drum to disc upgrade

[robertrt]

I am thinking of changing my 68 Charger R/T stock 11.5 drum brakes to the factory 4 caliper set up. My reasons for the factory choice is that I have restored her to stock specs without any aftermarket parts (within my budget) If anyone can advise me as to the mechanics of this change as well as pros and cons I would really appreciate it

Robert .

[Ghoste]

The one con I can alert you too is the expense and difficulty of finding parts to go with the factory setup.  I have the factory 4 piston on my Charger and there were a couple of times I considered getting rid of it for something that I could find parts for.

[R2]

I am in the process of doing this,,,,,I decided to go with an aftermarket kit,,,,
I got the SSBC setup,,,,and it is awesome ( so far ).
I pulled the old front drums off,,,,installed the new backing plate,,,,,,the rotors,,,,,,calipers,,,,,,,
Still have to change the master cylinder,,,,,so far so good,
I would look into this kit,,,,very good quality,,,,,,
Doug

OLD SETUP...



NEW SETUP

[mikepmcs]

R2, you are always teasing with a little shot of that dang plymouth. 

[R2]

R2, you are always teasing with a little shot of that dang plymouth.

Sorry,,,i put some pics in,,,,thanks,,Doug 

[tommymac]

Whats the rest of the setup,Are you staying with the power booster or going with a hydroboost ,What about the Rear?

[R2]

I am done with the conversion,,,,went pretty well.
New front discs from SSBC,,,,,
I had to use a different MC,,,,but it's in,,,,,
New brake lines installed and plumbed in the proportioning valve,,,,,i bent the lines,,,and mounted the PV up on the driver side apron,,,right next to the MC,,,(looks pretty good)
Just have to bleed em,,,,,,

BUT,,,,,as i was cracking open the rear bleeder screw,,,i broke off the bleeder screw 
oh well,,,,,i'll put in a new wheel cylinder,,,,AND,,,,as i am there i noticed my rear brake shoes were SHOT....so i am glad i pulled the rear drums off to look....

The rear disc setup would be nice,,,,but i think for what i do with the car,,,the front disc/rear drum should be fine.
No power booster,,,manual disc's for me............

[tommymac]

Sounds good I might go the same route withSSBC or the ECM units using ER... GM parts,less $$also.My other problem is poor vacuum with power brakes Ive installed a vacuum booster and that helps.

[R2]

Tommy,
I had big problems with enough vacuum,,,,,I run a solid cam,,,and my brakes really suffered after putting the solid cam in.
I ran a vacuum can,,,and it helped a bit ( not much ),,,so i had to do something else,,,,,so i pulled the power brake booster and changed to manual brakes,,,

The biggest help was converting over to manual brakes,,,,also was easy to do,,,,just had to change the MC and pushrod, and get a "backing" plate for the firewall.

now,,,i am switching to the front discs, rear drums,,,but keeping it manual,,,,,and it should be even better.

Looking back,,,,i should have done the disc thing a long time ago,,,,,maybe you can keep the power brakes and run the disc swap setup ??

The SSBC is nice,,,,,not cheap,,,,i payed $ 890 from JEGS,,,but the kit is complete,,,,and i didnt have to hunt for misc parts,,,junk yard,,etc,,,,I am glad i went with that particular kit........Ron (firefighter3931) also is running that kit...........and likes it.....

Doug

[tommymac]

890 thats not bad,I was thinking 1000 or so. Whats the kit # Did that include the prop... valve and the Master Cly.

[R2]

This is the kit i got ( note,,,for non power brakes,,,, )

It comes with everything,,,,,BUT,,,i used a different MC,,,,the one in the kit is a issue,,,the bore on the MC is too big,,,,so i swapped in a MC for a 73 Dart,,,,(20$ at NAPA),,,,,,,,,,
PV is also included,,,,,rubber lines,,clips,,,etc,,,

http://www.jegs.com/i/Stainless+Steel+Brakes/884/A156/10002/-1

[firefighter3931]

Doug, have you had the car out yet ? You might have to experiment with the PV to get the right (front>rear) braking bias.


Ron

[tommymac]

If I get a kit for power brakes do I have to get a new booster,I just replaced it.I just need a disc style master cly.Will they customize a kit for me?

[tommymac]

Would I be able to buy this kit and use the power booster setup I have now.

[tommymac]

Does the 73 dodge Dart Master Cly bolt up to my 68 power booster for Discs.

[tommymac]

I did all this and my brakes are worse now,Added a 73 Dart Master,and my peddel goes to the floor with minimal breaking.Ive got 25 " of vac with a pump,how tight should the rears be,also the booster was a cardone rebuilt last spring,It dosent seem right,What do I do?

[Foreman72]

check it out...this is what i'm doing...
http://www.moparaction.com/Tech/archive/disc-main.html

i believe it would fall under factory setup category

[Rolling_Thunder]

I do like the factory set up with the 11.75" rotors...       I will be putting that set up on my Satellite.

Master Power Brake sells their "kit" which is just all the factory Mopar stuff mentioned above but with the smaller 10.87" rotors...

Interesting note - I saw some of the 11.75" rotors on Ebay like $130 for them zinc coated, drilled and slotted...    looked pretty sweet...    I'll be doing this on the Satty and then adding different calipers later...    maybe Corvette calipers by PBR...   turns out this is the same thing Baer sells you   


Tommy - your problem may be air in the lines or the wrong diameter master cylinder...    I would double check what master you have...   

[tommymac]

Rolling; Its a Napa Reman 73 Dart with a .937 Bore size

[Rolling_Thunder]

hmmmm   excessive travel with little braking...    does the pedal go down a good distance before the brakes start to haul down the car ?

I would double check the power brake booster pushrod length - there should be no gap between the rod and the plunger in the rear of the master...    there should not be however ANY pressure on the plunger or your brakes will not release correctly...

The rear drums should be adjusted so there is very slight drag for a street car

[tommymac]

I think I found part of my problem I put the calipers on the wrong side,  the bleeders are on the bottom,BOY what a Dumb Ass I am.

[tommymac]

I just swapped the calipers and bled them ,it seems like I have good brakes,need to road test tommorrow.

[Rolling_Thunder]

I think I found part of my problem I put the calipers on the wrong side,  the bleeders are on the bottom,BOY what a Dumb Ass I am.

     That would be air in the lines buddy -  Glad you figured it out though   

[elacruze]

I wanted the factory 4 piston setup too, but the parts were impossible to find or impossibly expensive. From what I've heard, they aren't all that strong anyway. I've opted for the 11.75" rotor late model setup with PowerStop rotors, cryo treated;
http://www.powerstop.com/content.wws?fname=nitroblast.html

They won't plate them because the plating comes off from the inside and ruins the bearings they say. I'm going to have them nickel plated myself locally, sealing the inside and masking the pad area with tool handle rubber dip.

If I want more power later, AR Engineering makes adapters for other 4 piston calipers too;
http://www.arengineering.com/caliper_menu/calipermenu.html

I'm not sure I like the Viper setup as the bracket looks thin, but the Wilwood adapter looks very strong.

Eric

68 Charger R/T

[Rolling_Thunder]

I've installed the Viper adapters on a couple cars and they are by no means weak...    they also mount with 4 bolts instead of two and are 1/4 plate steel...