Front disk conversion project.

[yourpc48]

Great job! You just saved several guys a bunch of money by posting your progress. Thanks for sharing your idea.

No problem. I will be sure to update later once I have adjusted the toe on the car. I put oven cleaner on the tie rods and pressure washed the undercarriage yesterday to get them cleaned up. Last night I put oil on the clamps and threads of the tie rods. They should be easy to break free and adjust (fingers crossed). Today I will be adjusting and testing some more along with yard work and picking up around the shop a bit.

Edited May 13, 2012 by yourpc48

[Alshere59]

Excellent work. This should get moved over to the tech archives. Maybe with a scan of your bracket in pdf format.

[yourpc48]

I adjusted the toe in to about an 1/8th inch as per what I seemed to remember being the most toe you should have. It was originally about 3/4 to a full inch of toe in. I had not adjusted the toe after lowering the car so it was off to begin with, then to add 3/8 of an inch on both sides due to the caliper plates made it a mess.

I had to adjust by myself so I chose a common spot on my tire for front and rear and used the duct tape method to hold the end I would normally have someone else hold. It should be close enough to get me back down the road. Now I need to concentrate on my master and rear brakes. I have a pulsing from the rear brakes that was there before I started the front brake conversion. So now I have to figure out a few more little things. I still need to drill the bolts out and pin the nuts to make sure they dont back off. At some point the suspension will be done.

[yourpc48]

I drove the car to town today. It has a bad surge in the rear brakes that was there before the conversion. I think it is a drum thats out of round. I can stop fine but I am having a difficult time telling if the front brakes made much difference. I will see about doing something with the rear brakes later in the week. I still have some finish work to do and want to look at the flex lines while on the ground. So far so good.

[yourpc48]

Have been driving the car the past few days. I have probably put a hundred or so miles on it. I need to do a little finish work still. I noticed that the brakes are not what I expected but I am pretty sure that its because of my master cylinder. I have a light pedal. I have to pump it a little to get full pedal. If I dont then the pedal goes way down. Not to the floor but way lower than I would like. Also I did get the rear brakes to stop surging. A few adjustments got it most of the way out. I will be glad when I dont have the stock rear brakes to deal with but I still need to find the rear end I want for the swap.

Like they say. It just takes time and money.

[Robert Horne]

The rear drums on my Coupe are out of round. The machinist cut them down 2 times, but they are still out of round a little.

I will have to go through my collection, see if I have any any better condition, until I find an Explorer rearend.

I installed a Ford master cylinder to replace my 86 Dodge MC that I had been using many years. The big Ford MC, 1 1/8, is easier to see the fluid, and easier to fill.

[fstfish66]

why is the ford master so much easier to fill ??? is it a remote fill ??

[Hemifried]

Have been driving the car the past few days. I have probably put a hundred or so miles on it. I need to do a little finish work still. I noticed that the brakes are not what I expected but I am pretty sure that its because of my master cylinder. I have a light pedal. I have to pump it a little to get full pedal. If I dont then the pedal goes way down. Not to the floor but way lower than I would like. Also I did get the rear brakes to stop surging. A few adjustments got it most of the way out. I will be glad when I dont have the stock rear brakes to deal with but I still need to find the rear end I want for the swap.

Like they say. It just takes time and money.

I've been subscribed to this thread for a few months now as I've planning to do similar to my 49 business coupe... I may have missed it when I was reading through but I don't remember reading anywhere where you added a proportioning valve and see that your still running the stock master cylinder ... With a disc brakes setup there needs to be a residual check valve in the line between the calipers and master cylinder to prevent the brake fluid from draining out of the calipers back through the master cylinder. Also I'm guessing the stock master cylinder isn't pushing enough fluid volume to give you good solid pedal on the first push. I would recommend that you add dual piston master cylinder with the residual check valve already in place for disc brakes, I think your pedal feel will change dramatically.

One more thing~! THANK YOU for wanting to share all of your great work with us!!! Excellent job!!!

[yourpc48]

why is the ford master so much easier to fill ??? is it a remote fill ??

I havent changed my master or adapted it yet. I may use the explorer master. I have an idea on how to make it a remote fill. The tank that sits on the top is held in by rubber seals. I think you could use the master and adapt to fittings that would then let you run tubing up to a canister on the firewall or inner fenderwell. Since the master is designed for the brake system I have it should work fine. Thats another project I will have to do a little later.

I want to try to keep everything off the shelf available for replacement parts. I need to do steering and distributor too. Just need to make the extra money to do it.

[yourpc48]

Thanks for the suggestion.

I do have a proportioning valve but as of yet have not needed it. I have tried hard stops in dry and wet and this setup seems to be ok. The rears lock up first like they did before I did the change over. I do plan on puting in a different master for safety reasons but the original master was weak before I ever changed the drums to disk. Its just another in a long list of things that need to get changed as I can afford it. The pedal seems to be staying up further now. I will be adding the proportioning valve for sure after I get the new master set up in the car. I agree with the fact that many have had to add residual valves to the system and I considered purchasing some but the original master has a residual valve built into it. I dont know what pressure but it has one. If I were to add those I would probably not have the pedal bleed down at all because I think its a faulty residual at the end of the master that is letting the pedal bleed down a little. Doesnt matter. For now its working well and I am going to bypass that master in the near future and add the proportioning valve.

Glad you found interest in the brake project. Just so you know. I drive my car every day except when its being worked on. I use my car as a daily driver rain or shine. Being in Oregon on the coast that means mostly rain during a big part of the year.

[Robert Horne]

why is the ford master so much easier to fill ??? is it a remote fill ??

The Ford MC I used is easy to see the fluid level at a glance, easy to fill with only one cap, compared to the 86 Dodge MC I used before that was black, had two fill caps, and the rear cap was difficult to get to for filling.

[yourpc48]

The Ford MC I used is easy to see the fluid level at a glance, easy to fill with only one cap, compared to the 86 Dodge MC I used before that was black, had two fill caps, and the rear cap was difficult to get to for filling.

This is on one of your 30s vintage rides isnt it? I looked at the way the pedal in my 47 worked and didnt see a way to make something work in front of the pedal. I thought I had seen your 86 dodge swap posted in another thread. Is that correct?

[Tim Keith]

Does anyone know if S-11 DeSoto is the same spindle as a P-15?

[Robert Horne]

This is on one of your 30s vintage rides isnt it? I looked at the way the pedal in my 47 worked and didnt see a way to make something work in front of the pedal. I thought I had seen your 86 dodge swap posted in another thread. Is that correct?

This aluminum Ford MC is on my 38 Coupe, where I had the 86 Dodge before. The MC is in front/between the brake and clutch pedal.

On my 48 Dodge I installed a Ford Mustang II MC leaving the original MC in place. I went through the original MC with a longer rod to work the Mustang II MC... Both the 38 and 48 still have drums, but plan to do the disc setup like you did....

[littlemo]

What did you do about the height of the MC fill-cap(above floor level)??? And, did it interfere with your front seat adjustment??? Cass, alias littlemo...Add; I'm still adressing this issue !!!

[Robert Horne]

On my 48 the MC is only a little above the floor level. I had to replace the floor in this section of the car. I made a trap door about 6" x 6", and used a cover with a raised section. By the time I put in floor padding and carpet, there is not much of a hump, no problem with the seat adjustment....

[fstfish66]

Thanks for the suggestion.

I do have a proportioning valve but as of yet have not needed it. I have tried hard stops in dry and wet and this setup seems to be ok. The rears lock up first like they did before I did the change over. I do plan on puting in a different master for safety reasons but the original master was weak before I ever changed the drums to disk. Its just another in a long list of things that need to get changed as I can afford it. The pedal seems to be staying up further now. I will be adding the proportioning valve for sure after I get the new master set up in the car. I agree with the fact that many have had to add residual valves to the system and I considered purchasing some but the original master has a residual valve built into it. I dont know what pressure but it has one. If I were to add those I would probably not have the pedal bleed down at all because I think its a faulty residual at the end of the master that is letting the pedal bleed down a little. Doesnt matter. For now its working well and I am going to bypass that master in the near future and add the proportioning valve.

Glad you found interest in the brake project. Just so you know. I drive my car every day except when its being worked on. I use my car as a daily driver rain or shine. Being in Oregon on the coast that means mostly rain during a big part of the year.

the disc brakes require a lot more fluid then the drum brakes to work correctly,,, if you had a dual res master,,for disc/drum,,you would see a lot better braking,,,and your front would lock up way before the rears,,,the front brakes on any car do the most of your stopping power,,,

so ide switch over to a disc/drum master,, the smaller the bore the more pressure to the system,,,,the bigger the master cyl bore,,,will require more foot pressure to do the same stopping,,, a 1987 dakota manual master cyl for disc/drum is what i run on my super charged barracuda,,, its metric in bore size but works out to 15/16 in the sae conversion,,, i run a adjustable valve on the rear brake lines,,and the car has very tall tires so its turned up as high as it will go,,, u can do the same on ur coupe,,i will switch my coupe over to the same master soon,,,u can get o-ringed caps from any of the after market brake guys to convert your master to remote res bottle,,

with a master under the floor,,the master is lower then the calipers,,so you will need residual valves at the master to prevent the fluid from draining back down,,, i think its 10 on the front and 2 on the rear,,, i can look if u need to know,,,

[yourpc48]

Is there an interest in the templates for these brackets?

I have been running them for a few weeks now and dont seem to be having any problems with them. Let me know. I have a scan of the template and an outlined version on graph paper. Both have a ruler in the scan for scale.

[Robert Horne]

I would appreciate a scan of your brake template. This would be a good project for my 48 four door in the future. I would like to add disc to my 38 this winter also. Your template would be a good reference for a template for my 38.......thanks,,Bob,,

[falconvan]

I'd sure like to have a scan of your bracket; that's really cool of you to share that info.

[Smokeybear]

same here. thanks.

[Hemifried]

Is there an interest in the templates for these brackets?

I have been running them for a few weeks now and dont seem to be having any problems with them. Let me know. I have a scan of the template and an outlined version on graph paper. Both have a ruler in the scan for scale.

Count me in Please~!!! and thank you!!

Edited May 30, 2012 by Hemifried

[yourpc48]

Here is a link to a page on my website where I posted the scans. If you click on the image and then print it. You "Should" get an 8.5X11 image of the bracket. There is a ruler in the image to put a ruler up against and check for scale. I will test it later when I get a chance.

http://car.icompute.info/disk_bake_bracket.htm

Oh yeah. Paypal donations gladly accepted. LOL

[yourpc48]

Image prints way way too big right now. If you try to print it and your printer has the option try "scale to fit" for the 8.5x11. If not I will be working on that problem later and will post when fixed. I have to go to work right now.

[yourpc48]

Still working on a printable image for the template.

I did however get a call from my father inlaw tonight about 2- 97 Ford Explorers he was trying to make arrangements for. He sold someone a Jeep Cherokee and may be taking the Explorers in trade at scrap price so I can take the rear end and other parts out of them for my Coupe. Woo Hooo. Keep your fingers crossed. There may be another thread about the rear end install coming soon.