i'm rebuilding the front end of my 53. at the point of making a brake decision. i had originally wanted to do the disc brake/power mc conversion, but running low on funds right now. should i sell some stuff and stick to the plan, or rebuild the drums and move on to engine work. this car is a long term project and dont expect it to be on the road anytime soon. but when its done, it will be an around town cruiser in southern california with my kids in the back seat. so i dont want to skimp on safety, but need some honest advise. disc or drums? power or non power mc?
In the 50's Fords had the shortest stopping distance of all U.S. car manufacturers due to the large contact area of 173.5 sq inches the front shoes are the same as the fronts used on late 60's big block Mustangs and the rears were used on early 70's F-100's.Todays linings are much better than they were in those days and tires have a lot more grip that the early skinny bias plys did,best bang for the buck is to reline your drums and add the power brake unit,check your yellow pages for "brake & clutch" you may be able to reline your existing shoes with Kevlar which has several advantages like 20-25% less fade and reduced drum wear and improved stopping power.For more info on Kevlar click on this: www.tribco.com/about.html read the whole page and then contact them for info on a local supplier and you should be able to even surp*** a disc setup no problem.
I cut the cost but added the safety to my car since I have kids in the back seat and went with manual discs in the front. Noticiable diffrence over the drums even with out a power MC.
I still like my drums and stops OK . I am going to add a Mustang power brake set up to my drum brakes . I wish I could afford disc brakes but need that money for other things . I say if you can afford the disc brake conversion , then do it ! Jim
I put disc brakes all around on my '56 Vickie, fronts are '72 LTD, they fit with no alterations needed, rears are '97 Blazer, master cylinder is from CPP, can be used for disc/drum or disc/disc. Total cost less than $500. The only thing I had to do was order offset rear wheels as the blazer is four inches narrower than the stock rear end. The nice thing about the master cylinder is you don't have to do all the brakes at once & I never have to adjust the brakes again.
well i have to say i love my power disk/ drum setup . i initialy orderd the booster/master and adapter braket kit off ebay, wasted money. wound up using a booster, master and prop valve off a 96 little jeep cherokee. very little modification. works just like you imagine it should. i used torino spindles on my front i think there the same as the ltds. my car has a ranger rearend in it . to me brakes is one thing i want to work real good with the way other drivers like to bow up and stop. you cant leave enough space between you and the car infront because some ***wipe always takes it.
I installed Jamco's full tubular front end set-up with manual disc brakes. I must say this car really stops with great brake feel and stops straight every time. I feel well worth the price for eom parts that are readily available anywhere. Just make sure that all the parts work together!
OK , now you got me thinking about maybe looking into a disc brake conversion for the front of my 55 Ford . My question is , what make , models and years work without any major modifications ? I think that would make a really good tech post for all to benefit from . I am referring to a home built set up from a donor car . OK what works and who has done them ? Jim
The nicest thing about drums is not having to clean that brake dust off constantly, but if you go disc Mothers and Eagle One will love you.
You can always get those disc to install behind your fancy aluminum wheels if you are so worried about brake dust ! They are not traditioanl at all ! I have hubcaps so I never worry about brake dust , just road crime ! Jim
i think i'll probably stick with the plan of disk brakes. i would have have to completely rebuild my drums and hubs with new hardware, cylinders, bearings, seals, paint, ect... not sure what the kevlar shoe lining runs $$, and ***uming my drums are okay, i probably well over $200 plus my time. i makes more sense for me to go disks. not worried about dust, i'm running steelies and covers. anyone want to buy a complete running power steering setup from a 53 flathead car?steering shaft all the way to outer tie rods and everything in between. including pump and resevoir. should be a drop in and go application for a flattie. needs new hoses only.
jim i used like 73 torino small block car spindles. be care full when getting spindles off fullsize fords not to get big block cars . diffrent spindles and bolt pattern. had to make a thin spacer for the bottom ball joint . just barely had to adjust my tie rods. i used a booster setup off a 96 -01 little jeep cherokee . still american threads on lines. little modification to the firewall. and shortned the rod as needed . works just like driving the cherokee. and the best thing is the used booster set up i got off ebay for 30 bucks shipped to me . when i was at the pull a part getting my spindles i got the brake hose brakets also. i think i gave 70 bucks for those , complete with caliper and rotors . took them off as an asy. the only thing is the wheel boss's on the rotors are big . you will either have to put the rotors on a rotor machine and cut them down or get diffrent wheels right now i got dodge wheels on my car cause thats what i had that fit /
Something that is important to me is to be able to get a part anywhere for any part of the running gear. I have stayed with eom style parts and stayed away from custom built or home built parts that are comsumable... ie; brake pads, hoses, master cylinder, bearings, u-joints, seals etc. Oem parts can be found at any parts house accross the country. Seems to work for me. I've had a car that was custom everything and it was a pain in the ****! Had it on a trailer several times due to fragile parts failures and then waited forever for another part. Something to keep in mind when building a driver that you intend to take cross country. Where will you find a part if needed?
Geno's point is a good one. I just had my Buick quit in Friday afternoon commuter traffic when a Pertronix conversion module croaked. Ever try to find a Pertronix module on a Friday afternoon? Stick to OEM whenever possible. Good advice, Geno!
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