Thoughts on Drum to Disc Conversions…

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Monstro_bjj said:
Scarebird? Happen to have a link?
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You got rotors that need to be re-drilled. Not off shelf. Does the rotor need a rotor adapter (ring) between the rotor and hub? or is that just with 73-76 Drum spindles?

Not a fan of that stamped steel caliper adapter. They have put welded in nuts to hold the floating caliper bolt now. Welding can warp the nuts.

I don't doubt it works for people. Just if you are trying to go 5 on 4.5 I think the stock stuff just is a stouter more bulletproof system.
 
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harrisonm said:
I thought SSBC was gone. That is what I heard. I have an SSBC conversion, and I really like it.
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Risen from the ashes like the Phoenix.
Restructured with new location and new capital, leaving behind debts of millions owed to customers, employees and vendors. Good news for those who need replacement parts, however.
 
S'cuder said:
Risen from the ashes like the Phoenix.
Restructured with new location and new capital, leaving behind debts of millions owed to customers, employees and vendors. Good news for those who need replacement parts, however.
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Interesting. Thanks.
 
S'cuder said:
Risen from the ashes like the Phoenix.
Restructured with new location and new capital, leaving behind debts of millions owed to customers, employees and vendors. Good news for those who need replacement parts, however.
Click to expand...

I note that the new and improved SSBC does not offer caliper sleeving like the old SSBC did.
 
Slantsix64 said:
I would go with Scarebird, direct bolt on with over the counter parts, i honestly did the whole swap in like 3 hours pretty easy. No need to change ball joints etc. With i would of went with them on my dart instead of the KH discs, its a ***** to find calipers
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for something that doesn't have many options maybe. i had a 65 d100 that i bought scared bird stuff for because it was the best option for it at the time.. but with a big bolt abody mopar the factory 73-up stuff is a much better option and plentiful...
 
6PakBee said:
I note that the new and improved SSBC does not offer caliper sleeving like the old SSBC did.
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The old SSBC was founded on that service. That was probably about 50 years ago, so the original people are long gone. I just had a look at the new website. Apparently they offer rebuilding, and mention extra services which might include sleeving, but doesn't specifically say so.
 
S'cuder said:
The old SSBC was founded on that service. That was probably about 50 years ago, so the original people are long gone. I just had a look at the new website. Apparently they offer rebuilding, and mention extra services which might include sleeving, but doesn't specifically say so.
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If I read the website correctly, they will rebuild their products, but no others.
 
6PakBee said:
If I read the website correctly, they will rebuild their products, but no others.
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I called them, and you're right. They only work on stuff they manufactured. No OEM or competitor's.
I also asked them if their aluminum A199 calipers, which are sold as a K-H replacement part for 1965-'72 disc equipped A-Bodies will fit K-H style replacement pads. He said they will. So you could run whatever pad material you want, and not have to use their proprietary semi-metallic only pads. Those calipers are expensive, but when I see rebuilt K-H calipers selling north of $400, brand new aluminum for a bit more isn't outrageous to me. I still wouldn't buy one of their kits, but if I were stuck for the calipers I'd consider them.
I asked if they would consider making replacement rotors for 4.5" bolt pattern. He said they do, but only for their kits, which require drum spindles and SSBC caliper adapters. He admitted they just machine down Mustang rotors to fit the drum spindles, but didn't seem interested in making them to fit OEM K-H brakes for A-Bodies. I told him it would make sense since they were offering replacement calipers. Whatever, maybe I planted a seed in his mind.
 
autoxcuda said:
You got rotors that need to be re-drilled. Not off shelf. Does the rotor need a rotor adapter (ring) between the rotor and hub? or is that just with 73-76 Drum spindles?

Not a fan of that stamped steel caliper adapter. They have put welded in nuts to hold the floating caliper bolt now. Welding can warp the nuts.

I don't doubt it works for people. Just if you are trying to go 5 on 4.5 I think the stock stuff just is a stouter more bulletproof system.
Click to expand...

If I was to go with stock pieces, would you say any post-73’ A body or specific models? Valiants? Dusters?
 
Monstro_bjj said:
If I was to go with stock pieces, would you say any post-73’ A body or specific models? Valiants? Dusters?
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1973-'76 A-Body disc brakes are the same. There's some swapping that can be done with other years or models to get bigger rotors and such.
A lot of the parts swapping is discussed here.
DISC-O-TECH: Stop on a dime
 
68slant6 said:
parameters...
not a race car
nothing fancy
wants a booster
stops the ole girl
bang for buck

View attachment 1715866219

View attachment 1715866220
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PirateJack is just a 73+ Mopar disk conversion. It’s basically the same as what DoctorDiff will sell you with his Stage I kit, except that the PirateJack kit will be 100% Chinese parts that are the cheapest you can buy, and you’ll have almost no customer support.

DoctorDiff’s kit will come with Timken bearings, high quality parts and be supported by him personally via phone, email and even text message. Mechanically it’s the same kit, PirateJack is cheaper because it’s cheap, crappy parts. It may be cheap, but it’s not the best bang for your buck.
 
72bluNblu said:
PirateJack is just a 73+ Mopar disk conversion. It’s basically the same as what DoctorDiff will sell you with his Stage I kit, except that the PirateJack kit will be 100% Chinese parts that are the cheapest you can buy, and you’ll have almost no customer support.

DoctorDiff’s kit will come with Timken bearings, high quality parts and be supported by him personally via phone, email and even text message. Mechanically it’s the same kit, PirateJack is cheaper because it’s cheap, crappy parts. It may be cheap, but it’s not the best bang for your buck.
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Probably gonna go the Dr Diff route. If I decide to keep my rear as drums and switch out my fronts to discs, would it be best to change out my stock master cylinder/add booster or can I continue to run the stock cylinder?

Thanks.
 
Monstro_bjj said:
Probably gonna go the Dr Diff route. If I decide to keep my rear as drums and switch out my fronts to discs, would it be best to change out my stock master cylinder/add booster or can I continue to run the stock cylinder?

Thanks.
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I would swap out the drum/drum master cylinder. Personally I like the 15/16” master cylinder DoctorDiff sells. I use that size because it works well without a booster, but even though it’s straight manual brakes the pedal effort isn’t bad with that size master cylinder. But that’s just my personal preference, I like manual over boosted on these cars.

DoctorDiff can help you with some of this stuff too, if you call and order you can discuss your options and needs for your particular project.
 
First of all, this thread has been really helpful so thank you all. I wish I had found it sooner.

I have a 69 Dart Swinger 340 that came with factory power drums and power steering (swapped to Borgeson/saginaw pump). Power booster is pretty much useless due to a prior owner's cam swap (hey, at least it sounds fun...). I bought an SSBC SBP front disc kit and had that installed. I was thinking about combining it with a hydratech hydro-boost set up, but before going down that rabbit hole, I wanted to try swapping to a manual master cylinder based on the input above. Any recommendations on what master cylinder to use?
 
JoeSwinger340 said:
First of all, this thread has been really helpful so thank you all. I wish I had found it sooner.

I have a 69 Dart Swinger 340 that came with factory power drums and power steering (swapped to Borgeson/saginaw pump). Power booster is pretty much useless due to a prior owner's cam swap (hey, at least it sounds fun...). I bought an SSBC SBP front disc kit and had that installed. I was thinking about combining it with a hydratech hydro-boost set up, but before going down that rabbit hole, I wanted to try swapping to a manual master cylinder based on the input above. Any recommendations on what master cylinder to use?
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I mean, my recommendation is still the same. I run manual disks with a 15/16" master from Doctor Diff. I've run that master cylinder with the Mopar 11.75 B/R body disks and calipers with 11x2.5" rear drums, DoctorDiff's 13" cobra style disk kit with 11x2.5" rear drums, and that 13" disk kit with DoctorDiff 11.7" rear disks. Works great.

Mopar Aluminum Master Cylinder Kit
 
Got it--sorry that I missed that above. The 15/16" master from Doctor Diff is currently out of stock (I've got a message in to him to see if it's coming back).

Other than aluminum v. cast (and build quality), is there any functional difference between the Doctor Diff 15/16" master versus the factory 15/16" masters from the mid 73+ A bodies with manual disc/drum?
 
Other than the sealing surface and materials I’m not aware of any significant functional differences. Hydraulically the bore diameter is what sets the line pressure and pedal effort/feel.
 
I run the 1974 Disc Master with my KH set up and the petal IMO is way too hard (Still work fine). Someday I have to get off my *** and buy the smaller bore MC.
 
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