1957 Disc Conversion advice please

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motox101
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2018 6:32 pm

1957 Disc Conversion advice please

Post by motox101 »

Brand new to this site! I purchased a 1957 Thunderbird E Code and wanted to get some advice about converting the front brakes to disc. I currently have manual drums all the way around. I really want to keep the car as original as possible. Can anyone her recommend a good conversion kit. I did a little reading and checked out MP Brakes but they only have kits for 15" wheels. I have 14" wheels. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks Ryan
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Joe Johnston
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Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2008 3:34 pm
Location: Sunny FLORIDA

Re: 1957 Disc Conversion advice please

Post by Joe Johnston »

Welcome to the 55-57 sections of the VTCI forum. There are several good ways to add disk brakes. I converted my 57 to disk brakes with the complete kit from CASCO. I had no problem with using 14" KH wire wheels, 14" repo wire wheels, or 14" steel wheels. Disk brakes made a big improvement and is a benefit no matter how you do it.
PLEASE invest a few bucks and buy all the shop manuals for your car. Definitely will save you much time and be an education.

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motox101
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2018 6:32 pm

Re: 1957 Disc Conversion advice please

Post by motox101 »

Awesome! Just ordered my kit!
CSavaglio
Posts: 299
Joined: Sat May 28, 2016 11:37 am

Re: 1957 Disc Conversion advice please

Post by CSavaglio »

I've been running the CASCO kit for about 4 years now and very happy with it. Very complete and had different bore rear cylinders so you don't need to install and tune a proportioning valve to make the system work properly. Pedal effort is about the same, but more consistent.

Then only issue I had when installing was that the copper washers for the banjo fittings on the master cylinder were too thin (or the banjo is too long) and allowed the banjos to bottom out with the copper washers just barely not sealing. I was able to get thicker copper brake washers from a local parts store with no issue once I figured out what the issue was. I haven't had any issues since.
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