Disc brakes

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romovcr
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Joined: Sat Jan 07, 2017 5:34 pm

Disc brakes

Post by romovcr »

I have a 1964 T-bird hardtop and the drums,shoes, cylinders and hoses need to be replaced. Thinking of looking into disc brake conversion kits. Need advice on good suppliers at reasonable prices.
Ross
bbogue
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Re: Disc brakes

Post by bbogue »

I have a set of front disc brakes from these guys. http://www.abspowerbrake.com/maincatalog_frameset.html
They were installed for me by a local shop. They seem to be of reasonable quality but I'm no expert. Some parts are Chevy. Shudder!!! I have 15" wheels but think these can accomodate 14". My car stops fine. You might try John Draxler at the TBird Ranch. He might be able to provide a set with Ford parts. I don't know if his are wheel size specific. I think I have read that others have been able to adapt a set from 65 or other TBirds. A search of this site should turn them up.

Good luck.

Bill
Past owner 1961 Thunderbird - Heritage Burgundy Metallic

If there are no dogs in heaven, send me where they went. - Will Rogers
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RedBird64
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Location: Bothell Wa.

Re: Disc brakes

Post by RedBird64 »

I'm currently installing the 65~67 T-Bird disc brake setup on my 64. I'm close to having it done but at this point I haven't decided if it's a good way to go or if an aftermarket setup is best. I'll have more info when I get closer to having it done.
I'm hoping to come up with a list of (mostly Ford) parts without anything custom.
1964 Coupe Wimbledon white/Rangoon Red w/black int. Owned for 42 years. It was my folks car before that (second owners). VTCI # 12013.
jtschug
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Re: Disc brakes

Post by jtschug »

Are you using T-bird parts with the 4-piston calipers, or some other Ford parts?
1966 Thunderbird Convertible (Emberglo / White-Emberglo)
Modified 428 - stroked, rollercam, aluminum top end, headers
Livermore, CA
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RedBird64
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Re: Disc brakes

Post by RedBird64 »

Yes, I'm using all the original Kelsey Hayes 4 piston calipers and spindles that they used on those birds.
The only deviations I'm probably going to use is a MC from a 1978 F350 (for it's piston size and dual reservoirs) and a proportioning valve from Wilwood.
Both are subject to change though!
1964 Coupe Wimbledon white/Rangoon Red w/black int. Owned for 42 years. It was my folks car before that (second owners). VTCI # 12013.
jtschug
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Re: Disc brakes

Post by jtschug »

I'm very interested in finding a dual reservoir master cylinder that fits without cutting the shock tower brace. Definitely keep us informed!
1966 Thunderbird Convertible (Emberglo / White-Emberglo)
Modified 428 - stroked, rollercam, aluminum top end, headers
Livermore, CA
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RedBird64
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Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2012 11:42 pm
Location: Bothell Wa.

Re: Disc brakes

Post by RedBird64 »

Got the bigger MC today and boy is it big - even on the outside.
It will be a few days before I can get around to trying to mount it on the car. If it doesn't clear, it's back to the proverbial drawing board.
1964 Coupe Wimbledon white/Rangoon Red w/black int. Owned for 42 years. It was my folks car before that (second owners). VTCI # 12013.
jtschug
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Re: Disc brakes

Post by jtschug »

Have you tried any of the Wilwood MCs? They are spendy, but if it works...
1966 Thunderbird Convertible (Emberglo / White-Emberglo)
Modified 428 - stroked, rollercam, aluminum top end, headers
Livermore, CA
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RedBird64
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Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2012 11:42 pm
Location: Bothell Wa.

Re: Disc brakes

Post by RedBird64 »

I've looked at them but here's the thing; A 1" MC is a 1" MC no matter who makes it. A different brand wont have anymore power for a given diameter. So I am trying different sizes of cheapo units from Rockauto to find the right size. I believe the correct size will be the 1 1/16" that I just got. That is only 1/16" bigger than the original cars used but is needed for a higher pedal (like modern cars) and increased force against poor performing pads.
But first my truck is demanding attention by making new screeching noises that I think are coming from the parking brake pads. Last week is suddenly had a caliper freeze up and now this!
I'm kinda sick of working on brakes!
1964 Coupe Wimbledon white/Rangoon Red w/black int. Owned for 42 years. It was my folks car before that (second owners). VTCI # 12013.
hopp150
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Joined: Fri Dec 26, 2014 8:27 pm

Re: Disc brakes

Post by hopp150 »

I was under the impression that our original MC's had a bore of 7/8's....And if you keep going up in bore size you are reducing pressure but increasing volume...Am I wrong on this?
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RedBird64
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Re: Disc brakes

Post by RedBird64 »

hopp150 wrote:I was under the impression that our original MC's had a bore of 7/8's....And if you keep going up in bore size you are reducing pressure but increasing volume...Am I wrong on this?
It was indeed either 7/8 or 15/16 for the 64 - I forget now!
The original MC for disc brake T-birds (65~67) was 1" and the only year that used a dual MC was the 67.
You are correct in your second sentence. The problem is the Kelsey Hayes calipers have 4 large pistons and that requires more fluid movement. The smaller MC's just dont have sufficient volume to move all those pistons enough to stop the car.
Our current stock booster held up fine to the 1" MC although you could tell a little bit more effort was required. I believe the addition 1/16" will be tolerated as well but going up to something like a 1 1/8 or 1 1/4 would be way too much and it would feel like manual brakes. At that point I would need a double booster but I suspect even that would not be enough. Vehicles that have as much piston area as the 4 piston KH's generally use a 1 1/4 or larger MC.
As it stands now, the 1" is marginal when it comes to a very hard stop. Our radial tires just dont slip as easily as the old bias ply's so we can use more brake. Modern traffic conditions inspire me to find better braking as well. I'm also trying to get rid of the pedal activating the brakes so far down which is a common old Ford trait.
I'm going to drive it for a while with the current 1" MC and see if the new brakes wearing in will make things better.

Scott
1964 Coupe Wimbledon white/Rangoon Red w/black int. Owned for 42 years. It was my folks car before that (second owners). VTCI # 12013.
hopp150
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Re: Disc brakes

Post by hopp150 »

Makes perfect sense, thanks for sharing your experience Scott.

I would really love to bolt a new wilwood kit ( http://www.wilwood.com/BrakeKits/BrakeK ... option=All ) up but as of right now they don't make a kit for our year. I called them and they said if they get enough interest they would develop a kit but as of last week I was told I was the first to inquire. I was trying to do some research to see how hard it would be to take a 1960 spindle and lower control arm and get it to fit but aside from just grabbing a set from DVAP I have not been able to find out if they will fit.
stubbie
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Re: Disc brakes

Post by stubbie »

It's not that there hasn't been any interest in Willwood. They were one of the first places I looked at for a front disk brake kit but they didn't have one on their site for a 64 so I moved on to the next company like most others searching the web would do. The biggest problem with Willwood may be the price of the kit. The one you have highlighted is $1455, you can get them elsewhere for about $700. The Willwood is probably top notch components but as far as I I've seen there have not been many or any complaints about the cheap ones either.
stubbie
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Re: Disc brakes

Post by stubbie »

Just realised I had this info for a Big Ford Disk Brake swap. Not sure if it would help anyone or if relevent.
http://www.mercurystuff.com/brake-conversion-60-64.html
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