just ordered my frt disc brakes

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OUTLAW

OUTLAW

Master of All Mopars
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Just got off the phone with Scarebird Mechanical from ordering my front disc brake conversion kit for the dart barracuda 10 inch brakes5x4 setup . Very nice people ! This is a direct bolt on conversion using your original spindles and hubs for under $100 plus calipers and rotors (beats wilwood by $400 and retains the 5x4 bolt circle).
 
Mark is a good guy. I got my conversion from him and I'm planning on installing it later this month. Should work out real well.

Did you get the first design or the second?
 
I guess this would be the 2nd design as they just got the plates back from the metal workers last week and dont even have these listed on the site. These are for the 10 inch brake cars not the 9inch so that may be what makes 1st and 2nd design ???. Y a I had fun talking to him and discussing the design. I am planning on doing a indepth install article and he wants me to send him a copy and any improvements I make on design and hoses
 
link or number that I can call? I was interested in disk brakes, but did not want to have to change balljoint size or spindle. Does that one retain the drum brake spindle?
 
yes you use your present spindle and hub...pitch the backing plate and drum ...bolt on their adaptor plate mount rotor on your hub (you have to redrill for 4 inch bolt circle ...mount caliper and hose and enjoy

addy is http://www.scarebird.com





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or phone (425) 422-0273 9am-5pm Pacific Time Monday thru Friday

or by mail to: Scarebird Mechanical
PO Box 6266
Lynnwood, WA
98036

We ship using DHL ground in continental US, and use the US postal service otherplaces.
 
There's two styles of the 10" drum brackets. I have the first style (only two sets were made). If the brackets you got just came back then they are the second or revised design.

To bleed the brakes with the brackets I have, the front of the car needs to be jacked up a bit so that the bleeder is at the top of the resivoir. Mark was sharp enough to catch this so he changed the design. Smart guy ehh.

The design retains your stock drum brake spindle but on the 9" drum spindle, it has to be modified. I'll send you the install instructions and part numbers for car-quest with prices too if anyone is interested.

The metal work is excellent, welds look perfect, and the service was outstanding. Two Big Thumbs Up from Silver State Mopars. :thumrigh:
 
ya we were talking about the "mod" to the 9 inch spindles ..... that will turn off some prospective buyers ...he is looking to improve that design and looking for 62-65 ford galaxy spindle set up to start design on those too...one busy dude
soon as I get these on and documented I'm going after the rear discs for the 8 3/4 w/4.5 bolt circle
I think a 68 cuda w/4 wheel disc would be cool as hell on cruise nites ... not to mention stop on a dime with 9 cents change
 
When you starting your install? I'm gonna do it later this month (after the spring fling). We can compare notes too. I got a bunch of the pictures taken already since I had a bunch of the front end off during this last round of "resto rooster goes to town" action.

Stop on a dime...with 9-1/2 cents change :D
 
i'm sorry, but what size drums would be stock on my 72 swinger (318/904/7.25 stock drivetrain)? Can I still do the swap? Also, how do I have to drill for the stock bolt pattern?
 
You should have 10" drums on that car. V8 cars normally have the larger drums. This upgrade can still be done, it's just easier and the brackets are cheaper by $10.

As far as the re-drilling the rotors goes, you will recieve a template so that you get it right. I would reccomend that you have a machine shop do it though. They will have the right bit, a good drill press, and they have the abbility to get the holes centered exactly. Mark at Scarebird had a set of rotors and he drilled them for me when I bought the Brackets.

I can do this too. Just let me know and we can get you a salvage yard set or a new set.
 
I expect them to get here Wednes day so I am going out to purchase new calipers tonight so I will be ready. Probably grab new rotors same time and while waiting tear it down and clean it all up for photo purposes. As a tip ...copy the template on your computer and before using soak (not soak...oil down) the template in oil to help locate it on the hub. I will drill out myself as I have everything to do it right. One thing Marc was interested in was the brake hose routing as that seems to be a subjective matter, but I have a killer idea already from doing imports and how they route a lot of their hoses.

17dartandbroke
tip dont try saving a buck when you get your calipers ...buy the loaded ones it will come with all the hardware and pads

snowymountainman
you bet we can compare notes ...it will help everyone in the long run

which calipers and rotors did the 1st version recomend ?
 
The first version used 79 trans Am calipers. the new ones use caprice calipers.
 
or fleetwood fwd calipers i believe too..either way they are cheap ...LOL oh and available ..LOL
 
I was under the impression that the calipers I needed were the 86-92 4wd S-10 calipers. Maybe I should call him and find out. I'm assuming that they would be the same as the 9" setup but maybe it's a better setup.

And yes, buy the loaded calipers. Cheaper in the long run and you get all the parts for one price.

Brake hose routing should be very simple. I have a few ideas for that too but only time will tell.
 
the rotors are s-10 4wd but the guy at advance said those are the same as the fleetwood rears ...we'll see about that too ...LOL
calipers could use either celebrity or fleetwood FWD

just got back from picking up my calipers and rotors from advance auto

total cost so far

scarebird $80.00
shipping $ 8.00
caliper L $32.28 part # 164195
caliper R $41.88 part #164194
rotors 2 $47.94 part #yh141261
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$ 210.10 sub total
core chrg $ 30.00
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$ 240.10




wilwood cost $580.00
 
I forgot to ask marc when I ordered but I have a email into him and should here back today
you could get by with the stock m/c especially with a adjustable proportioning valve but I recommend a later a-body w disc brakes one like a 74 dart or so.Since I am going 4 wheel disc I will probably use one from a transam or caddillac ...gotta see what Marc recommends
 
The thing I like best about my ignorance is that it is so easily countered by simply getting the facts from the folks who know. That said, one of the articles I read about converting early A body fronts to disk brakes, using junkyard MOPAR parts, the author said he wouldn,t use the 9" spindles and ball joints on anything he wasn't pushing around his yard by hand. That guy presented himself as being knowledgable, so I had crossed the idea of keeping the 9" stuff on my '63 Dart coupe. Then I say the Scarebird stuff being talked about, and keeping the 9" stuff came up again. So, just how much smaller and weaker _are_ the 9" spindles and their small ball joints, as opposed to the later A body parts everyone I saw was pushing before Scarebird came along?
 
I would say it all depends on what you're planning on doing with your car. If you're just drag racing or doing some street cruising, the small ball joints should be just fine. Its not like you see tons of them breaking all over the place. But if you plan on doing some road racing and hanging some high G turns, then you might want to go with the larger ball joints and tubular control arms.
 
The lower ball joints carry the weight of the car. The upper ball joints just stabilize the top of the spindle. Most of the loading it sees is side loading due to braking and steering.

Having said that, the purpose of putting discs on the car is to improve braking performance. Well to do that, something has to absorb the extra energy. And think about this, the front brakes contibute 80-90% of the braking power because of weight transfer. I don't pretend to know exactly how much of that force is put on the upper ball joint, but it HAS to be some.

Another thing to consider is tires. Those drum brakes and spindles were designed for little skinny bias ply tires. I am running 215/60 radial tires on the front of my Dart. That is considerably more tire (larger contact patch, stickier compound, more weight, etc) than what the suspension and brakes were designed for, and I am sure it increases the loading forces tremendously on the ball joints and suspension bushings.

So it's like Hawaiiduster says, if it's a strip car, or limited weekend cruiser, then the smaller ball joint are probably fine. But for a car that will see agressive street driving or autocrossing, definately go with the biggest and best you can get.
 
i am almost done with the book "performance handling for classic mopars" by Tom Condran and it says to be sure you NEVER use you drum brake master cyclinder with the disc brake conversion. It explains the front and rear bias is wrong for discs. Just passing that along.
 
What's the status, OUTLAW? Looking forward to your write-up. Am going to do this conversion, and will appreciate your personal experience.
 
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