i have been working on my father to let me start driving and working on his 33 ford 3 window, he gave the ok he just wants me to swap out the mechanical brakes before i start driving and working on this car. it has sat in our barn since i was in jr high, im 30 with two kids now and he wants it to be safe as possible before i start hauling his grand babys around in this ol rod. i need some suggestions and opinions on the best way to do this swap correctly. anything else i should check other then the obvious things before i get this on the road.
yes, this thing has a flathead glove box radio rumble seat, its really one of his coolest cars in his collection. i have always been into muscle cars and rockcrawling. this is new stuff to me.
anyone have any suggestions on a source for a complete kit, or a article on a similar swap. i want to do this the right way. any help would be a great help. thanks, for your time sparky
Doesn't look like anyone has attempted to answer your question. I am not familiar with the specifics 33 ford brakes but have converted a model A. I didn't realize the 33's were still mechanical. anyway In general you are going to be looking for juice or hydraulic brakes to swap on to your spindles. The 40-48 fords came with hydraulic brakes that should work. You may need the spindles too. Then you'll need to rig a master cylinder to the pedal assembly. There is probably a kit. Do a search on brakes - check the tech archive - early ford brakes have been covered in depth on here. also check with "vaphead" here on the hamb. he sells new juice brake kits front and rear. You'll just have to swap your backing plate for the hydraulic ones, run brake lines, and install a master cylinder. Good luck and please do post some pics. document your work and do a tech article
Ford used mechanical brakes from 1928-1938, brake rod operated from 28-36 and cable operated in 37-38. (Model Ts also used mechanical brakes but they were using the transmission bands rather than wheel mounted brakes, although they did have a hand-operated rear wheel brake emergency system using bare cast iron shoes from 1909-25, then lined ones in 26-27.) The first Ford hydraulic brakes were in 1939 using the 36-39 "wide five" bolt pattern hubs and drums. In 1940 the pattern was returned to the 5 on 5.5" circle used from 1926-35. This pattern continued to 1948 on passenger cars and through the 1990s on pickups. This conversion is easy to do but finding all the parts may be not so easy. Spindle swapping is not necessary as a simple adapter kit is available from every Early Ford V8 parts supplier, Dick Spadaro, Mac's, Little Dearborn, and others.
thank you very much for the info i will get some pics up and i will take pics when i do the swap. again thank you very much.
I hate to put a blanket on every potential hot rod build but if this a bone stock unmolested 33 3w original upholstery car, it's worth a lot more than you may think as it is. Cutting and fabing will lower the value quite a bit. I suggest that you go over to the "FordBarn.com" web site, search vendor listings and get in touch with Richard at the Early Ford V8 Garage in West Covina, Ca. He makes a brake conversion that bolts right into an original chassis and uses the original pedals.
I converted my '34 using all the original pedals & linkage w/o cutting on the frame - not entirely unlike the Early Ford V8 Garage conversion. There was a post on here recently asking about a '34 - I'll see if I can find it.
i am not wanting to do any cutting on this car, if i cant bolt somthing together i wont touch it. if this car was a basket case i would just get a completer after market front end. i am aware of the value of this car my father has been collecting these cars since i was a child. i do have some pics. thank you for all the help
A '33 can be considerably hotted up with only wrench work, anyhow...brake issues, especially with Richard's kits, is entirely non-destructive--keep the original spindles, too! Just that, good mechanical condition of suspension parts, and bolt-in conversion to a '48 engine would give you a '33 with nothing but bolt in changes and a good deal more performance. The '48 engine is what a Ford dealer would have supplied, even, if you'd gone in for a new mill after WWII.
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