Drum brake to disc conversion.

Cougar Community Classic Cougar Speed Shop
1

First time poster, thanks for the advice/help in advance. I have used the search feature and cant find the answer I am looking for.

1968, power brakes, 4 wheel drum. 14 inch rims, automatic transmission. I would like to upgrade my brakes and am looking at all options, including an aftermarket front end, unless it requires welding.
Keeping it original is not of great importance.

Has anyone done this who can recommend a good kit? I have researchedon summit, leeds brakes, wilwood, etc, some come with a new master/booster, some not, some say they need a proportioning valve, others dont even mention it. If I can find a decent kit, I would upgrade the front and rear at the same time.

If I can keep my spindles, great, if not I dont mind replacing them. Any help/recommendations is appreciated!

2

The biggest problem with most of these inexpensive Chinese kits is the booster. They look wrong, often do not last more than 2 years and cannot be rebuilt. Also, in 10 years or more how do you find replacement parts? This is what we suggest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6959c6ayKI&t=171s

https://secure.cougarpartscatalog.com/discconversion.html?attribs=76

3

Fantastic, I will check it out, thanks again!

4

http://www.discbrakeswap.com/Mustang%20Disc%20Brake%20Conversion%20Kits%20CATALOG.html

5

Nice! Thanks buddy

6

I’ve used scarebird brake conversion on a couple of my cars. Did the last on on my 60 bird.
Maybe worth looking into

7

I have their conversion kit on my 1969, have had no problems.
They include an adjustable proportioning valve, so you use your existing distribution block, no need to upgrade to the distribution (proportioning) combination valve, unless you want to for originality.

8

I’m gonna revive this thread for a question I have. I’m actually looking into the same swap… Currently have power 4 wheel drum and looking to at least get front disk… Can I use my current booster and master cylinder or are they different between front power disk and 4 wheel power drum? I think I have 1 if the few 67 GT S code cars with 4 wheel drum.:frowning:

9

You need to swap out the master cylinder for a disc type for a '67. The booster will work, as will the pedal.

I have a complete setup - spindles, rotors, tie rods, center link, all hardware flex hoses etc for 1975 Granada if you want to save some money. PM me if interested.

You will also have to add a proportioning valve to the rear brake system. There are a variety of ways to do that, if it were me I would install one of the adjustable ones.


10

I went with SSBC, installed the Brakes on the front, and while the car was getting the hood painted, I had the same shop install the new master/booster.

Didn’t stop as I had expected, actually, barely stopped at all. The test drive around the block was good, but stopping from 30mph up, it would come to a rolling stop only. Kinda scary. I went ahead and added the rear disc brake kit as well, and removed the Prop valve.
New setup was 4 wheel disc, new MC/BB, the complete SSBC kit.

After bleeding like a madman, it would stop, but not like I would expect for 4 wheel disc. Felt like the pushrod wasn’t engaging the MC enough. I had to extend the pushrod bolt all the way out, still not great stopping.

After some research, I saw that the kit I bought, has MC 0405, which on Summit, is Manual disc brakes. Since this is power, I felt this was the culprit, and bought the Power disc brake MC, A0405.

Getting it, they looked the same, with the exception of the bolt mount holes that attach it to the BB. They A0405 holes were bigger. And as I bench bled the MC, I noticed:
On the manual MC 0405, the pin was recessed about 1 -2 inches.
On the new MC, A0405, the pin was flush with the end of the unit near the mount area to the BB.
So I am unsure if 0405 pins was broken, and A0405 is correct?
Anyways, I tried to install A0405, and the BB pushrod engages the MC pin right as soon as I line it up. I had to remove the pushrod extension to be able to even have enough thread on the mounting bolt to get the nut started. Even then, I had to use force to push the MC onto the BB mounting bolts,so it still feels like the BB pushrod is engaging the MC prematurely. It feels like the MC pin is being pushed in an inch or so, before I even start putting on the mounting nuts. I can put spacers and maybe save a half inch or so.

I’ve opened a ticket with SSBC to see what is going on, maybe the pushrod can be adjusted before it engages the pin in the MC. Maybe it engaging like that is normal, I have no clue.
Anyone else have issues with SSBC? Any other options I can try, suggestions? Thanks in advance all.