Front disc brake conversion

Anyone out there had much experience with the kits to convert drum to disc brakes? (70 Mustang w/14" Magnum wheels) Some kits say you must use 15" or larger wheels. From what I can tell between the different kits, with ones that say you can use 14" wheels are cast iron single piston calipers and ones that say 15" or larger wheels use aluminum 4 piston calipers. Anything inherently bad about single piston calipers? Still an improvement over front drum brakes? Any experience in swapping Granada brakes? One site said the Granada brakes change suspension geometry. Any preference in companies that offer the kits? SSBC, MasterPower? Anyone done a swap with Scarebird parts (ranger hubs with GM calipers)?

Granada spindles only change the '65/'66 geometry. '67 up are fine. Some Granadas came with 14 inch Magnums but be careful as some early (1960's) Magnums may not fit discs. Aftermarkets kits will most likely not fit anything smaller than 15"

For a stock style upgrade Granada stuff is fine.

I used SSBC on my 66 coupe. Cast iron 4 piston, fit the 14 in. rims iI have no problem and ues the stock spindles. If I had to do it over I would not get the power kit (no need in a lite car and it was a mother to install the booster). From what I have read the MP kits are very good also and I think alittle cheaper.

Did you know disc brakes will slow the et on a car ? The piston when you mash the brake does not let off compleatly from the stage line . The caliber still holds the car back somewhat when you leave the line .

I took off the disc brakes on a 66 fairlane that someone placed on the car back to a soft shoe brake because of that . Disc didnot come on a fairlane till 67 anyway . The shoe brake with soft pads acually stop the car better than disc as well on my car . Just a thought to share .

Depends - on the calipers and the wheels. I've run two cars with the "Granada" single piston swap and 14" wheels. One with Magnums and one with 14" aluminum slots. Typically, but not always, you'll have to take a grinder the the caliper casting line to get a little clearance with the wheel. Ain't no big thing.

As far as single piston calipers go - both race cars have them and stop just fine. The Falcon weighs 3250 and runs 94 MPH in the 1/8 mile, so that's quite a bit of heat dissipated every run. Figure 500 runs a year.

I'd rather have disks and lose a minuscule amount of ET - I use organic pads and we don't have any problem with brake fade.

Thanks for all the input. Anyone ever used ABS Co. kits? The Best in Brakes & Steering... Their kit is a little cheaper than SSBC. $900 vs $1443. They list their kit as "OEM Kelsey-Hayes front disc brake kit". Mean anything to anyone? Didn't see a proportioning valve listed in their kits which I think you need. (May be wrong?) All these companies kits are a little different in what they leave out. Some with spindles some without. Dust shields not included in some. Makes it hard to compare apples to apples. I'll have to make a list and check off what I think I need and what each has and what the extra parts bring the total to to find out which is really the better deal.

The cheapest way out (IMO) is to use the OEM setup particular to your year MUSTANG. The MAGNUMS should clear with no problem as they were also an option on the disc brake cars. Offset is also taken into account for a wheel to clear a caliper housing.

Make a old man sleep better at night and don't hang an aftermarket GM based kit on a FORD...

Originally Posted by KULTULZ

The cheapest way out (IMO) is to use the OEM setup particular to your year MUSTANG. The MAGNUMS should clear with no problem as they were also an option on the disc brake cars. Offset is also taken into account for a wheel to clear a caliper housing.

Make a old man sleep better at night and don't hang an aftermarket GM based kit on a FORD...

Amen Brother!

I have heard good things about the Scarebird kits. However I'm not crazy about the spacer they use to push the hub out a bit and of course metric GM calipers? yuch! Personally I would use the Granada or '68 up full floaters on it. The down side of the '68 style is they really have a lot of hardware clips and stuff whereas the Granada is way simpler.

I have Granada's on my '67.

More disc brake conversion - I already have the spindles and single piston calipres on her, got a new MC and SSBC Dist/Prop valve combo to go on. Last thing I would like to upgrade are the hoses, the braided steel seem the way to go.

From what I can see, the single piston calipres are pretty generic for early 70's Mustangs, Torinos, Granadas etc - I am assuming the hoses for a 69 - 70 Mustang will work as well? Anyone tackled the braided steel hoses on this Granada disc upgrade?
Thanks.

Originally Posted by Gydyup

More disc brake conversion - I already have the spindles and single piston calipres on her, got a new MC and SSBC Dist/Prop valve combo to go on. Last thing I would like to upgrade are the hoses, the braided steel seem the way to go.

From what I can see, the single piston calipres are pretty generic for early 70's Mustangs, Torinos, Granadas etc - I am assuming the hoses for a 69 - 70 Mustang will work as well? Anyone tackled the braided steel hoses on this Granada disc upgrade?
Thanks.

Granada/ Monarch/ Maverick/ Comet single piston floaters are totally different animals than the '68 up Mustang units. The original Mustang single piston units use a "bango" bolt style hose and the Granada's use a direct screw in hose. The early single piston units were used on '68 to '73 Mustang/ Cougars and intermediates from '68 to '71 BTW.
Not 100 % sure but I think Mustang II calipers are the same as Granada's. The MII just use a smaller rotor and spindle set