Disc Brake Conversions.....

[wagonwedge330]

I’m sure this brake bullshizz has been talked to death, but if the wonderful folk here on FBBO don’t mind a re-visit, I would appreciate any input!
I have a 1963 Polara that’s a combination 70,000 mile original car, with some upgrades carefully done to make it a jump in go anywhere driver ....however, the brakes are non power with the only upgrades being a dual MC added, and 11” drum brakes I got from my buds rotting away 1968 RR he used for parts when he restored his RR. The brakes are actually pretty good, but upon having to stop quickly a few weeks ago, I have pondered a different brake upgrade. Has anyone used one of the new Wilwood Pro Series front disc conversions kits? Wilwood claims these new PSeries kits (Wilwood part no 140-11020), are designed specifically to keep wheel / tire tracking as close as possible to factory, and the kits won’t kick the front wheels out, (everyone’s seen them that stick way out then everything else becomes an
Issue), anyway, Wilwood swears there’s only 0.05” difference from factory tracking and cannot tell visually.
Has Anyone used one of these kits, or maybe familiar or know someone whos had any experience with this kit?
The other thing I would appreciate any feedback, comments, or recommendations on....is there any particular factory, (or looks close to factory), brake booster that anyone has actually used or has experience with or know works well, I had already thought about keeping the RR drum brakes and convert them to power, however, we all know this is much easier said than done! I appreciate everyone’s tine. Thank you....and I apologize for any shitty spelling.. thanks

 

[dadsbee]

'69 Dart I bought (with manual brakes) and that I'm picking up this week has Wilwood's on the front. All I know at this point is they are a direct bolt on to replace the 10" drum assembly on the A bodies. Nothing stands out to me that wheel placement looks any different.. EDIT to add.. I just looked on their website and my car probably has their 023 kit on it, says it widens track by 0.2" on each side.. almost 1/2".

 

[67charger383]

 

[Dodge 330]

I did the Wilwood Pro Street kit (vented rotors) that bolts to the drum spindles. Very happy with it. Not sure it it moves the wheel in or out as I never ran the car with drums. They have lots of street miles and bring the car down from 133 mph on the track just fine.

 

[Dodge 330]

Please don't bring that hack "Drunkle Tony" into any serious conversation about brakes!

 

[67charger383]

Please don't bring that hack "Drunkle Tony" into any serious conversation about brakes!

Please don't bring that hack "Drunkle Tony" into any serious conversation about brakes!

Someone's mad because they just spent hundreds on discs

 

[wagonwedge330]

I did the Wilwood Pro Street kit (vented rotors) that bolts to the drum spindles. Very happy with it. Not sure it it moves the wheel in or out as I never ran the car with drums. They have lots of street miles and bring the car down from 133 mph on the track just fine.

View attachment 1034020

Thanks very much for posting the photo, the wheels on your ‘63 look like they should. I don’t get these kits that when installed stick the wheels out, some put the tire/wheel even with the fender, and It looks like hell to me. I’m sure every marquee has suffered from this early on, until someone or company steps up! You ‘63 Looks great! Thanks

 

[Dodge 330]

Someone's mad because they just spent hundreds on discs

I don't put a price on my safety. I get what I need.

I've experienced drum brake fade in a BB 'Cuda and it will never happen again!

 

[Dodge 330]

Thanks very much for posting the photo, the wheels on your ‘63 look like they should. I don’t get these kits that when installed stick the wheels out, some put the tire/wheel even with the fender, and It looks like hell to me. I’m sure every marquee has suffered from this early on, until someone or company steps up! You ‘63 Looks great! Thanks

Thanks! It's far from finished but I'm having fun with it.

We race some small, short shutdown tracks and the car weighed 3,720 lbs. this weekend (with some ballast) so it takes a lot to whoah it up!

 

[Darter6]

My buddy did a complete "Ram Man" power disc job on his 64 Dodge
Ram Man has some you tube vids on the subject
Now some hate the Ram Man but my buddy was happy with the parts and how the car turned out.
Just a thought.

 

[68gtxman]

Drum brakes are worthless if they get wet. Discs will stop you wet or dry.

 

[wagonwedge330]

Thanks! It's far from finished but I'm having fun with it.

We race some small, short shutdown tracks and the car weighed 3,720 lbs. this weekend (with some ballast) so it takes a lot to whoah it up!

I would love to build a fun car like this, in fact, I found one in California, however If in forking over twenty I what to drive it to more than races, but I did consider selling the cvert lol, but came to my senses! I love what your doing there, the car looks awesome on launch!
I did decide to build a Max Wedge clone replica etc, obviously I probably won’t be racing it (I don’t think), maybe at a nostalgic event, anyway sorry got off subject, cool car and thanks for the input.

 

[Centerline]

I used mid 70's "A" body knuckles and manual disks on my '64 Polara including the master cylinder. Everything is a bolt on and saved me $$$ over aftermarket kits. Works perfectly.

 

[wagonwedge330]

Drum brakes are worthless if they get wet. Discs will stop you wet or dry.

Something I had not thought of, but your right. Thanks for reminding me of this!

I used mid 70's "A" body knuckles and manual disks on my '64 Polara including the master cylinder. Everything is a bolt on and saved me $$$ over aftermarket kits. Works perfectly.

View attachment 1034394[/
I was hoping someone would post a swap using all MoPar, I appreciate this! There’s so much bullshit info on the interweb these days, it becomes difficult to figure any of it out! Thanks again!

 

[Commando66]

Call Dr Diff and only spend about $450 for factory engineered front disc brakes. You can fit 14” steel wheels if so desired. They work great on my 67 Belvedere.

 

[wagonwedge330]

Call Dr Diff and only spend about $450 for factory engineered front disc brakes. You can fit 14” steel wheels if so desired. They work great on my 67 Belvedere.

I saw one of Dr Diff ads looking up brake kits and thought about giving them a call, so I’m glad you posted this. I already converted to 15” wheels several years ago when I did a slight suspension mod to lower the car a wee bit. My concerns with swapping to discs brakes is the way most disc brk kits move the wheel/tire tracking out, some so much it kicks the tires out to far almost looks like the tire hangs outside the fenddr, I don’t like the look, not to mention dips in the roads can cause the tire to give fender a quick scrub, depending on the size tire etc. some kits don’t move the wheel out as much, and I’ve seen enough early BBody with db conversions that look like they are factory, and it’s the main reason I posted this to gather as much info befits running out half cocked. I’m not the only one who notices this, but the multitude magazine tech articles seem to mention nothing about this! I believe its the same issue as the Trifive Chev crowd had for 30 yrs, the rotors. My dad loved 55 Chevys, (although MoPars his fav), he hated discs on them due to this issue, I remember his excitement when the first kits designed came out that left the wheel where it should be, and the rotor where the studs press in was much thinner. Wilwood makes a kit as Dodge330 posted I went to their web saw the new Pro Line, they claim it keeps the tracking within a 0.05” or less Sorry to ramble on and on, I certainly appreciate your reply, and really dig your ‘66 ..... awesome car!

 

[Jhn824]

I used mid 70's "A" body knuckles and manual disks on my '64 Polara including the master cylinder. Everything is a bolt on and saved me $$$ over aftermarket kits. Works perfectly.

View attachment 1034394

Would you happen to have a parts list of what you used...I have a 65 Belvedere...I would imagine everything would be the same.

 

[Darter6]

I've seen the wider tracking on the A body conversions (1 1/2'') because Chrysler,in 1973 used parts from the B body parts bin to make up the needs for the A body. I never noticed this on the B/C/E cars.
This Valiant had the 73-up Power Disc set up. Running 14x5'' front rims and 15x7'' rears with a 4 1/4''back space made the tracking equal.The car also had 2'' drop spindles. Just a thought.

 

[Commando66]

@wagonwedge330 i was going to reply to your concerns with the extra track width but @Darter6 beat me to it. It was a concern of mine too because I did the 73+ a-body conversion on my 66 Barracuda and it did push the wheels out. On my 67 Belvedere it’s not a concern. I test fit some 8” wheels up front with 4” of backspace with plenty of clearance.

 

[Centerline]

Here is an article by Street Muscle Magazine that goes into detail on the mid 70's "A" body disk conversion for early "B" bodies. It should help. https://www.streetmusclemag.com/tec...ng-front-drum-brakes-with-factory-disc-parts/

Also below is a pic of my '64 with that conversion using stock Mopar 15" wheels so you can see the track width.. which to me anyway doesn't seem to be any wider than the stock drum setup.