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1955 56 57 Pontiac Owners:

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Jive-Bomber, Apr 18, 2007.

  1. Jive-Bomber
    Joined: Aug 21, 2001
    Posts: 3,946

    Jive-Bomber
    MODERATOR

    Let me ask you some suspension/brake questions-

    1. If you have then, who's drop spindles do you run: Fatman? Jamco? Others?

    2. Does someone sell spindles with a front disc brake conversion all-in-one?

    3. If you car is already a power drum brake car, how does that work when you go to front discs? Can you swap to a dual master cylinder too?

    Just wondering- I'm thinking about getting a 57 Pontiac, and thats one of the first upgrades I'd want to do- Drop it and stop it, all in one!!

    Thanks,
    jay
     
  2. Jive-Bomber
    Joined: Aug 21, 2001
    Posts: 3,946

    Jive-Bomber
    MODERATOR

    bttt for the Thursday crowd...
     
  3. 1. If you have then, who's drop spindles do you run: Fatman? Jamco? Others?
    I only heard of Fatman, but I do not have drop spindles.

    2. Does someone sell spindles with a front disc brake conversion all-in-one?
    Master Power Brakes will put MonteCarlo discs on "your" spindles. Downside: You have to send them your spindles and you still retain your kingpin suspension.

    3. If you car is already a power drum brake car, how does that work when you go to front discs? Can you swap to a dual master cylinder too?
    Pontiac has the master cylinder down by the brake pedal... not on the firewall like chevy has. Using a chevy conversion will not work due to location... the steering column interferes in the engine compt.

    The power brake unit for 4 wheel drum works okay, not great... but do-able. Having discs put on your original suspension gives you great brakes on an antique kingpin front end. Not worth the co$t in my opinion.
    I went with a subframe swap and used the late model master/booster ***y. I had to give up the defroster core to mount the new stuff on the firewall. It takes a little work, but the end result is worth it in my opinion.
    A pontiac is not a chevy and there is little available as bolt-on stuff.
    Bil
     
  4. Just a quick clarification: There are no "dropped spindles" for 55-57 Pontiacs. You get dropped uprights, the spindles stay the same, just relocated. It's kingpins- not ball joints.
    An old trick was to swap and invert the uprights left to right. This would effectively "drop" the spindle. You would have to heat and bend the steering arms to align... then whack a coil or two for good measure. One of the little magazines featured a red 55 with this treatment. It looked bad-***, but still had drum brakes.
    Bil
     
  5. destructo
    Joined: Mar 6, 2001
    Posts: 97

    destructo
    Member

    I got a pair of fatman uprights and a pair of scarebird caliper brackets for my 55. Still rounding up parts to put disks on the front. Mark @ scarebird took all the guesswork out of scrounging up parts, He sent a complete list calipers, rotors, hubs and even tapered bearing #'s to ditch the stock ball bearings and still use the stock pontiac spindle. Planning on using a universal firewall mount dual master cyl and prop. valve from MBM brakes. Hit me up in a couple weeks and Ill let you know my progress.
    Dan
     
  6. flypa38
    Joined: May 3, 2005
    Posts: 530

    flypa38
    Member

    PM sent.....
     

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