Thread: Question re. disc brakes on '40 Ford spindles

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Hi Everybody--I haven't retired from hotrodding, I've just been taking a break. I have to do something about the brakes on the front of the Wild Canary. I currently have 1940 Ford spindles with original drum brakes and shoes. I notice a pulsation in the brake peddle when I am coming down from 60 MPH to a stop, and without tearing it down, I am assuming an out of round front drum. I have an S10 rearend and new (5 years ago) drums and shoes on the rear, but since the rear brakes play a very small role in stopping a pickup, I'm not suspecting them. The old 40 Ford drum brakes are a pain in the keester to keep adjusted properly. I have a number of options available--#1--Fix what I have--if I'm lucky I can turn the drums and put in new shoes, but I will still be stuck with hard to adjust and maintain front brakes. #2--Keep the spindles, but change over to F100 style self energizing shoes, drums, and hubs.--I think this will give marginally better braking because of the self energizing of the shoes, but its going to cost a lot--any F100 parts are going to be worn out and will require new shoes, drums, cylinder kits--the works. #3--Look into a front disc brake set up (aftermarket) which will bolt to my spindles, will accept a modern set of discs, a modern caliper and still let me run my stock 14" front wheels without adapters, spacers, etcetera. I am running a Corvette dual chamber master cylinder with no power booster. About 15 years ago I bought an aftermarket set-up similar to this (can't remember who from) and it used Volare discs and Chev Monte Carlo calipers, and I think it worked with 40 Ford spindles. Any good advice from people who have actually made this change is welcome. If ya don't know for sure, or if you are repeating something you heard from somebody else but haven't done yourself, I don't want to hear about it.

I had brand new frt drums and turned rears on the '65 Rambler I had over the summer, but it still had a slight pulsation I couldn't figure out, but everything checked ok.. never figured it out, and sold the car in sept.. sorry I can't offer any other help, other than, maby the shoes are chattering on the drum causing a pulsation? I'v seen shoes glaze enough to do that... but new shoes or sanding the glaze on the old 1's is only going to band-aid the problem as it will come back... Speedway has a kit for '37-'48 Ford spindles that uses GM Metric stuff, but says it requires machining, so it would not be a direct fit setup like you want.. other than that, I don't know, but I'm sure there is somthing out there that will work.

Well Brian you know I am not running yet even though we started about the same time three years ago. I am currently sort of stuck looking at wires in a cold garage waiting for Spring, but for what it is worth I was able to put disk brakes on a 5" dropped axle with '37-'48 spindles. I used a Speedway "Econo Kit". Speedway shows three different kits and I don't recall which one I used but it did not require any machining, it was a simple bolt-on kit. The thing to do is just call Speedway on their 800 line and tell them what you want to do; the kit is probably in the $200-220 price range.The rotors appear to be from Dodge and the caliphers from '78-up midsize GM. Clearly the "kit" is a nightmare of kluged parts that somehow fit together but the beauty of the kit is that they have figured it out for you. I am pleased with the ready availablility of the rotors and caliphers and it went together easily but the combination of parts for the wheel bearings was strange and I kept all the parts boxes to remember what the wheel bearings are. With the kit my 14" rims fit fine and so far the only use of the brakes has been going off a flat bed as I haul it around to various shops, most recently to a muffler shop for 2 1/4" pipes, H connection and turbo mufflers. I put this kit together back in the beginning of the project when my optimism was high and the accumulated costs were low but it was a joy to put the front end together since I have wanted a dropped axle since first reading about them when I was 15! In retrospect a 4" drop might have been better but my country home driveway (about 350' of gravel) will probably get smoothed out with the 5" drop!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/Teen rodder

Well while I was off on speedways website trying to fine the part number, there were two replyes already!



INTERMEDIATE GM TO EARLY FORD, COMPLETE BRAKE KIT Item #: 91031954Price: $239.99 KT

you can read the pdf file linked below for the instructions....

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/images/pdf/910-31953.pdf

Thanks Guys. Don if you don't hurry up and finish that thing, you're going to be too old to drive it!!!

Brian, I know what you mean. I recall back in the '60s there was a guy in my neighborhood who had built a '30 Ford roadster out of a coupe similar to your canary but with the rumble rear. It was a beautiful robin egg blue but he was too old to drive it and his son was the driver! So far as long as I can pass the VA license every five years I can hope to get it on the road soon. Maybe this summer? The problem is that I am cranked up to work on the car but I just can't work in temps below 50 F anymore without getting a whopper of a head cold that seems to extend my forehead three inches or so. This year tried working in Nov. and Dec. with a full knitted cap but still got the dreaded "Delaware Valley Sinus Condition". I recall reading that there have been medical studies of the population that found more sinus infections in the greater DelMarVa area than anywhere else, probably due to the Chesapeake humidity. Maybe the Canadian cold is "dry"? From May to October I can get more done in a few hours than a full day at low temps, sorry no real excuse but I guess that is why they let us retire at 65!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

From an economic standpoint the disc swap will probably be the cheapest, even after you add a 2# resid valve and whatever other misc. parts you'll need.

I'll just throw out another alternative though not the cheapest. Speedway also sells repop "Lincoln" drum brakes, which is to say they're self energizing Bendix style that fits with your current hubs and drums (assuming they aren't your problem). They're 12" rather than the F100 11". They are available in 1 3/4" width shoe to match your stock ford stuff, or for the higher zoot approach the 2" wide shoes for use with the aluminum Buick drums. They get $400 for the pair of backing plate/brake assy and if you order by 1/11/09 they pay the shipping (might check if that applies to Canada though).

That speedway kit is what i have on 39 ford spindles and no machining required. I had 14 inch 5 on 4/34 nova wheels just to roll it in and out and it works great.