Mopar Muscle Association UK

I quite like Manual Disc Brakes if you get the Master Cylinder sizing correct (bore size) as they work well and have plenty of feel. If you have been brought up on more modern cars you may not feel that way...............

You MAY have to change the wheels if you change to Disc brakes as there will be insufficient clearance for the Calipers if you currently have 14" or smaller Wheels......own a Mopar ? Just add Money..............

Did you mean you like manual drums Pete ?

Chris. It may be worth checking your drums and shoes over , fresh fluid etc before chasing a disc conversion ?
Sure Steve ( fellow C body man ) will be along to help , as he has done work on his 68 Polara drums and shoes.

Oh. And I would say 100% C Body. ( but as you say a " change " year so could be wrong. Someone on here will verify )

Unless I spelt "DRUM" by typing "DISC" then no.....

People will tell you that old drums are fine if you set them up correctly (new hold-off hardware, linings, check / skim drums for ovality) but the reality is they cannot beat the consistency and repeatable stopping power of Discs - especially driven "enthusiastically" in modern day traffic.

I have had drums that stop you well once, and I have had drums that pull left on one application and then right on the next. This is not fun, and driving an old Yank is supposed to be fun.

Pete wrote:Unless I spelt "DRUM" by typing "DISC" then no.....

People will tell you that old drums are fine if you set them up correctly (new hold-off hardware, linings, check / skim drums for ovality) but the reality is they cannot beat the consistency and repeatable stopping power of Discs - especially driven "enthusiastically" in modern day traffic.

I have had drums that stop you well once, and I have had drums that pull left on one application and then right on the next. This is not fun, and driving an old Yank is supposed to be fun.

Sorry mate

Good to see you partaking on a C Body thread

Edit : A 4 DOOR C Body thread !!!

You will NEVER convert me. I would go back to Murdercycles only first.

But to each his own and I would encourage anyone into the hobby if it floats your boat......

Pete wrote:Unless I spelt "DRUM" by typing "DISC" then no.....

People will tell you that old drums are fine if you set them up correctly (new hold-off hardware, linings, check / skim drums for ovality) but the reality is they cannot beat the consistency and repeatable stopping power of Discs - especially driven "enthusiastically" in modern day traffic.

I have had drums that stop you well once, and I have had drums that pull left on one application and then right on the next. This is not fun, and driving an old Yank is supposed to be fun.

Agreed. The big drums on my Truk stop it great... most of the time. Occasionally they'll do summat random to keep me on my toes

Pete wrote:You will NEVER convert me. I would go back to Murdercycles only first.

But to each his own and I would encourage anyone into the hobby if it floats your boat......

Time will tell !

Back on topic. I agree. Discs are superior. Just trying to advise that Chris may be happy with the drums after a good check over and replacement of parts etc if necessary. ?
If not , look into a disc upgrade.

I always find poor drums are normally down to poor adjustment or old wheel cylinders ,either full of crud or one side seizing up ,set up correctly ,drum brakes are ok ,they just get taken for granted ,and never get regular inspection ,this is why they then turn nasty,drums need love and attention ,like a fluffy kitten

Shoes the wrong way round can make the brakes feel none existent.
I think the 65 is the best Fury of all. Is yours white ?

A couple of valid points there chaps.
Drums tend to get untouched as less easy to view than pads and discs.

And my Coronet front drums were the wrong way round. ( although they were corrected before I drove it )

Agree that drums are great if set up correctly, however, not so good for today's traffic. A heavy Mopar on drums will never stop as quickly as your modern euro box jelly mould thing. Hence, I have a disc conversion kit sitting here waiting to go on.
There are some changes / upgrades that just need to be done if you want to enjoy driving it

Hi Chris and welcome to the club/forum.

As you can tell there are plenty helpers here with ideas/solutions.

I am in the same boat to convert to Disc on front but not sure which kit do I need and then will it fit the 14" wheels I have on the car.

Hi fella, Nice C fella

terryr wrote:............drums need love and attention ,like a fluffy kitten

I'd rather swap them out for discs and eat the kitten..............

1969 and up Mopar C-Body with single-piston front disc brakes i think would fit if you got the spindles.

Junk yard parts detail with link to mopar action article

http://cbodydrydock.com/e107_plugins/fo ... .php?50615


you have fatter track rod ends thicker track rod sleaves and i don't know how you balljoints and upper and lower arms work


or
http://www.summitracing.com/int/search/ ... 4294942606


if you are handy and have access to a lathe

any caliper with a none radial mount tabs and 3.5 inch centers to the mount can be made to fit onto a mopar disk spindle

that means 90s toyota 4 pot sumitomo calipers off a hilux 4runner or landcruiser look for '94 '95 96

jag XJ 4 pot calipers (i have 2 Cores (need rebuild) which you can have for £40 + shipping or collect (most rebuild places take £40-60 quid a caliper off you if you can not supply the rebuild cores)

Austin princess (if you can find any)

obvioulsy the toyota parts will need imperial to metric brake lines made up.

if a calipers take banjo fittings there wre two types
one hollow banjo with a drilled bolt

the other a necked in and drileld bolt with a banjo that is a smooth cylinder inside.

you can not mix and match

and all of these will involve a spacer and already having the disk spindles with the 3.5 inch centres mount for a disk caliper

drum spindles tend to have small boolt holes for the drum back plate

a caliper mount can be made up to mount to them, thats how SSBC do it

but if you DIY then you need to find a hub/rotor and bearings that fit the drum spindle , with a rotor that has a top hat shape with appropriate offset to be decently near the middle of caliper travel. if you do this you must make usre that you use paired bearing halves to achive your hub mounting

i.e don't run the cone of 1 bearing with the cup of another. yes it might make it all fit but the taper will be different and it will bind and seize

any set up you use if the disk does not sweep the total surface of the pad must have the pad that over hangs the disk cut away.

you do not want the pads to stand-off the disc when worn due to them colliding againts each other round the side of the disk.

this happens with jag calipers on smaller disks

but would not be a problem with the big disks you would have on a C body

getting some disc spindles is key

measure the mounting and work from there

or splash the cash with summit

if you get SSBC throw away the pads and get some soft street pads

and be conscious that they used to have a track record of 1 size fits all for the master cylinder which meant in some applications its was either too wide in the bore or too narrow...i think too wide .

very little peddle travel and brakes that felt like a switch, off or on....hence no feel, combined with hard pads that don't work until hot ==== just like faded drum brakes without the left right pull



Dave