65 Fury disc brake conversion advice

[buicker]

I just read all of this wonderfull post as I want to switch to disc brake. My question is can I keep 14'' wheel? I don't want to buy new wheels.

By the way I was thinking about buying ssb brake kit, Now for sure I won't.

 

[Polara_500]

I just read all of this wonderfull post as I want to switch to disc brake. My question is can I keep 14'' wheel? I don't want to buy new wheels.

Someone has just started offering a conversion that allows use with 14" wheels but most of the options discussed here require at least 15" wheels.

 

[Polara_500]

Took a bit, but here's the link for the kit for 14" wheels. Don't have any knowledge of the quality or of anyone that's installed the kit, but this is the only one I know of.
4 Piston Caliper Disc Brake Conversion Kit For 14" Wheels

 

[buicker]

Thank's. I was checking to use those 69-72 brake and found out they are all 11 3/4 inches rotor wich I figure would need 15 inches wheels, mean I have to buy new wheels and tires, than it raise the price of the conversion.
Direct fit kit are interesting but up here with the money exchange and transportation it get very expensive.

 

[FK3 Sport Fury]

Thank's. I was checking to use those 69-72 brake and found out they are all 11 3/4 inches rotor wich I figure would need 15 inches wheels, mean I have to buy new wheels and tires, than it raise the price of the conversion.
Direct fit kit are interesting but up here with the money exchange and transportation it get very expensive.

If you're lucky enough to score the 73 style C-body spindle setup,those will take either 14" or 15" rotors.Of course if you go with 14" rotors you will need the appropriate caliper adapter for those which is a common part found in 73-up A-body,B-body,and E-body disc brake cars that use those 14" rotors.

 

[TWR]

I have a 66 Polara with a 383 and 14 inch wheels. The brakes were manual drums.
I bought a SSBC kit from Summit Auto which works just fine.

 

[Mudeblue]

I'd like to convert my 65 Sport Fury to disc brakes for drive ability and safety.
Does anyone make a "kit" or is there a known supplier who can provide the needed parts as a whole? I don't want to start piece-mealing it and end up with mid-matched parts requiring modification and resulting in a poorly balanced braking system.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I just completed putting in front and rear brakes in my 1965 Sport Fury. I had it done at a shop and the cost was approximately $4,000 (kit was $3,100, including vacuum booster, and labor $900) and were "supposedly" custom made. The shop, who had a classic car expert, had numerous problems, took 10 weeks because of the numerous problems but love the results. Recommend you have a professional do it unless you have time and expertise.

 

[saylor]

sir, forgive me, but I think you typed 1 too many zeros on your number in the above post.. you must have a sticky 0 key

can we please get a pic of what four thousand dollar brakes look like ?

 

[Mudeblue]

sir, forgive me, but I think you typed 1 too many zeros on your number in the above post.. you must have a sticky 0 key

can we please get a pic of what four thousand dollar brakes look like ?

Nope: 0's not incorrect. Front and rear disc kit will cost approximately $2,500 and then you can add the vacuum booster to that, brake lines, etc. etc. I wanted the best and got the best and realize I could have bought cheaper ones but when all was said and done, including miscellaneous parts, I did not consider the difference that great.

 

[65 Monaco]

Thanks for all the great information in this thread. Need to replace the brake booster on my '65 Monaco and after much searching finally found a remanufactured Cardone power brake booster at Summit Racing for $102.99, here is the link.
A1 Cardone Remanufactured Power Brake Boosters 54-73546

 

[Zymurgy]

Thanks for all the great information in this thread. Need to replace the brake booster on my '65 Monaco and after much searching finally found a remanufactured Cardone power brake booster at Summit Racing for $102.99, here is the link.
A1 Cardone Remanufactured Power Brake Boosters 54-73546

Just to clarify you have drums all the way around? This is not a dual diaphragm for disc brakes.

 

[65 Monaco]

Just to clarify you have drums all the way around? This is not a dual diaphragm for disc brakes.

No, the front were converted to disc by the previous owner. Have drums on the back. So are you saying the Cardone that I included a link to are not correct? I think the mechanic did ask me about ordering dual diaphragm. Sounds like I made a mistake. If what I ordered is indeed wrong, do you have any idea where to get what I actually need?

 

[Zymurgy]

I saw them on eBay listed for B-bodies. I'll see if I can find it. I installed one I got from a 67 and sent it away to be rebuilt. The eBay option cheaper and quicker.

Found it says sold 87 and only 3 left. 1966-70 Mopar OE Bendix Style 8" Dual Power Brake Booster for Mopar B Bodies | eBay

 

[C-440-300]

UPDATE: Stainless Steel Brakes FINALLY sent my brakes! It took over 3 months - not the 3 weeks they promised.
Long story short - the boost doesn't work. I called them for diagnostic assistance at which time they told me that cars from the 60's don't produce enough vacuum to power a modern booster.
WHAT THE HELL??? They certainly didn't tell me that or even suggest the possibility that their system may not work on the car we were discussing a system for.
I checked and, sure enough, the car is producing 14-15" vacuum and their system requires a minimum of 18".
Now they say I'll have to spend ANOTHER $350 (already paid them $1200) to get an electric vacuum pump - which is loud and will make my car sound like crap, right?
So 4+ months and $1200 later I cannot drive my car.
DO NOT BUY FROM STAINLESS STEEL BRAKES!!!

Also - any advice you can give would be appreciated.
I don't want to go non-power now that I have discs up front. I think they will require too much braking force for anyone under 300# to drive the car.
Any other ideas?

I know late to this, but, I had to chime in on SSBC SSBC-USA | American Stopping Power.
Caveat emptor
Caveat emptor is Latin for "Let the buyer beware".
2.5 stars. '66 C-Body Drums asked for full disc conversion. First inspection, front caliper assembly bolt missing head (sheared prior to the powder coated finish I had ordered extra). Another caliper had been scratched/dragged before they shipped it, exposing the metal. I might have epoxied it and said nothing, but, it was on the exposed side. Sent pics and they agreed (duh) these was their issues. Instead of sending two replacements, they said they had to use my scratched one to redo, delaying a month the whole process. Parts hooked up first time and worked - sort of. Caveat Emptor? My '66 Midland Ross booster worked great on my big and heavy drums (when not fading). The sales guy (I ordered directly.) never mentioned/suggested using mo'powa (Scotty) to push that new 'Stang dual master (came in their kit) to clamp those discs. I get one good shot at stopping, but, that's it. Calling Wayne Brown (TheRamManINC.com), Monday. My compliments and thumbs up to the experienced forum members that have cautioned the readers on underpowering your braking systems. Caveat emptor.

 

[twostick]

I know late to this, but, I had to chime in on SSBC SSBC-USA | American Stopping Power.
Caveat emptor
Caveat emptor is Latin for "Let the buyer beware".
2.5 stars. '66 C-Body Drums asked for full disc conversion. First inspection, front caliper assembly bolt missing head (sheared prior to the powder coated finish I had ordered extra). Another caliper had been scratched/dragged before they shipped it, exposing the metal. I might have epoxied it and said nothing, but, it was on the exposed side. Sent pics and they agreed (duh) these was their issues. Instead of sending two replacements, they said they had to use my scratched one to redo, delaying a month the whole process. Parts hooked up first time and worked - sort of. Caveat Emptor? My '66 Midland Ross booster worked great on my big and heavy drums (when not fading). The sales guy (I ordered directly.) never mentioned/suggested using mo'powa (Scotty) to push that new 'Stang dual master (came in their kit) to clamp those discs. I get one good shot at stopping, but, that's it. Calling Wayne Brown (TheRamManINC.com), Monday. My compliments and thumbs up to the experienced forum members that have cautioned the readers on underpowering your braking systems. Caveat emptor.

Caveat Emptor The RamMan too. Google is your friend.

Kevin

 

[C-440-300]

Caveat Emptor The RamMan too. Google is your friend.

Kevin

Pray Tell! Kevin. I am looking/neeeed mo'power on my boat. Scary.

 

[twostick]

Pray Tell! Kevin. I am looking/neeeed mo'power on my boat. Scary.

Google the major Mopar forums for RamMan reviews. Very few positive ones.

You need to figure out what calipers SSBC used. If they are a re purposed GM OEM, you could reverse engineer it by using the spec for whatever booster and master cylinder was used on the car the calipers were used on originally. This has always been the problem with SSBC kits. They just box up a bunch of parts based on how they fit the car instead of will they actually work together.

Is your car a column shift or console shift? A factory disc master cylinder and booster should make more than enough pressure to energize those brakes. If you have a column shift car, you are limited to the earlier tandem booster because the later one interferes with the shift linkage. If you have a console shift, the later boosters will fit the car without interference and there are a gazillion of them out there compared to the earlier one.

Kevin

 

[stubs300]

I know late to this, but, I had to chime in on SSBC SSBC-USA | American Stopping Power.
Caveat emptor
Caveat emptor is Latin for "Let the buyer beware".

Your more then a little late, they've been outta business for a couple years now!

 

[C-440-300]

Thank you, Men, for listening. You are both right.
I have no pride in all this. I just want to get her running and safely. SSBC-USA (now) combined/merged/changed their name a bit and I called them up. It seems I should not have stopped at just their kit, but, combined it with a better/bigger/stronger booster, just as mentioned, Kevin. The experienced gent on the phone knew my problem as soon a I told him what I had done (4-drum to 4-disc). They do not have the booster I need.
'Called both Booster Steve(1x) and RamManInc(3x). Only Booster Steve returned my call. He has some hope for me. Some police booster? I'll update when I get going. There is a Pirate Jack on Ebay that claims with some firewall mods, I can have a good booster for the C-Body. I don't want to make obvious/noticeable changes. Google is my friend. Again, you were right.
I hope all of you are safe.

(Gen. LeMay was my dad's boss from the early 50s thru early 60s. We had pics of him in our house when I was a kid. We moved in '68 from San Antonio. His pics must have stayed there. Dad voting for Humphrey might have had something to do with it. ;-) I still have the Sept. 1965 National Geographic mag with F-105s on front. "Power for Peace" by Curtis LeMay. He died about 42 miles from here in Riverside, CA.)

 

[michiganhotrod1]

Hello,
I just finished the front disc upgrade on one of the tougher subjects, a 65 with autopilot. I used stock 73 spindles, etc., and followed Ross Wolridge's advice. I can share a few items that can help.
1. For the 73 swap, the only used parts needed are the spindles, adapters and dust shields, but grab the bolts that hold them on to the ball joint too. All else is new.
2. For the booster, I used the Bendix dual diaphragm. It is a mongrel combination of a 64/64 Imperial booster, and the brake rod from a 68 Chrysler booster that was rusted junk: I had it redone by Booster Dewey.
3. Ross said it, but the calipers mount to the rear. Counter intuitive, and different from other bodies.
4. I used the 68 or so brass metering valve, and the 73 disc brake line kit from Inline Tube (lousy customer service, but a good kit). The advantage is if you hook up the brake lines starting with the rear one first, it fits perfectly, and will even mount to the frame in the same hole. See Photo.

Continued.