Thread: Who has replaced front drums with discs and no power brakes---and ran them??

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Lot of money yes! But if you can stop quicker and shorter you can save that and more if you ever need to stop quickly in an emergency situation. It's money well spent where it counts.

I have non-boosted discs on my 33 coupe. It takes a fair amount of leg to stop the car. It does, however, stop real well. I think the biggest factor is that I am used to power brakes so manual brakes seem like a lot of effort.

I did a disc brake conversion on my 1930 Ford coupe with '40 Ford spindles. I have a dual master cylinder mounted under the floor. Under normal driving conditions I feel the need to pump the brakes. They do not feel right on the first application of the pedel. I have bled the brakes and installed the residual pressure valves front and rear and have an adjustable proportioning valve for the rear. I believe the problem lies in the fact that the master cylinder is below the calipers in front and can never be bled properly. If I pump the brakes just once, then it feels fine and stops really good.
With that being said, I had an emergency stop on the way to the NSRA nats at Richmond in 2006. A car turned in front of me at an intersection and I locked the brakes up in a panic stop without pumping them. They worked fine although my hotrod was severly damaged.
Bottom line is, I have the car back together now with no change in the brakes and I have to assume they are OK do the the fact that they stopped the car in an emergency as was expected.

Originally Posted by dans30

I did a disc brake conversion on my 1930 Ford coupe with '40 Ford spindles. I have a dual master cylinder mounted under the floor. Under normal driving conditions I feel the need to pump the brakes. They do not feel right on the first application of the pedel. I have bled the brakes and installed the residual pressure valves front and rear and have an adjustable proportioning valve for the rear.

What front calipers are you using?

Bob

I used a kit from ECI back in the early 90's with standard GM calipers on my 1930 Ford.

My 2c, our 55 has manual disc front/drum rear and stops fine at +100mph. As for pedal pressure, I don't notice any difference. But since I only run it at the track my heart rate is up a little! I also used the Corvette master. Yes, it does get pricey!!

Originally Posted by dans30

I used a kit from ECI back in the early 90's with standard GM calipers on my 1930 Ford.

Would that be the '78-'87 A / G body "metric" calipers or the earlier A body calipers? I've heard of problems with the "metric" calipers. Been told they are "low drag" to retract the pads more than the earlier type, and this can result in a low pedal when not used with a quick take up master cylinder. I've got them on my T roadster, and have the same phenomenon, but It could be just air in the system.

Bob

My T uses Wilwood, non power assisted disc brakes up front with a mustang master cylinder and a 8 inch rear end with drums. That set up hauls the t down with very little effort! I had 69 GTO disc brakes on the front before I switched over to the Wilwood set up and it was fine too (Just too heavy of a brake set up for the little t) Don Jr.

Originally Posted by brianrupnow

So---Today I ordered up a complete front disc brake set-up for the roadster pickup, from Hortons in Milton. Rotor & hub combination, calipers, pucks, brackets to mount calipers, bearings, spindle bearing adapters, and requisite nuts and bolts. This is to go on '40 Ford spindles which are currently running '40 drums and shoes. and the price for purchase, Goods and Service tax, sales tax, and shipping??--Step back---step way back----$874.00. Yeeouch!!! Damn that hurt...

Good grief - that's a lot of bucks, CDN or USD or any other currency you want to spend!!