1964 Mustang Coupe, Front Disc Brake Conversion Description!
Since it's a rainy Sunday morning I thought I'd start this thread describing one option for a disc brake conversion. You may have seen some of this on a different thread but figured I’d bring it a little closer to the surface.
I'm converting to front disc brakes on my 1964.5, V8 coupe. I chose for this conversion the Stainless Steel Brake Corp's (SSBC), A120D conversion kit. This kit is for a '64-'66, V8, non-power, dual mastercylinder, front disc brake conversion.
I know there are many opinions for this type conversion, but I'm sold on SSBC. In my case time, and experience, are in shorter supply than money...
I'm not going into detail on the steps as the parts nearly mount themselves. The kit comes with easy instructions and EVERTHING you need. For those with a ‘64.5, SSBC even sells an adapter, which allows the mounting of your mastercylinder mounted brake light switch; something I didn’t discover until after I sent my pedal off for modification…
Pictures:
#1 start point #2 The kit. #3 Cleaning rotors w/ brake cleaner. #4 splash shield and mounting bracket; marked right and left; only 4 bolts #5 rotor and bearings; races in place, only need grease. #6 Caliper mounted; pads, flex hose, only 2 bolts #7 End of day one. Stopped here to start installing front steel lines. Total time to this point: 2 hours.
This has really been my kind of automotive experience; a complete, bolt-on, kit with easy instructions. Certainly not for everyone as each has their own requirements and limitations, but as I indicated before, I’m willing to pay to NOT have to visit junk yards or multiple parts stores…
Hope this helps more than just polishing my typing stills…
Very nice job in your description of the conversion. I'm almost willing to tackle the job now. How much extra tubing did you need to do the job or did you just buy a roll of it to re-do all your lines too ?
Very nice job in your description of the conversion. I'm almost willing to tackle the job now. How much extra tubing did you need to do the job or did you just buy a roll of it to re-do all your lines too ?
I used pre-bent / flared lines I bought from Auto Zone. If I was to do it again I would flare my own. The biggest challenge I've had is making a 20" line, fit in a 15" area...
Everything is in. I'll take some pics and post later.
Installation complete! This was definitely the most difficult part; made worse if you have large hands. As you can see there’s a lot packed into that small area. If this was done without the motor installed, I would have routed differently. As it is everything’s in place and lines aren’t touching. I also believe this would have been easier if the two master cylinder lines provided weren’t pre-bent; this narrowed the options on where to mount the proportioning valve. If I have leaks in this area I won’t be surprised because I had to install loose, and then didn’t have the room to get a wrench everywhere I would have liked.
The instructions advice bleeding by the gravity method. I’ve never heard this before but since I don’t have a brake pedal yet, I gave it a try. The front did exactly as described, but for some reason I got nothing out of the rear. I’m not sure why yet but it could be from a couple of things; proportioning valve, line routing, who knows… I'll try again after the pedal returns. If anyone has thoughts on this please share.
Well here are the pictures:
#1 mastercylinder and the rest… #2 same from above.
Actually that’s it. More to follow when I get my pedal, and I bleed.
Installation complete! This was definitely the most difficult part; made worse if you have large hands. As you can see there’s a lot packed into that small area. If this was done without the motor installed, I would have routed differently. As it is everything’s in place and lines aren’t touching. I also believe this would have been easier if the two master cylinder lines provided weren’t pre-bent; this narrowed the options on where to mount the proportioning valve. If I have leaks in this area I won’t be surprised because I had to install loose, and then didn’t have the room to get a wrench everywhere I would have liked.
The instructions advice bleeding by the gravity method. I’ve never heard this before but since I don’t have a brake pedal yet, I gave it a try. The front did exactly as described, but for some reason I got nothing out of the rear. I’m not sure why yet but it could be from a couple of things; proportioning valve, line routing, who knows… I'll try again after the pedal returns. If anyone has thoughts on this please share.
Well here are the pictures:
#1 mastercylinder and the rest… #2 same from above.
Actually that’s it. More to follow when I get my pedal, and I bleed.
Gary
Gary, CONGRATS ! THAT'S AWESOME ! Did you ever figure out the problem with the rear brakes?
"Hello.When you say that you had new brakes installed, does that mean that they replaced the shoes and turned the drums only?If so,you need to pull the drums off and have a look at the brake hardware.If you can't tell what color the springs used to be then you definitely need to replace all of that stuff.You should also be able to turn the adjusters by hand after prying the lock arm off of the star wheel enough to free it.If you can't then you need to replace them.That probably sounds more expensive than it actually is.All new stuff for all four wheels is well under a hundred bucks.The only part that is completely unavailable is the front drum anti-rattle spring that goes from shoe to shoe right underneath the wheel cylinders.Keep that one because you will need to re-use it.Hope that helps. "
Veronica,
I found the advice above when I was searching for info on adjusting the rear drums. I debated changing out everything since I was at it, but much like the rear cylinders, I perfer to do twice the work necessary. My poor planning aside, do you know if anyone sells complete rear brake hardware kits for the '64-'66's? I've searched a couple of places but no luck on "kits".
Hi again. You can still get all of the stuff for the rear drums at any major auto parts chain store like autozone. There will be a kit with all of the springs and nails and stuff. The shoes and the self-adjusters you buy seperately, but all together the stuff is very reasonably priced. There's a vendor here in Houston that sells vintage mustang parts and what he does is buy the stuff at O'Reilly's, double the price and sell it to some poor sap that doesn't know that he can still get the stuff at nearly any auto parts store in town. A sorry, sorry man. If your drum walls are too thin to turn them you can also get those brand new for something like sixty or seventy bucks. Hope that helps.
Hi again. It's the inner diameter of the drum. Yours will be 10 inch drums. It should be something cast into the drum itself that says something about if the I.D. is more than 10.125 replace it. There are also 2 inch and 2 1/2 inch shoes. Yours are the 2s. The 2 1/2s were for Shelbys and Galaxies. It's astounding how many parts for these cars are still available at auto parts stores, once you find a parts counter clerk with sufficient intelligence and education to look something up in a catalogue made out of pages instead of bytes, which, sadly, is much more difficult than one would suppose. Most stores have computer systems that only go back to 68 and when it comes to the dark art of looking something up in a book, many fall by the wayside.
Hi again. It's the inner diameter of the drum. Yours will be 10 inch drums. It should be something cast into the drum itself that says something about if the I.D. is more than 10.125 replace it. There are also 2 inch and 2 1/2 inch shoes. Yours are the 2s. The 2 1/2s were for Shelbys and Galaxies. It's astounding how many parts for these cars are still available at auto parts stores, once you find a parts counter clerk with sufficient intelligence and education to look something up in a catalogue made out of pages instead of bytes, which, sadly, is much more difficult than one would suppose. Most stores have computer systems that only go back to 68 and when it comes to the dark art of looking something up in a book, many fall by the wayside.
Exactly my experience yesterday. I was able to find AA part numbers on-line, but when I went to the store the girl there couldn't order, because she couldn't...
Finally, between NAPA and Autozone, I had my Sunday project parts. Below are my final brake pictures as I'm finished...
#1 Return spring kit from Autozone. $8.52 w/tax (does both sides, front or rear, with extras)
#2 Adjuster kit from NAPA. $12.00 each (need one for each side, different p/n's).
#3 Old rear springs and cylinder
#4 New rear springs and cylinder
That's it! I'm back to wiring next weekend.
BTW, my 14" inch wheels fit on the new SSBC front disc conversion.
You have aftermarket wheels though that are at least 7 inchers. The stock 14X5 inch wheels will not fit. Glad you got her all buttoned up. What wiring do you need to do?
You have aftermarket wheels though that are at least 7 inchers. The stock 14X5 inch wheels will not fit. Glad you got her all buttoned up. What wiring do you need to do?
I'm replacing all the '64 wiring harnesses with new '65's. I started at the taillights and stopped at the firewall so I wouldn't have to work on new brake lines around my new wires. I'll start back with the headlight harness, then engine, then the new duraspark; hope to have it running next weekend.
Then move windows, from old doors, to the new ones...
1964 Mustang Coupe, Front Disc Brake Conversion Description! 
Congratulations.
If your drum walls are too thin to turn them you can also get those brand new for something like sixty or seventy bucks. Hope that helps.
