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Will disc brakes work without power assist?

daytona kid

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My 68 Charger came with power drum brakes but I have converted the front to disk. I would like to do away with the power brake booster stuff and just go with a simple stock type non-power master cylinder. Will this work ok? A bud said if you have disks you have to have power.
 
It will work just fine, tell your bud he doesn't know what he is talking about.

You just need a non power master as you stated.
 
I have manual front disk brakes on my 65 Sport Fury, 65 Belvedere, 79 Volare, and a bunch of other Mopars I no longer own. I wouldn't have it any other way. I think most manual setups have a brake pedal lever with a higher ratio that makes up (some) for the lack of assist. Works great and is simple and clean looking in my engine compartments.
If you drove my Fury or Volare (without looking) you would not know they had manual brakes. My Belvedere is a little stiff (firm) but I believe it is because I need to replace my rear wheel cylinders.
 
My 68 Charger came with power drum brakes but I have converted the front to disk. I would like to do away with the power brake booster stuff and just go with a simple stock type non-power master cylinder. Will this work ok? A bud said if you have disks you have to have power.

Yes, I believe so...:thinker:
 
I've done manual disc on several cars and planning on doing so on my 71RR and 71 Dart.
Manual disc was a factory option on a-bodies. Have a couple 71 Darts with factory manual disc.
Tell your buddy to put down the crack pipe.
 
So if you have a standard, non-power drum setup and convert to disk brakes, can the same mater cylinder be used, or are the manual disk and manual drum master cylinders different?

Thanks,

Hawk
 
So if you have a standard, non-power drum setup and convert to disk brakes, can the same mater cylinder be used, or are the manual disk and manual drum master cylinders different?

Thanks,

Hawk

I did on my pro street car and it worked just fine. Not saying this will work for you, tons of variables. But with a stock master and Wilwoods, mine works just fine.
 
Another 2 cents... I was told any type of disc setup, you need power assist. However what do they run in race cars? Disc and manual master setup from what I have seen and been told. They all may not be that way?

I have wilwood disc all the way around. 69 Charger, I just took out the power assist (off the vacuum) and put in a new wilwood manual master with a 15/16 bore and brakes are fantastic. The pedal is a little higher than I thought it would be, but works great.

Good luck!
 
Should use a master with a larger reservoir for disc as they take more fluid volume than drums

- - - Updated - - -

Another 2 cents... I was told any type of disc setup, you need power assist. However what do they run in race cars? Disc and manual master setup from what I have seen and been told. They all may not be that way?

Good luck!

As I stated before manual disc was a factory option on A-bodies.
 
It sort of depends on your own strength. If your legs can supply the extra pressure, you'll do fine without power assist. It's more of a convenience, not a necessity. For example, if your engine dies on the highway and you lose your vacuum, the car can still be stopped. It just takes more effort. A manual brake will need less effort than a dead power assisted brake.

For the same reason, you don't really need ABS. I just manually pump my brakes between 12-20 times per second, and no lock-up. :)
 
Are you going to race it ?? Works fine with the proper parts. I had to switch to the best pads I could find to reduce the pucker factor in the shutdown.
 
When I rebuilt my Charger, I got rid of the power drums all around and went instead with manual disc/drum. I think it is great and will be doing the same conversion to my Road Runner this winter (which is now a manual drum car). I bought the whole kit from Pirate Jack. You will need a manual master cylinder, backing plate, and push rod in addition to the disc kit. Just about forgot - you will also need the proportioning valve for that setup, which is around $100.
 
Are you going to race it ?? Works fine with the proper parts. I had to switch to the best pads I could find to reduce the pucker factor in the shutdown.
Yes I am going racing but we have a 3/4 mile shut down area.
 
So if you have a standard, non-power drum setup and convert to disk brakes, can the same mater cylinder be used, or are the manual disk and manual drum master cylinders different?

Thanks,

Hawk

They are different. You want a MC with a larger reservoir for the front Disc. More fluid volume required. Additionally no residual pressure valve at the Disc port. G
 
You will also want to be sure that the master cylinder that you use does not have the residual valves on the inlets where your lines connect. They are basically one way check valves and need to be removed so that pressure can be released from the caliper piston, so brake pads can retract.
 
This might help............

74DartMast.jpg
 
The residual check valve is behind the flare fitting inside the master cylinder and can be removed by use a metal screw and cutters to remove the flare "seal". Then just remove the valve and spring and retap in the fitting. This is where the brake line connects to the master cylinder and is under that.

I have converted one car from power brakes to manual and it was about the same pressure to stop. All the parts matched and were just modified(valve removed). I do not remember if I used new parts or transferred the parts from a driving car, but I think they were used.
 
My 65 Fury and 65 Belvedere were both manual drum front/back. I used a C-body disk setup from a 73 Newport (was power disk) on the Fury and I used an A-body setup on my Belvedere. On both cars, I used a factory manual disk brake master cylinder for a 76 Volare. I have not ever had any problems with either car. The 76 Volare uses a cast iron master cylinder so it looks right at home in a 65 engine compartment. If you prefer an aluminum/plastic one, they were used on a 79 Volare. I converted my 79 Volare wagon from power disk to manual disk brakes and you wouldn't know the difference unless you peeked under the hood.
 
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