Suspension rebuild and disc brake swap...by a noob for noobs
With the disc-brake spindles already on the car, the rest of the disc brake system was quite easy. My "new" spindles came with their old wheel bearings, but I decided to replace them with new ones from Napa. I figured the importance/price ratio for wheel bearings is pretty high. Following the directions in the shop manual, I packed the rotor cavity and inner bearing with grease (I used the red, stringy high-temp stuff), then I tapped in the inner seal using a PVC pipe connector. I packed the outer bearing, lightly greased the spindle, and mounted the rotor followed by the outer bearing, washer, and nut. I tightened the nut, then backed it off just enough to install the castle piece and cotter pin. I lightly greased the inside of the wheel dust cap and tapped it in with a hammer, 2x4, and screwdriver.
Before installing the calipers, I put the rubber-band things on the bracket grooves. On one bracket the rubber wouldn't stay in place because its groove was too worn, but even when it slipped off the bracket edge it didn't completely fall off. I guess the purpose of the rubber is to prevent the pads and calipers from rattling. The inner pad goes onto the bracket before the caliper, but the outer pad is placed in the caliper before the caliper goes on. Following the shop manual, I hammered the flanges of the outer pad to make the pad press fit onto the caliper:
I slid the caliper onto the bracket (over the inner pad) and attached it to the bracket via the clip and anti-rattle spring.
One one side of the car I overtorqued one of the bolts and broke off the head.
Bummer. I went to Sears, bought a kit to drill out bolts, and started drilling the pilot hole for the removing tool. I didn't get the kit with special bits for drilling pilot holes, so I used my 5/32" regular bit, which gave its life in the process. I guess the bolt metal was just as hard as the bit metal. Anyway, as I was drilling the pilot hole, the bolt shaft started turning with it, and I was able to back out the shaft just by reversing the drill, without even using the tool I had bought. He was a good bit; may he rest in peace.
Actually I put him back with his friends. I think he can still be of service.
Here's how the clip and spring go on:
To connect the rubber brake hose to the caliper, I had to get 7/16" banjo bolts from Napa because they didn't come with the calipers or hoses (see '73-up brake hoses, caliper bolts?). Here's the banjo bolt.
With the banjo bolt installed, I connected the hose to the hard line and clipped the connector to the frame. When both left and right sides were done, I connected the master cylinder lines and topped up the brake fluid. I tried gravity bleeding one caliper but nothing came out. Anyway, here's a shot of my beautiful new disc brakes:
Next up: setting the old girl back on her feet.
With the disc-brake spindles already on the car, the rest of the disc brake system was quite easy. My "new" spindles came with their old wheel bearings, but I decided to replace them with new ones from Napa. I figured the importance/price ratio for wheel bearings is pretty high. Following the directions in the shop manual, I packed the rotor cavity and inner bearing with grease (I used the red, stringy high-temp stuff), then I tapped in the inner seal using a PVC pipe connector. I packed the outer bearing, lightly greased the spindle, and mounted the rotor followed by the outer bearing, washer, and nut. I tightened the nut, then backed it off just enough to install the castle piece and cotter pin. I lightly greased the inside of the wheel dust cap and tapped it in with a hammer, 2x4, and screwdriver.
Before installing the calipers, I put the rubber-band things on the bracket grooves. On one bracket the rubber wouldn't stay in place because its groove was too worn, but even when it slipped off the bracket edge it didn't completely fall off. I guess the purpose of the rubber is to prevent the pads and calipers from rattling. The inner pad goes onto the bracket before the caliper, but the outer pad is placed in the caliper before the caliper goes on. Following the shop manual, I hammered the flanges of the outer pad to make the pad press fit onto the caliper:
I slid the caliper onto the bracket (over the inner pad) and attached it to the bracket via the clip and anti-rattle spring.
One one side of the car I overtorqued one of the bolts and broke off the head.
Bummer. I went to Sears, bought a kit to drill out bolts, and started drilling the pilot hole for the removing tool. I didn't get the kit with special bits for drilling pilot holes, so I used my 5/32" regular bit, which gave its life in the process. I guess the bolt metal was just as hard as the bit metal. Anyway, as I was drilling the pilot hole, the bolt shaft started turning with it, and I was able to back out the shaft just by reversing the drill, without even using the tool I had bought. He was a good bit; may he rest in peace.
Actually I put him back with his friends. I think he can still be of service.
Here's how the clip and spring go on:
To connect the rubber brake hose to the caliper, I had to get 7/16" banjo bolts from Napa because they didn't come with the calipers or hoses (see '73-up brake hoses, caliper bolts?). Here's the banjo bolt.
With the banjo bolt installed, I connected the hose to the hard line and clipped the connector to the frame. When both left and right sides were done, I connected the master cylinder lines and topped up the brake fluid. I tried gravity bleeding one caliper but nothing came out. Anyway, here's a shot of my beautiful new disc brakes:
Next up: setting the old girl back on her feet.