Not exactly cutting edge tech, but I did take some pics when I changed my Caddy over to disc brakes this winter. I got the brackets, bearing adapters and a complete parts list from Scarebird brakes, the website is here: http://www.scarebird.com/ and he's a HAMBer. What I like best about the whole deal (other than it being an easy swap) is that it uses all OEM parts, available at any auto parts store. The directions are very good, I ran in to one small snag and Mark from Scarebird answered my email within an hour. I added a 'street rod' type master cylinder / booster setup bolted to a GM swinging pedal. I had both laying around from another project. Here's the stock drum: Just remove the spindle nut, Four bolts hold the backing plates on: Cleaned it all up - 11 pounds of crud scraped off both sides: Here's the bracket from Scarebird bolted in place: The bearing adapter from the kit gets set in place with a little loctite: My application called for 99 - up GM truck rotors - which uses the same 5 on 5 pattern as stock - and early Buick Riviera wheel bearings. Finally add a pair of mid-70's ElDorado calipers, pads and sliders bolts. All the part numbers are supplied, right down to the dust caps.. That's it, pretty straight forward and got it all done in an afternoon. While I had it all apart I cleaned, painted and inspected everything and went ahead and cut another coil off the springs. I also replaced a loose tie-rod end.
Gator, Thanks, for us old Caddy guys this is a great 'tech'. I seriously didn't think it was that easy. Now I'm ordering parts. Al
great thread! one question... Have you noticed any offset compared to the stock drum? does the wheel set in or out any differently from stock?
pretty hard to go wrong with anything from scarebird,mark builds quality kits and provides exellent customer service!
Good question, but I can't answer it because I swapped wheels during the conversion. I don't think it's much different, plus there's a lot of room under there anyway. I switched over to a 15x6 reverse wheel on the front and still have plenty of clearance, and my front end is pretty low. The only problem I encountered was that the spindle nut bottomed out before I got the proper preload on the wheel bearing, all I had to do was add a extra washer.
whats the total cost involved? mybrother in law has a 51 i'm going to recomend to do this to his car do you have to change the stock pedals? what master did you use . ? thanks billy
Total cost was in the neighborhood of $400, $150 for the kit, I bought the rotors & calipers on Ebay, and the pads, bearings, and hardware at the local parts place. I had a 7" power booster and bought a new Corvette master cylinder. The pedal was froma previous parts car, but most any mid - 70's GM swinging pedal setup could work. The stock master cylinder is under the car, so you could adapt an under car booster / MC as well.
Hey Gator, Im having an issue with my 54. I want to cut a coil but how will I realign it. I know on chevys you can shim them. But I dont see a spot for that on my 54. Can anyone help me out please.
54 Caddy, if it's the same suspension as the car pictured here, which it should be real close, also similar to a Pontiac, the alignment eccentric bushing is on the upper pivot bolt for the upright. It does the camber and caster. The caster has to be set first though, once it's in the correct forward to rearward spot, than adjust it out for camber. Just loosen the lock bolt before it's adjusted. Here's the one on my Pontiac , without the rubber seals on you can see the upper bolt is threaded all the way accross so the pivot can move quite a ways around.
Gator...how do you like the conversion now? especially after the drive to florida? Another quick question. How hard was it to change out the pedal assembly? I assume you had to redo the lines, and how did you adapt the brake light switch? I seriously need to do something...half the time I'm not sure if she's gonna stop. I wonder if this will work with the wire wheels that I have.
Sweeeeeeeeeet! Thats 1 of a few things I need to do this year after I swap in a 700r4 trans behind my Olds 455, then triangle 4 link. Not enough hours in the day
Yup, I had too many close calls myself. I had completely rebuilt the entire drum brake system and was still not happy with the braking, so I opted for this - I'm very happy with the whole deal. I used a newer GM swinging pedal assembly I just had lying around - not sure what it came out of but they're all pretty similar and the switch is on that. The booster/MC bolt through the firewall to the pedal brace. The master cylinder is a mid seventies type Corvette part, the proportioning valve is out of an Impala cop car, and the booster is a 7 inch aftermarket unit. Again, I had all of it on hand from previous projects except the M/C, which I got new at the local parts store. The booster I used is a single diaphragm, if I were buying one I'd shell out a few more bucks for the dual diaphragm piece, I think you'd get a better feel since these Caddys are so heavy. If you've still got the stock Caddy heat/defrost setup you may have to use an under the floor type setup. I put a Vintage air unit in mine so I just made a bolt in panel to replace the driver side piece, and reinforced it with a 3/16 bar where the M/C and booster bolt on. I made up new lines - and before anybody flips out, that's NOT copper line, it's some new 'EZ bend' stuff, which is very cool - we bent these by HAND with no tools and they didn't kink. Scarebirds' site says that some customers have had success using the original single circuit M/C but that didn't make much sense to me. I did that this winter too, bumped my mileage from 13 to 17.
Hmmmmm, mileage increase and safer stopping. Hey Gator don't threaten me like that 'cause I'll do it. Thanks for the unbiased info.
Does anyone know if the '95-'99 truck rotors interchange with anything that has a 5x4-3/4" bolt pattern? I'm using a camaro rear end and I'd like to just cary one spare tire when taking trips.
Go find a skinny spare off an Astro/Safari van-----they're drilled dual pattern (5x5, 5x4 3/4) Check front caliper clearance before you take off on a trip though(might need a spacer) I relied on an Astro spare for years until I had to use it on the front of my shop truck(95) At least my flat tire was in the middle of a junkyard....
Thanks for the thread. I was looking at them for my brake upgrade on my 53 caddy after i get the BBC installed. This site is awesome.
Great thread, as I was thinking of doing this to mine. Should have really helped stopping ability, right? I wonder if he has any type of conversion on the rears, like Mustangs do?
Looking for an update on this kit! I know it's an old thread but has anybody used this set-up and been able to keep the stock wheels. I'm looking to do this on my '55 but i don't really want to swap out the wheels. My car sits pretty low up front and I'm running a 30" tall tire so I'm also curious if the offset is wider. Any help would be great! Any other kits?
There's an outfit RPM out of CA that offers a disc swap for the rears. they offer a conversion for the fronts too, but it's a little pricier than scarebirds. Talked with the guy this morning--super nice and super knowlegable--ran a resto shop specializing in caddy's for 18 years. they're retailing direct or through vendors. I found them via No Limit engineering. sorry don't have the number onhand.
I've been looking for a while for a front disk brakes conversion kit that would fit an early fifties cad with original 15" rims (either stock or '53 Kelsey wire)... after exchanges with some vendors, the outcome remains somewhat uncommitted and it's still unclear if there is a way to do it and how (possibly using smaller diameter rotors). Any hint or experience on that issue?
Just wanted to throw out there that there is a real nice kit that you can get from Jamco Suspension. Jamco sells for $699.
That's cool - looks like nice stuff. I had about half that in my conversion though. The Scarebird kit was about $150, I bought the rotors / calipers new off Ebay, and the bearings and hoses from my local parts store.
I've also come across one offered by ABS Power Brake, #B23 for early fifties cads with 12" rotors : they say it should fit stock 15" rims, but I'd rather see a picture or get independent confirmation before ordering a kit of any kind... At Scarebird they did not want to commit on stock rim fit, and at AAJ Brakes I did not get a reply on early cad kit availability (they offer a kit with 11" rotors but for later cars)...
The Jalopy Journal
