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1952-59 Ford disc brake conversions ???

Discussion in 'Off Topic Hot Rods & Customs' started by LostHope, May 22, 2011.

  1. LostHope
    Joined: Jul 9, 2008
    Posts: 688

    LostHope
    Member

    i know this conversation comes up quite abit but read this on another form and wondering if anybody else have heard of doing this ? just wondering because im about to buy a set of drop spindles and disc brakes from "dropnstop" because you can find any granadas,monarch,versailles anywhere in my area was also wondering what year tbirds were the same here is what i read :

    I did a disc brake swap on my 54 customline, I used 1979 Ford T-Bird spindles,and the complete brake system, very easy and they are better than the Granda brakes. The bottom ball joint hole to too big,they sell a spacer for that and it worked great. A complete bolt in swap, very easy and cheap cost me $30.00 for both sides! Used the 79 T-bird dual master cyl., w/1" bore or bigger and the porp valve. This thing stops on a pin head!
    Wheels..14" stock steel wheels will not fit. They hit the outside of the caliper. Easy fix I just put the 15" wheels back on same bolt patter and all, no issues at all
    very,very easy and cheap.
     
  2. dwaynerz
    Joined: Nov 16, 2006
    Posts: 238

    dwaynerz
    Member

    i dont know which is better. the cheap part or the easy part. both are good tho.
     
  3. old lady's mad
    Joined: Mar 18, 2007
    Posts: 169

    old lady's mad
    Member

    thats what im running on mine, t-bird and torino body cars and the bodys in mercury.
    i coulldt find any of the monarch or versiles either. so i was just walking through the local pull a part looking for a rear steer ford. there are a few minor diff's with them. the bottom ball joint or lower . is larger and will require a thin shim which i made or machine grid off the bottom of the spindle till it fits the balljoint right. which im going to do when i get time and take the shim back out. the angle of the steering arm on the spindle is just about a 1/4 inch off from the original on my 55. this is closer than the granada. the granadas are said to cause bump steer. and the t-birds take a 11 1/4 inch rotor which are only available frm napa at about 150$ each. but you can use the 11 inch granada rotors on them. which range around 40$ each. and readily available anywhere. they take the same calipers and pads. the t-bird simply dont use when you look at the an 1/8th of a inch on the out side of the rotor. as far as wheels go. yes same bolt pattern. but like the granada the center hub size is larger so without cutting that down on a lathe of some kind you need diffrent wheels to fit. im running dodge steelies on mine because thats what i found first. and i went cheap and ganbled when i bought my booster setup the second time around. i bought the popular kit off ebay, long and bulky looking under the hood. didnt boost properly. it was the singlr diaphram booster, still laying in the floor of my garage. then i bought one off a little jeep cherokee off ebay. complete booter master prop valve. was like 39 bucks shipped to my door. it was used but worked i normaly would never use used parts there. looks nice on there. minor changes to the firewall and pusshrod for the booster. stops juust like you would expect one to with power disk brakes.
     
  4. I did the Scarebird conversion. Didn't want to lower my ride or change spindles. They provided a bearing spacer, brackets and a list of other parts needed. Got their list of parts from Rock Auto except the little line fittings.

    Only problems I had were created by ME. I scanned instructions and then started a week or 2 later. Interruptions and I just messed up instead of starting over. Everything fit and they were very quick to reply to questions and solved all of my problems. Couldn't be happier.
    TC
     

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