Hi All, Hopefully I will find someone that has encountered this and has solved the problem already. Back in April I bought a "front disc brake conversion kit" for 1949-1953 Ford Car off of eBay for my 1952 Crestline. The seller used Scarebird Classic Brakes brackets and packaged the rest of the components into a kit. I put the brackets and rotors on the car, rolled it off to get sheet metal work and just got back to putting the calipers on today.........but they do not fit. The caliper is hitting the steering arm. So researching I find the guy I bought them from on eBay no longer sells the kit and that Scarebird has revised their catalog to say 1949-1951. I was able to find an old eBay listing of Scarebird's showing that they indeed used to sell it as the 49-53 brackets. So now I have this kit and apparently it is wrong. From the photos what I can see is that the 52-53 cars have a larger steering arm and being larger it is too close to the caliper to be able to bolt it in place. Photos attached so you see what is up. I think that maybe I can reverse the brackets, put the calipers towards the front and they would still work? Any thoughts? Any help would be greatly appreciated! This is what I bought: This is Scarebird's old eBay lisiting showing that they thought it would fit my car. You can see in their photos how close the caliper is to the steering arm. I guess this is a 49-51 car they used for the photo. My car has thicker arms and the caliper is hitting at the bottom : Here are the instructions: This is Scarebird's current catalog:
The 1st thing I would try is get my money back or get the proper part,with the company,...if you get no place with them then I would contact ebay and file a complaint with them explaining that the seller will not do anything to help you and that the add to sell the parts mislead you was not correct stating that it fits 52 when it does not,...and use their NEW ad showing how the company found the problem of how it does not fit 52 but still will not help you,...ebay is going to ask why it was not reported sooner ,explain how you are working on the car etc,..ebay is strick about false/misleading adds,...Miller
I have heard good things about the guys at Scarebird. Have you tried contacting them directly? I bet they would welcome the opportunity to make a kit that fits your model year so they can sell to others.
How much is the caliper touching and can you grind it slightly to gain the clearence you need. I don't see where you would encounter a problem mounting the calipers toward the front as long as you swap sides and keep the bleeders on the top. HRP
why not just 2 decently thick washers 1/8" metal or whatever you need to clear with 2 longer bolts and use the metal washer as a spacer between the steering arm and backing plate. Then adjust the steering rod to take out the extra width you removed. I dunno, just thinking out loud.
Thanks for the replies. I am hoping I can find someone that already solved this. Getting my money back is my last option. I have contacted the seller and he says he has heard of this problem, he is contacting Scarebird, I also contacted Scarebird at the same time as the seller. It is the weekend, so I expect I may have to wait for that response. The upper part of the steering arm is about 3/8" thicker than the earlier cars (from looking at the photos). I am not going to grind on a brand new, cast caliper. There are other kits out there that use different brackets, rotors and calipers. Also once I do that there is no chance of returning it, and it looks like I will have to grind into the mounting point, weakening the place where the bolt is. I would have to hope that I have two really good castings, and looking at the parts, and the no-name box they came in, I think these are the cheapest of the cheap. Washers will not work. The contact is at the lower side of the caliper, it is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. The steering arm is a solid cast part, there is no adjustment. I am pretty sure that Scarebird knows about this problem, hence the changing of the catalog. They now do not list any brackets for a 52-53 car, hopefully they are already working on a solution. A bracket that rotates the caliper slightly upwards is all that is needed.....unless swapping sides and going against the directions is an option. I will wait it out to see if anyone has dealt with this before. There has to be someone that has had this problem.
Hey. Longshot idea but, on my scarebird kit the calipers go to the front instead of the rear. cant tell how you have your brackets mounted. Edit: looks like yours don't.
Yes, instructions say to rear, but I want to hear from Scarebird why not front...that may solve my problem. Do you know what calipers and rotors your kit has?
I had a response from Scarebird. They are aware of the problem and have "...a redesign in the works for the 1952-53 as we learned the steering arm was different..." I was told that the brackets are not cut yet and they expect to have them in house in a few weeks. I guess they have to do welding etc. after that, so maybe in a couple of months they will be available. Without hesitation the seller has agreed to have these picked up and give me a refund. So can anyone recommend an available kit for my car? I was trying to have the car driving for Thanksgiving......but maybe if I find a new kit I can get it done for Christmas.
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