Losthope Posted February 25, 2014 Author Report Posted February 25, 2014 You do more in 1 day than I even think about doing in a month! Still trying to figure out how the front spindles come off and what Charlie means by remove the steering arms. He sells brackets for p15 for those of us who don't have a fabricator in their back pocket. I cant believe how fast you took that down to parade rest. I got my 48 4dr in jan and the only thing I have done is pulled the left front drum and stare at the brakes. OMG! I wish you lived nearby. LOL! I have a friend I met through the car forums over the internet and lives in Kansas that also said he wished I lived closer to him too ,so he could put me to work on a couple of his projects ! So I take it that "Charlie" is the guy that made the tech thread for the ford explorer disc brake conversion? by removing the steering arms I believe he means you have to take the steering arms off and bolt on the disc brake bracket then rebolt the steering arms back on over the plate , and the reason you have to adjust your steering rod joints back 3/8" on both sides to compensate for the 3/8" plates your adding on both sides, kinda like this photo (I still have to buy longer grade 8 bolts so I haven't got to that part yet) hope this photo helps : ,well today I started getting the plates bolted on and made some 3/8" spacers with the drill press and a hole saw from the left over 3/8" plate I had from cutting out the brackets out of , worked out great I think you can probably just bolt them in but I decided to weld them on then drill the holes through them: I also drilled out the threads in the spindle and pulled new 1/2" by 20 ford explorer wheel studs in , since the rearend has the ford explorer wheel studs in the rear I felt like I should ditch the wheel bolts and make the fronts wheel studs also: I just used the template I printed out to drill the caliper holes and everything bolted together fine until I went to put the wheel on: Since the tech thread Im using the author said he used different wheels I was worried about not being able to use stock wheels, I had asked around on the HAMB to a couple of guys that did this conversion if stock wheels would fit but never got a reply confirming so I knew there may be a possibility they wouldn't work, wish I didn't just use the template to drill the caliper mounting holes in the brackets because I could have pulled the caliper in a little closer to the rotor, but I probably would have had to still grind and reshaped the caliper but maybe not as much: So far ive had to grind alittle, then spray some spray paint on , then put wheel back on and spin it , then pull it off and check the spray painted area for where its hitting , then grind some more, then reapeat the process, ive done this a number of times today so I didn't get the front discs on like I had hoped today still working on drivers side trying to get the wheel to clear its still hitting a bit think im going to have to grind a little on the inside of the wheel where the center is riveted to the outer ring of the wheel so I don't take to much off the caliper, hopefully have a positive update for tomorrow.... 1 Quote
builtfercomfort Posted February 25, 2014 Report Posted February 25, 2014 Charlie is "olddaddy" here and the HAMB. Site is rustyhope.com. He makes a similar kit that takes Volare/Aspen brakes. They work fine with the earlier 16" wheels, others will need to report on 15" wheel clearance. Quote
builtfercomfort Posted February 25, 2014 Report Posted February 25, 2014 How hard would it be to adjust or make oblong your bracket mounting holes to bring the caliper closer, then weld it up to make the holes the right size & in the perfect place? Getting worried about how much strength is being list from the calipers. Quote
Losthope Posted February 25, 2014 Author Report Posted February 25, 2014 (edited) Charlie is "olddaddy" here and the HAMB. Site is rustyhope.com. He makes a similar kit that takes Volare/Aspen brakes. They work fine with the earlier 16" wheels, others will need to report on 15" wheel clearance. I have used his kit before on my cousins 51 Plymouth with 15" wheels worked fine , great kit actually I Like it better then the scarebird kit that's installed on my friends dodge, I just wanted to try this out and see if it would work , really liked the idea of having all ford explorer discs, good part is im only into the front disc calipers and pads $30 and brackets were free and my time ,so if all else fells ill get another rustyhope setup How hard would it be to adjust or make oblong your bracket mounting holes to bring the caliper closer, then weld it up to make the holes the right size & in the perfect place? Getting worried about how much strength is being list from the calipers. It could only go in a little bit not much to make that big of a difference but I did think of doing something along those lines. im not taking anymore off the calipers and its only touching by a little bit, In a small area on caliper and its the very edge of the riveted part of the wheel that's hitting , im going to see if I can buy a 1/8th inch wheel spacer tomorrow from a specialty auto parts store here in town , if I find one itll slove the problem without anymore grinding.. Edited February 25, 2014 by Losthope Quote
knuckleharley Posted February 25, 2014 Report Posted February 25, 2014 You do more in 1 day than I even think about doing in a month! No kidding. I get tired just reading about all the work he does. Quote
knuckleharley Posted February 25, 2014 Report Posted February 25, 2014 LOL! I have a friend I met through the car forums over the internet and lives in Kansas that also said he wished I lived closer to him too ,so he could put me to work on a couple of his projects ! So I take it that "Charlie" is the guy that made the tech thread for the ford explorer disc brake conversion? by removing the steering arms I believe he means you have to take the steering arms off and bolt on the disc brake bracket then rebolt the steering arms back on over the plate , and the reason you have to adjust your steering rod joints back 3/8" on both sides to compensate for the 3/8" plates your adding on both sides, kinda like this photo (I still have to buy longer grade 8 bolts so I haven't got to that part yet) hope this photo helps : ,well today I started getting the plates bolted on and made some 3/8" spacers with the drill press and a hole saw from the left over 3/8" plate I had from cutting out the brackets out of , worked out great I think you can probably just bolt them in but I decided to weld them on then drill the holes through them: I also drilled out the threads in the spindle and pulled new 1/2" by 20 ford explorer wheel studs in , since the rearend has the ford explorer wheel studs in the rear I felt like I should ditch the wheel bolts and make the fronts wheel studs also: I just used the template I printed out to drill the caliper holes and everything bolted together fine until I went to put the wheel on: Since the tech thread Im using the author said he used different wheels I was worried about not being able to use stock wheels, I had asked around on the HAMB to a couple of guys that did this conversion if stock wheels would fit but never got a reply confirming so I knew there may be a possibility they wouldn't work, wish I didn't just use the template to drill the caliper mounting holes in the brackets because I could have pulled the caliper in a little closer to the rotor, but I probably would have had to still grind and reshaped the caliper but maybe not as much: So far ive had to grind alittle, then spray some spray paint on , then put wheel back on and spin it , then pull it off and check the spray painted area for where its hitting , then grind some more, then reapeat the process, ive done this a number of times today so I didn't get the front discs on like I had hoped today still working on drivers side trying to get the wheel to clear its still hitting a bit think im going to have to grind a little on the inside of the wheel where the center is riveted to the outer ring of the wheel so I don't take to much off the caliper, hopefully have a positive update for tomorrow.... I'm sure you know more about this than I do,but I would really hesitate to take any more off those calipers,and I'd hesitate to take any off the rims. Besides,even if you do manage to grind away enough from both that it no longer scrapes cold in your garage,what's going to happen out on the road when everything gets hot and expands? Quote
Losthope Posted February 25, 2014 Author Report Posted February 25, 2014 ya I hear you It was a more of a see if it would work type of thing and the caliper was cheap so I didn't hesitate taking the grinder to it since I can could just get another caliper I just wanted to see how much had to come off . I have a couple different sets of 15" ford rims im take to the shop to try on the passenger side that's hasn't been ground down and test fit them see if something will clear....car has a long way to go before its on the road LOL so I have time to change my game plan..like I said I wanted to know if this setup wuld work or not. theres different options tho that I can do still like run different wheels or just use a kit that is known to work. Quote
Losthope Posted February 25, 2014 Author Report Posted February 25, 2014 No kidding. I get tired just reading about all the work he does. ^ That was great^ Gave me a good laugh Quote
Jim Yergin Posted February 25, 2014 Report Posted February 25, 2014 I think you are going to have the same problem with the calipers on the Explorer rear end with the stock wheels. I know I did on my '41 Plymouth. I had to grind material off the calipers but they work fine now. Jim Yergin Quote
Lumpy Posted February 25, 2014 Report Posted February 25, 2014 That's nothing, I have to take two asprins, and go to bed early whenever I read Lost Hope's postings. ken. Quote
Losthope Posted February 27, 2014 Author Report Posted February 27, 2014 (edited) I think you are going to have the same problem with the calipers on the Explorer rear end with the stock wheels. I know I did on my '41 Plymouth. I had to grind material off the calipers but they work fine now. Jim Yergin Thanks jim after encountering the fronts I assumed I would have to do the back also since both front and back discs are off same car..thanks for giving me a heads up!! That's nothing, I have to take two asprins, and go to bed early whenever I read Lost Hope's postings. ken. Dang ken that bad HUH! Maybe I should leave out my bad punctuation and spelling and just post the pics ! HAHAHA Well yesterday was a short day at the shop ,but the time I was there was spent dealing with the front brakes I tried some different ford rims and had the same effect of not clearing calipers I finally got ahold of a couple guys on the hamb that are running this setup and they are all running after market wheels so the reason im having to grind the calipers is because I want to run stock wheels. Since you guys had me second guessing myself on how much I took off, I then took the ground down caliper and the non ground down caliper to a couple local hot rod builders in my area to get opinions on if how much I ground down was unsafe and all answers were that the calipers would be fine, I had the machinist (Old school hot rodder ) that cut out the calipers brackets for me look at them and he said they will be fine, I had a couple other people look at them and said they would be fine, so I decided to go along with my plan and get a wheel spacer I ended up using a 1/4" wheel spacer and gave me pleanty of clearance since it pulled the rubbing area away from the caliper and I got the front stock steelies on the car now! Today was spent giving the motor a make over! armed with degreaser and a wire brush I went to work..every part I removed was soaked in the de rusting tank cleaned and then hi-temp painted , the hi-temp almond color is a little lighter then color I used on the firewall and the cell phone pictures make it look really white. Im not to fond of the factory sliver color so I went with early Chrysler blue to keep it mopar for you guys LOL ....everything is just mocked up still have to order a gasket set and have more parts to clean and paint: Edited March 1, 2014 by Losthope Quote
BobT-47P15 Posted February 27, 2014 Report Posted February 27, 2014 The engine is looking good............. Quote
Losthope Posted February 27, 2014 Author Report Posted February 27, 2014 thank you! I think itll really look good back in the car against the the almond color of the firewall Quote
pflaming Posted February 28, 2014 Report Posted February 28, 2014 I see you cleaned your engine just outside the garage door. VERY WISE. That is a beautiful color and very nice workmanship. Quote
fstfish66 Posted February 28, 2014 Report Posted February 28, 2014 kool project,, must be nice to go to a yard and find parts cars of that era,,as for your disc brake problem,,,instead of wheel spacers you could re cut the caliper brackets, and use GM calipers full size or metric are smaller how much lower is the front now that you lowered the front coil pads ? Quote
Losthope Posted February 28, 2014 Author Report Posted February 28, 2014 I see you cleaned your engine just outside the garage door. VERY WISE. That is a beautiful color and very nice workmanship. it was has been raining here so I cleaned the engine at the edge of the door so I could still use the shop as so shelter from getting soaked . luckily when I was ready to paint the block it let up and I was able push it out in the sun and let it dry for awhile before it stared raining again. kool project,, must be nice to go to a yard and find parts cars of that era,,as for your disc brake problem,,,instead of wheel spacers you could re cut the caliper brackets, and use GM calipers full size or metric are smaller how much lower is the front now that you lowered the front coil pads ? theres actually no local yards in my area with vintage cars to pull parts from , my friends and I took a road trip a 1 1/2 hours away to where there is a couple vintage car yards where I found a 49 Plymouth that was in very poor shape where I got the fender and c-piller from and traded some parts for them ,or else it would have costed $150 for the c-piller and $50 for the beat up fender kinda over priced at those yards I think, we also picked up a 40's dodge cab and a s10 chassis on the way back home it was a planned out road trip. as far as lowering the front swapping the spring plates lowers the car the thickness of the a-arms which is around a 11/2 kinda like putting blocks under the rear end,cutting the springs or swapping in aerstar springs is where it gains more drop, I wont really know until I get them motor in to know how much it has dropped..thanks for the advice on gm calipers! Quote
Losthope Posted March 2, 2014 Author Report Posted March 2, 2014 (edited) The bell housing ontop in this photo you can see the right rear mounting point was broken off so went to my dads house and went out to his mopar parts stash and and found another bell housing he also hooked me up with a oil filter canister that has a bolt on top that you can change the filters out the one that came with the Plymouth was a fixed 1 time use unit: Next issue was the clutch components, even though they were clearly rebuilt right before the car was parked they had been sitting pressed together so long that the surface rust they acquired actually started eating away at the ring gear and pressure plate and were really pitted I found this out when I went to clean them up : Being cheap and being as its a low buck budget build I didn't really want to try and resurface them or purchase new ones, I Luckily have my cousin who is always a phone call away and there to save me when I need advice or in this case more parts! I Took a drive across the city to his house in a hellacious rain storm and picked up a older rebuilt set he had that was in better shape: after degreasing ,cleaning and spray bombing the trans components I finally had the trans bolted back up: I bought and installed a new oil pan gasket and stuffed it all back in the car: Edited March 2, 2014 by Losthope Quote
Losthope Posted March 2, 2014 Author Report Posted March 2, 2014 Then I had to temporarily throw the front clip on with a few bolts to see how low the car was sitting! BAM! Quote
Don Coatney Posted March 2, 2014 Report Posted March 2, 2014 Looks to me like it needs new springs front and rear. Quote
Losthope Posted March 2, 2014 Author Report Posted March 2, 2014 Looks to me like it needs new springs front and rear. HahaHa! Your eyeball settings must be set to "stock" focus Don! To each there own! Quote
pflaming Posted March 2, 2014 Report Posted March 2, 2014 Looks to me like it needs new springs front and rear , a good 800 grit massage, and paint the Avon Lady on the trunk lid. Quote
sig Posted March 2, 2014 Report Posted March 2, 2014 looks great...hows the steering, are you scraping the front wings?...amazing what a lick of paint on the engine does Quote
fstfish66 Posted March 3, 2014 Report Posted March 3, 2014 engine looks great,,, cant belive you had another bell housing laying around very kool Quote
Losthope Posted March 4, 2014 Author Report Posted March 4, 2014 (edited) looks great...hows the steering, are you scraping the front wings?...amazing what a lick of paint on the engine does Thanks! I don't have the steering column back in yet but turning the wheels by hand it clears the fenders if that's what you mean by "front wings"? , heres it turned back and fourth: engine looks great,,, cant belive you had another bell housing laying around very kool Thanks ! My dad has a shed full of 49-52 mopar parts he actually had 3 fluid drive bell housings and a one 3 speed bell housing, he probably could build a car besides the main body and frame with the parts he has HAHA hes a member on here. heres his car helping him work on this car is actually what got me into old cars in the first place: Edited March 4, 2014 by Losthope Quote
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