1960s Disc brake conversion 1961 Series 62

[Caddygranddaddy]

Got the transmission leak taken care of and almost ready to hit the road. Need to replace brake shoes and contemplating converting to disc brake. I've researched all there is to know. Looking for anyone with experience with lessons learned to share.

Thanks

[TJ Hopland]

Usually one of the big catches is you have to change the rims and stock hubcaps usually don't fit the newer wheels.

[Cadman-iac]

 As TJ mentioned, unless you want to change your wheels and your hubcaps, switching to disc brakes won't work.
 If your original wheels have the reversed center section, which was done to accommodate the deep dish hubcaps, they will not fit over the calipers.
 The drum brake wheel "ring" that the tire actually mounts to is not shaped to fit over a caliper. When they eventually switched to discs, they redesigned the wheel "ring" to clear the calipers, and the center hub was flipped back around, and a more narrow hubcap was used with these wheels.

 I wanted to go with discs on my 56 because I'm swapping the engine to a 472, but I want it to look completely stock on the outside. After discovering that my deep dish hubcaps wouldn't fit a disc brake wheel, I decided to just upgrade the drum brakes instead.
 I like the looks of the original caps too much. Even though I could have gone with a custom wheel, it just didn't look as good as the original to me.

 Good luck with your car.

 Rick

[Caddygranddaddy]

Thanks. Definitely not interested in changing out the rims. keeping it stock all the way. Will simply refresh the current brake system.

[Clewisiii]

The right parts for the front disc can be done without changing wheels. The rears can almost be done. My only issue was I could barely run my fingers between the side of the tires and the fender skirt locks.

[Clewisiii]

[Clewisiii]

[Clewisiii]

Here is the info on the rear. Due to the clearance issue I am removing the rear discs and putting the drums back on.  I am also not sure this company is still in business FYI.

[Clewisiii]

[Clewisiii]

[Cadman-iac]

  By how much do the wheels clear your calipers?
That's interesting. What did the calipers come off of if I may ask, and are the rotors from an existing vehicle, or were they made specifically for this,  and if so, are they Chinese? The reason I ask is what do you do if you should need a replacement years down the road?

Rick

[Clewisiii]

By how much do the wheels clear your calipers?
That's interesting. What did the calipers come off of if I may ask, and are the rotors from an existing vehicle, or were they made specifically for this,  and if so, are they Chinese? The reason I ask is what do you do if you should need a replacement years down the road?

Rick

I asked the same question. And I never got a real good answer. Makes sense. If I was trying to make money off of selling a kit I would not tell people what is in the kit. The front rotors had stampings on the side. But I beleive the rear rotors were turned down from something else.

[TJ Hopland]

That was my question too...   And would agree from the photos they look like they have some custom work to make em fit.    An issue with cars like the Cadillacs was the 5 on 5 bolt pattern.  Everything that used that was bigger and heavier so used bigger rotors to handle the weight which then didn't leave room in drum rims.  The smaller like 4.75 and 4.5's fit smaller cars so there were smaller rotors that could maybe fit the drum wheels.   You do then have to question is going with smaller rotors a good idea from a performance standpoint?   

[Cadman-iac]

  When I was still looking at discs for the 56, I was trying rotors off of my 72 Eldorado parts car because they are an inch smaller in diameter than the rotors off of a rear-drive car or truck. Still couldn't get the stock wheel to clear the calipers even using the Eldo rotors, and the offset was all wrong too.

I converted a 64 Chevelle years ago using the hubs from one of my El Camino parts cars. I cut off the braking surface so I could use just the hubs because they fit perfectly, then using rotors from a 2000 Firebird and longer studs, I made my own caliper brackets and used the Firebird calipers. I already had Cragar wheels so clearance wasn't an issue.
I did all that after I had tried using a kit from somewhere else and it put my wheels out so far that they would hit the fenders in a turn.
That's another thing to consider when swapping hubs/rotors.

Rick

[TJ Hopland]

I think I remember that there was a vintage of Sprinter vans that had a 5 on 5 and were a bit smaller diameter than what you usually saw with that pattern.  I think the catch was the bearing setup wasn't quite right and they were thicker so the common conversion calipers didn't fit them either. 

[TJ Hopland]

Looking at the photos of the front setup again the calipers look like what would have been used on something like a GM truck in the 90's as far as the sliders and such but the top where rim clearance is a concern looks odd to me but it could be that I just never really looked at that are when working on them?  Or that is a special one that is either for an odd application or have been customized for this application?

The rotors don't look like they have been messed with much or at all diameter wise. You can see the internal cooling fins are still rough cast and recessed a bit.  IF they had machined down the whole diameter you would expect those to be flush and machined looking.    It does look like there has been a fair amount of work out at the flange area and possibly around the snout.  Who knows maybe also internal tweaks to take different bearing races?

One nice thing is that sort of machining doesn't need to be done on a special brake lathe, you only need that for the actual braking surface.  But a possible problem other than work holding to do that work on a regular lathe is cast iron is kinda hard on the equipment so some guys won't want to expose their machines to the stuff.  The tooling isn't an issue since thats a consumable anyway its the shavings that are more fine and abrasive than most other materials that can get into places and cause accelerated wear and tear.

[Clewisiii]

I think the fronts are all off the shelf. I think it was just the rears that were turned.

[TonyZappone #2624]

I am 83 years old.  I have been driving and collecting mostly big antique and classic cars since I was 22 years old.  I currently have a '58 Cad, a '47, and a 3 ton Pierce, all without disc brakes.  If your brakes work properly, and are adjusted properly, they can be driven properly using common sense.  Save your money.

[Lexi]

While I don't have Tony's experience, I am inclined to agree with him. Most of our cars are also not daily drivers, so they are used infrequently. If I was using my near 3 ton Limo as a daily driver in a large downtown metropolis, I might consider a brake system conversion. My original brakes seem reasonable for the car. Clay/Lexi

[TJ Hopland]

If you need more braking performance really depends on where and when you are driving your car.  I have spent time in areas where you could just about survive with no brakes at all and other places where brakes wear faster than the tires. 

Some places there are some pretty poorly designed roads made worse by bad traffic control methods and then you double down on all that with bad drivers in cars that can out stop you under all conditions.  If your in an area with less bad roads and fewer people things could be a lot different.