel pattern changes

 

[moparproject]

Did you get anywhere on this? @moparproject[/USER
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From what I tell with input and research is that it can work but the bolt pattern changes so you have to use different wheels on the front (67 wheels) vs the back.

 

[Big_John]

Is there any reason the hubs couldn't be redrilled for the larger pattern?